12 



PACIFIC FISHERMAN 



680 Tonng' Salmon Taken From One I^ateral Sitoh 

 Tributary to the Methow Biver. 



the Columbia river when seeking their spawn- 

 ing streams are met Uiree miles outside of the 

 Columbia river by almost a solid mass of gill 

 nets. These same gill nets are used from the 

 lightship outside of the Columbia river to the 

 Cascades, a distance of about 150 miles. On 

 entering the river, the Chinook are met by the 

 fish traps located all the way from the lower end 

 of Sand Island to the Dalles. On entering the 

 river, they also encounter the long, deep drag 

 seines. These seines vary from 100 to 400 

 fathoms in length and sweep the bottom of the 

 river at every available point from Sand Island 

 to Celilo catching every salmon they come in 

 contact with. The diver, a net so leaded as to 

 sink to the bottom of the river and slowly drift 

 with the current is also fished from the mouth 

 of the Columbia to the Cascades. In almost every 

 eddy is found a set net and the fish wheel work- 

 ing night and day is found in the swift waters 

 of the Cascades and from the Dalles to Celilo. 



The number of Chinook salmon taken from the 

 Columbia river in one season by all of this fishing 

 gear is a great deal more than anyone can 

 imagine. The breeding salmon that escapes all 

 of this fishing gear and make their way to the 

 head waters of the Columbia river seek such 

 tributaries at the Kakima, the Snake river and its 

 tributaries, the Wenatchee, the Methow, the 

 Okanogan, the San Poil, the Little Spokane and 

 the Colville where they spawn and die. When 

 their spawn has hatched and the young salmon 

 begin to descend the stream, the majority find 

 their way into the irrigating ditches and are 

 carried out onto the fields and lost. Those that 

 escape the ditches encounter the Dolly Varden, 

 tie Cut Throat and the Rainbow trout besides 

 the bass, perch and crappie, (which some of our 

 enterprising sportsmen have planted in lakes that 

 have an outlet into the Columbia river) and the 

 number that finally reach the ocean from the 

 uper reaches of the Columbia river are very few 

 and were it not for the hatcheries located from 

 the White Salmon river to the Chinook river 

 tributary to the Columbia and those located on the 

 tributaries of the Willamette, the returns would 

 be smaller and smaller every year until the 

 Royal Chinook would have become only a memory. 



Splendid work has been done tributary to the 

 Columbia river by the United States Bureau of 

 Fisheries under the supervision of Mr. Henry 

 O'Malley, one of the best known and most suc- 

 cessful fish culturists in the country, who Is a 

 man that has gained his knowledge of fish culture 

 by years of practical experience in this state and 

 who has done more for the fishing industry of 

 the Columbia river than any other man employed 

 by the Federal Government. Mr. O'Malley has 

 not only improved the work of the Federal Bureau 

 tributary to the Columbia river but has at all 

 times taken a great interest in everything per- 

 taining to the fishing industry in Oregon and 

 this state, and by his practical methods has greatly 

 benefited the industry in both states. 



The State of Oregon has also assisted in the 

 increasing of the supply of the Royal Chinook 

 in the Columbia river. Mr. Clanton with the as- 

 sistance of the Oregon Fish Commission and a 

 splendid lot of hatchery superintendents is cer- 

 tainly doing a great work. The fisheries depart- 

 ment of this slate under the supervision of Mr. 

 John U Riseland is doing everything in their 

 power with the means at their command to build 

 up and place on a safe basis the hatchery system 

 of this state and to conserve the industry. The 

 hatchery system of the State of Washington, con- 

 sists of twenty salmon hatcheries located from 

 Chinook in the very southwest corner of this 

 state to Twisp on the Twisp river, a tributary to 

 the Methow river in Okanogan County in the 

 very northeast corner of the state. The hatch- 

 eries are located all along the Columbia river, 

 the WiUapa Harbor, Grays Harbor and the 

 Puget Sound and very few have any Idea of the 

 enormous amount of young salmon turned into 

 the waters of this state from these hatcheries. 



The large rearing ponds at the Crinook and 

 Kalama hatcheries and the smaller one at the 

 Wind river hatchery are turning out millions of 

 pond raised fish into the Columbia river. While 

 the pond system at the White river and other 

 hatcheries on the Sound are also doing splendid 

 work. Grays and WiUapa Harbors also have 

 rearin gponds and taken as a whole it would be 

 hard to find a better set of hatchery superintend- 

 ents in the world than those now in the employ 

 of the Fisheries Department of this state. In 

 fact, the Department is doing everything at can 

 to perpetuate the industry with the amount of 

 money at its command. 



