TWENTY-SEVENTH BIENNIxVL REPORT. 35 



who are not fish eultiirists or scientists, suggest as feasibk' long fisliways 

 on easy gradients with rest pools at convenient places for the passage of 

 salmon over and aronnd the high dams that are being proposed by pro- 

 moters of hydro-electric power enterprises. The instinct of the salmon 

 to follow the main stream is sure to make any of these plans a failure. 



The salmon run in the Klamath River shonld be maintained for the 

 use of the people as a food supply as well as to furnish eggs to keep up 

 the supply in the Sacramento and Eel Rivers. Hydro-electric projects 

 and irrigation canals have cut otf eighty per cent of the spawning 

 grounds on the tributaries of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. 

 The Bureau of Fisheries is assisting in every way possible to maintain 

 the salmon supply by operating their hatcheries and e^g collecting sta- 

 tions at Battle Creek, ^lill Creek and Baird in Northern California. 

 Their work must be augmented by the surplus eggs from the Klamathon 

 station on the Klamath river, if we are to have the salmon run main- 

 tained in numbers sufficient to be of any great benefit to the people. 



Referring again to the situation on the Klamath River; if the fishwnys 

 should be constructed that would allow the salmon to ascend above the 

 dams to their natural breeding grounds and to the egg collecting sta- 

 tions, the fry, the result of natural propagation or from the hatcheries, 

 would be destroyed in passing through the wheels used to operate the 

 generating plants as it is impossible to construct a screen of sufficient 

 fineness to prevent the fry of anadromous or sea running si^ecies of 

 fishes from entering the pipes or tubes tliat furnisli the water to the 

 power plants. A great deal has been said and written by the promoters 

 of the projects regarding the installation of electric fish stops, l)y the 

 use of electrodes to develop an electrical current in the water ne:ir the 

 end of the intake pipe. Experiments have satisfied us that the plan is 

 not practical. Freshwater fishes or those that spend their entire lives 

 in fresh water, do not descend the streams in schools or witli such a 

 strong instinct to descend with the current as do the anadromous fishes. 

 The anadromous fishes such as the different species of salmon and the 

 steelhead trout are impelled by their instincts to descend the rivers to 

 the ocean, no matter what obstacles nuiy ])e placed in their wa.w They 

 must enter the ocean to develop to maturity, and no electrical current 

 passing through the water that causes a tingling or stinging sensation is 

 going to stop them. If the electrical current is made too sti-ong or strong 

 enough to stop their i)Ower to swim, they are either killed or stiffened up 

 so that their powers of swimming are paralyzed and they will drift willi 

 the current into the pipes leading to the impulse wheels. Sci-ecns with 

 meshes small enough to stop the descent of the fry would choke up dui'- 

 ing the flood season when the fry are iiuiking theii- descent to the sea .iiid 

 at other times, and would be removed by operatoi's of these power 

 plants, so the flow of water to their generators would not Ix^ interfered 

 with. Screens in ditches and canals can be easily instaUed and cleaned, 

 but screens fine enough to prevent the fry of anadromous fishes from 

 entering pipes leading from high dams to power wheels are not practical. 

 Freshwater fishes whose habits are to live their entire liv(\s in the streams 

 and lakes and rivers are easily turned away by ordinary screens as they 

 are not impelled by a strong instinct to descend the streams. They 

 move from different places in the stream in search of food and breeding 



