DEATH OF SALMON AFTER SPAWNING 203 



are the favourite places to obtain sport. When fish 

 travel a long distance inland they are becoming 

 heavy with spawn, and the deteriorating stage begins. 

 If they take any lure then, there is no fight in them, 

 and as a sporting entity they are worthless. As a 

 comestible they are even less valuable. 



Of the great shoals of spring fish that press up 

 fierce rapids and are battered against sharp rocks, 

 none are said to return alive. Ichthyologists find an 

 analogy between them and the Ephemeridae which 

 die after they deposit their eggs. The immense 

 quantity that float down the rivers after the spawning 

 season gives plausible ground for this belief. The 

 rivers are glutted with dead fish, so much so that the 

 effect in places is almost pestilential. It is beyond 

 doubt that a large proportion of the fish perish, 

 probably all that have travelled long distances — a 

 thousand miles for instance. 



On the other hand, it is impossible to say whether 

 those spawning nearer the coast perish in the same 

 way. I saw excellent spawning ground below the 

 rapids of Harrison River, which is quite near the 

 coast, and reasoning from analogy there is little 

 doubt that spring salmon spawn there. Sahno 

 salar of European waters survive spawning, and it is 

 in keeping with the fitness of things that British 

 Columbian spring fish, which are larger and stronger, 

 should, apart from accident, also survive. It would 

 be interesting to ascertain whether the fish that 



