4 COM M ISSION OF CONSERVATION 



of over 200,000,000 salmon. It is estimated that about 18,000 persons 

 are engaged in this industry and over $8,000,000 is invested in fishing 

 and canning equipment.* 



To better appreciate the possible effects which the construction 

 of dams, diversion canals and other works may have upon the fishing 

 industry, it is necessary to understand the habits of the salt-water 

 fish which ascend the fresh-water streams. 



Investigation f has established the fact that all five varieties of the 

 Pacific Salmon— th'e . Sockeye or Blue Back salmon (Oncorhynchus 

 nerha)'; Spring, Quirinat, Chinook or Tyee salmon (O. tschawytscha) ; 

 Cohoe or Silver salmon (0. kisutch) ; Humpback (O. gorbusca) ; Dog 

 or Chum (0. keta) — enter the streams from March to December for 

 the purpose of depositing their ova. After spawning all the salmon 

 die. Two of the five species, the sockeye and the spring, seek the 

 extreme headwaters of the largest streams and there deposit their 

 spawn. The sockeye, commercially the most important salmon, spawn 

 in the streams tributary to the large lakes, or in the sand and gravel 

 shoals along the shores of the lakes. 



The seaward migration of the young sockeye begins in April and 

 continues to August; they consist of two sizes, representing two ages. 

 The smaller comprise fry 1§ inches in length and are hatched from 

 eggs of the preceding autumn, while the larger fry are yearlings, which, 

 having remained in the lakes during the first year, have attained a 

 length of 3 to 4 inches. The spring, cohoe, humpback and dog salmon 

 spawn in the waters of streams that are not tributary to the large lakes, 

 and the majority of their young migrate to the sea during the follow- 

 ing spring and summer, at which time they average if inches. In 

 moving downstream the young salmon hug the banks, apparently 

 preferring the shallow water. There is, annually, an upward migra- 

 tion, from March to November or December, of great numbers of the 

 adults of the five species of the Pacific salmon; and an annual down- 



* For statistics relating to the fishing industry of the Province, consult the 

 Official Year Book of British Columbia and Manual of Provincial Information for 

 1911, by R. E. Gosnell, pp. 203 to 226, also Annual Reports of the Commissioner 

 of Fisheries, Victoria, B.C. The reports for 1913 to 1915 contain interesting contri- 

 butions to the life-history of the sockeye salmon. Consult also article ' The Fisheries 

 of British Columbia,' in Lands, Fisheries and Minerals, Commission of Conservation, 

 Ottawa, 1911; also, other reports of the Commission of Conservation, Ottawa. 

 For statement respecting ' Waters Contiguous to the Boundary Line Between 

 British Columbia and the State of Washington,' see Report of the Joint Commission 

 Relative to the Preservation of the Fisheries in Waters Contiguous to Canada and the 

 United States, Ottawa, 1897, pp. 134 et seq. 



t Many of the comments here made respecting British Columbia salmon are 

 based upon statements kindly furnished by Mr. J. P. Babcock, Assistant Commis- 

 sioner of Fisheries, B.C., and upon reports of the Provincial Fisheries Department. 



