FISH-CUWURAL PRACTICES IN THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 735 



The Spawning operations at Battle Creek and Mill Creek are practically the 

 same as those at Baird, and the seining differs only in minor details to meet 

 local conditions. 



The method of taking eggs by incision has many advantages over the older 

 practice of expelling by hand, chief among them being the larger number of good 

 eggs secured and the higher percentage of impregnation. There is also a great 

 saving of time and labor, and, as all of the Pacific salmons die after once spawn- 

 ing, the killing of them in the process of taking the eggs merely hastens the 

 end, and constitutes no loss of adult fish. 



The eggs of the Pacific salmons are comparatively large, ranging in diameter 

 from one-fourth inch for chinook to one-fifth inch for sockeye. Fortunately, 

 however, these large eggs do not require the same treatment and care as do those 

 of the other Salmonidae, but may be placed 12 to 20 deep in wire-cloth baskets, 

 30,000 to 50,000 to the basket, water temperature being an important factor in 

 deciding the quantity. The baskets, rectangular in shape, conform in width 

 to the troughs; the latter are of the Williamson type (up-current), the flow of 

 water to each trough varying with local conditions at the different hatcheries 

 from 8 to 20 gallons per minute. 



Local practices in different regions. — Experience seems to indicate, with 

 regard to the sockeye, or red salmon, that there is an advantage in bleeding 

 the fish before stripping, thus obviating a flow of blood with the eggs when the 

 incision is made. It is therefore now customary at sockeye stations to decapi- 

 tate or else cut off the tails of the female fish as the first step in the spawn- 

 taking process. At Baker Lake, Washington, the practice is as follows: 



The fish, which have been brought to the pens usually the day previous, 

 are dipped out one l^y one, decapitated, and dropped upon a draining rack, 

 where water is thrown over them to cleanse them for handling by the spawn- 

 taker. The latter impales the fish on a short spike conveniently located to hold 

 them over the pan while he makes the incision and removes the eggs. Two men 

 are occupied in the work so far. A third fertilizes and washes the eggs, then 

 conveys them to the hatchery. A million eggs may be secured in this manner 

 in one forenoon by one such crew. 



Although not suitable for canning or for the market, the sockeye at this period 

 is edible and many are taken by local residents for food. Indians camp at 

 some of the stations and preserve large numbers of the salmon. The majority 

 of those killed, however, go to waste. At the Battle Creek station in one season 

 it is not an unusual thing to bury during the spawning season 15,000 to 20,000 

 pounds of fish. 



A convenient and economical method of separating dead eggs of salmon 

 from living ones is the use of a salt solution." If a basket of eggs is emptied 



"O'Malley, Henry: Salt solution as an aid to fish culture. Transactions of the American Fish- 

 eries Society for 1905, p. 49. 