In addition to the salmon hatcheries, the state 

 of Washington, operates four trout hatcheries and 

 are very careful to only stock trout streams with 

 the output of these plants. There are more sal- 

 mon streams tributary to the Columbia river where 

 good hatchery locations could be found if suffi- 

 cient funds could be secured to utilize them and 

 the supply could be still further increased. On 

 every stream tributary to the Columbia river 

 where breeding salmon can be taken a hatchery 

 should be located and everything possible should 

 be done to protect the salmon in these streams. 



There is just as much food in the Columbia 

 river and in the Pacific Ocean as there was one 

 hundred years ago, and the young salmon that find 

 their way to the ocean will find plenty of food 

 and return to the Columbia river in as good con- 

 dition as their ancestors did one hundred years 

 ago. 



To keep up the supply of salmon in the WiUa- 

 pa Harbor district, a hatchery is needed on the 

 Nasel river and another hatchery on some tribu- 

 tary of the North river. The one hatchery on the 

 WiUapa river tributary to WiUapa Harbor does 

 good work. Two more are really needed. 



Conditions on Grays Harbor are somewhat simi- 

 lar to those on the Columbia river. Gill nets, 

 seines, traps and set nets are to be found from 

 the ocean to quite a distance up the Chehalis 

 river and all catch a great many salmon. 



In the past, logging dams (splash dams) have 

 destroyed a great many spawning streams, but 

 strong efforts made by the fisheries department 

 of this state have compelled the parties owning 

 such dams to install fish ways and the streams 

 are therefore in a better condition than tor some 

 time. 



The state has a splendid hatchery on one of 

 the tributaries of the Chehalis river that does 

 excellent work, but more hatcheries are needed 

 tributary to the Chehalis river if the supply is 

 to be kept up. 



The Sockeye is a salmon most highly prized 

 in the Puget Sound district. With the exception 

 of the heavy run during the season of 1909, the 

 pack of these fish have been getting smaller for 

 the past ten years. While the pack on the Puget 

 Sound was a little larger during the past season 

 than it was four years ago, and on the whole the 

 pack of Sockeye on the sound does not show 



Tbe Breeding' Sockeye Salmon. 



such a great falling off during the past toui 

 years, the pack on the Frasier river has fallei 

 behind. By adding the pack of Sockeyes on th« 

 Fraser river to that of the pack of Sockeyei 

 on the Puget sound it will be found that the com 

 bined pack has fallen off to a considerable ex 

 tent during the last ten years. 



Something should surely be done to alloW 

 enough of these fish to reach their spawning- 

 grounds in the streams tributary to the Fraser 

 river or the Sockeye will soon become nearly 

 extinct. British Columbia has a splendid hatch- 

 ery system and excellent hatchery superintend- 

 ents, but this will not avail much if they cannot 

 secure the breeding salmon necessary to operate 

 their hatcheries. 



The Baker Lake hatchery situated near the foot 

 of Mount Baker in Whatcom county has done 

 splendid work in the past. This plant has done 

 more for the fishing industry of the Puget Sound 

 than it has ever been given credit for. The writer 

 of this article located and built the Baker Lake 

 hatchery and was its first superintendent. The 

 plant was built during the summer of 1896. 



At that time there was not a fish trap on (he 

 west beach of WTiidby island and with the ex- 

 ception of one or two gill nets there was very 

 little fishing done for these Sockeye that fre- 

 quented the waters of Skagit river and spawned 

 in Baker lake and its tributaries. 



During the summer of 1899 the United States 

 Bureau of Fisheries bought this plant from the 

 state and have operated it every since. In spite 

 of the number of fish traps located all along 

 Whidby island and even close to Deception Pass, 

 under the supervision of Mr. A. H. Dinsmore, cer- 

 tainly holds its own in regard to the amount of 

 and in spite of the gill nets that fish close to the 

 mouth of the Skagit river and purse seines that 

 operate on the outside, the Baker Lake hatchery 

 spawn taken. In fact the output of this hatchery 

 Is as large as it was sixteen years ago. 



When the United States Bureau of Fisheries 

 first took over the Baker Lake hatchery, Mr. Buck 

 was placed in charge and during his first year 

 did very well. However, after that the output 

 was small for a couple of seasons. Mr. Buck re- 

 signed and Mr. O'Malley was placed in charge and 

 the plant has done splendid work ever since. 



When Mr. O'Malley was placed in charge of 

 the United States Bureau of Fisheries operations 



Kalama Eyeing' Station, Showing Section of Bearing Ponds. 



