No. 5. 



EErORT UPON THE PISHES COLLECTED ON THE SURVEY. 



BY DR. G. SUCKLEY, U. S. A. 



CHAPTER I. 



REPORT UPON THE SALMONIDAE. 



As the salmon family holds the strongest position in economical importance among the fishes 

 of the northwest, the first portion of this report is devoted to the consideration of that group. 

 The second division contains brief descriptions and notes of the other kinds of fishes found alon"- 

 the line of the survev. Those obtained east of the Rocky mountains are simply alluded to by 

 the names given in the General Report on Fishes, vol. 10 Pacific Railroad Reports, with reference 

 to the pages in which descriptions more in detail can be found. The fishes obtained from the 

 region west of those mountains have brief scientific descriptions added, in order that they mar 

 be readily identified by students or future explorers in those Territories. This was deemed 

 necessary on account of the great confusion existing among settlers regarding the common names 

 applied to the fish, many of which, although widely distinct from each other, are known by the 

 same names to different persons. 



The notes and memoranda furnished by Dr. James G. Cooper, surgeon and naturalist to the 

 western division of the survey, have been incorporated over his initials. Credit is given in 

 their appropriate connexions for information derived from other persons. 



The fisheries of Washington Territory will, at an early daj', be considered of great importance 

 to our commerce. The various kinds of salmon form the bulk of the valuable fishes there found, 

 but there are, in addition, many others which, although not so numerous, are yet abundant 

 and of fair relative commercial value. Among these are the cod, found in moderate quantity 

 in Puget Sound, and said to be very abundant on a deep bar or bank, off the mouth of the 

 Straits of Fuca; the Jmlibvf, found in the same situations; the eulachon, a very delicious fish, in 

 some years coming in great shoals in the bays of the lower part of Puget Sound, and along the 

 coast near the mouth of Frazer's river; the lierrinq, arriving in vast quantities in the same waters 

 at regular periods, besides a vast number of good table fish, such as sole, flounders, the so-called 

 "rock-cod," viviparous perch, &c., &c., which, although not valuable for trade, are useful 

 additions to the fare of the inhabitants.* 



Several points on the Columbia river are most excellent locations for the taking of salmon 

 and the establishment of "packing" houses. These are generally at the greater falls and 

 rapids. The best fish are there taken in the spring and early summer months. Salmon of 



* A trade in oysters has long been carried on between Shoalwater bay and San Francisco, and will, if properly conducted, 

 undoubtedly prove profitable. 



