FISHERIES OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 
203 
the Willamette, and, being indifferent to the* approach of man, they are 
easily picked up. There is no regular fishing for them as for other 
species, though some are taken in the fish wheels with other kinds of 
fish,. They are little esteemed commercially and comparatively few are 
saved. Those taken are sold for bait to the sturgeon trawlers, and a 
few are salted at Oregon City. Jordan states that this species of eel 
“•reaches a length of 2 feet, and becomes very fat. It is never used as 
food so far as we know.”* There are a few perch in the Columbia and 
tributaries. A few crayfish are taken. The razor clam is very abun- 
dant at Clatsop Beach, a few miles below Astoria, and is the object of a 
small fishery. 
Fishing grounds . — So far as commercial fishing is concerned, the 
fishing grounds extend from the mouth of the river to Celilo (about 15 
miles above The Dalles), a distance of about 200 miles. Salmon run up 
several of the tributaries of the Columbia, which have already been 
mentioned; but, with the exception of the Willamette and the Clackamas, 
none of these streams can be considered fishing grounds from a commer- 
cial standpoint. The great bulk of the fishing is in the lower part of 
the Columbia, within 35 to 45 miles of its mouth, and the relative impor- 
tance of this stretch of fishing ground is governed by its nearness to the 
ocean, the section below Astoria being the most productive. 
Baker’s Bay, on the north side and just within the river’s mouth, is 
the favorite ground for pound net fishing. In 1889 there were 121 
pound nets operated there. A few pound nets are set in Young’s Bay, 
opposite Baker’s Bay, just below Astoria; some are scattered along 
the river’s banks and on the bars for about 5 miles above A storia. 
The great fishing ground for drift gill nets is from the river’s mouth 
to about 15 miles above Astoria, but drift-net fishing is prosecuted in 
the channel for a considerable distance farther up the river. Set gill 
nets are chiefly used just below the Cascades. 
The fishing ground for drag seines covers about the same part of the 
river as that resorted to for drift gill-net fishing, though, with the excep- 
tion of one hauling reach on Sand Island, in Baker’s Bay, all the seine 
grounds are on the bars and shallow shores above Astoria, and mostly 
within about 15 miles of that city. A few reaches are worked, how- 
ever, as high up as Fish Trap Shoal, about 60 or 70 miles above Astoria. 
Not many years ago these seine reaches, which are simply sand-bars that 
are under water at high tide, were purchased from the State for merely 
nominal sums — only a few dollars. Many of them are now very valu- 
able, some being worth upwards of $1,000 each. 
The grounds upon which slat weirs are operated begin about 15 miles 
above Astoria aud continue to the lower end of Sanvies Island, some 45 
or 50 miles farther up the river. These are usually set from the banks 
of the river or the shores of the islands bordering the channels. In 
some places they are numerous, but are generally very much scattered. 
Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 4, p. 30. 
