FISHWAYS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA 13 



common eel, smelt, striped bass, eulachon and lampreys, and possibly 

 suckers and large fish of the carp and minnow family, which also, re- 

 quire consideration. 



The absence of suitable and efficient fishways, properly main- 

 tained, is a very decided loss to the fisheries of any province, and more 

 especially, perhaps, is this true in the case of salmon fisheries. It 

 may be commented that the loss viewed solely from the standpoint 

 of the tourist traffic may be a serious one. Baedeker's Guide says that 

 "every salmon caught by tourists in the Maritime Provinces involves 

 expenditure in the country of from $25 to $35." 



Respecting the maintenance of an unobstructed passageway for 

 the seaward migration of the young salmon the problem is different. 



As yet no practical device has been found that will satisfactorily 

 prevent young fish from entering irrigation ditches and canals leading 

 to power plants. Even the clearest streams carry an amount of 

 vegetable matter and debris sufficient to clog any screen having mesh 

 small enough to prevent the passage of young salmon. Fish passing 

 into irrigation canals are, of course, eventually destroyed. 



In the case of power plants, the problem varies with the character 

 of the development. If a direct fall, in a state of nature, was sufficient, 

 to hold back the salmon, it might not be always necessary, when a 

 dam is constructed, to make provision for the salmon, per se, unless 

 it be desired to open up new spawning grounds. Where the power 

 development is a low head proposition, means for the passage of the 

 young fish downstream may be provided without serious difficulty. 

 The fish may in many instances, without hurt, pass over the spillways 

 if sufficient water is flowing over same, but otherwise special means of 

 passage will be necessary. 



A more difficult problem is presented in connection with high 

 head developments. If a low intake dam is utilized, and there is, at 

 the proper season of the year, ample water flowing over the spillways, 

 probably the young fish will pass downstream without hurt; and, 

 with a suitable arrangement for the intake, few, if any, will pass into 

 the power flumes. If, however, the head is concentrated by a high 

 dam, or the intake dam constitutes a storage dam where little water is 

 wasted — all passing through the power turbines — the young fish 

 certainly would not survive a journey through the contracted passages 

 of high head turbines. The amount of risk incurred by the fish in 

 passage over a spillway of a high dam would, of course, depend upon 

 its character. An ameliorating condition lies in the fact that the bulk 



