FISHERIES OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 
257 
It is intended to introduce near Seattle a number of fish wheels, 
like those on the Columbia; they are to be located between some of 
the islands and worked by the tide. 
At Port Townsend gill nets and lines are somewhat sparingly used 
in the capture of salmon. One vessel (the Mary Parker , a sealer) took 
380 barrels of salt salmon, worth $2,660, in 1888, using trolling lines. 
The catch, in addition to the salt fish, consisted of only 10,000 pounds, 
valued at $450. 
At Tacoma 3 seines, 4 pound nets, and about 50 set and drift gill 
nets were employed in 1888, taking 125,000 pounds of salmon, which 
were sold fresh for $3,750. 
The Indians at Neah Bay use trolling lines, and in 1888 took 7,000 
pounds of salmon, valued at $140. A much larger catch could, no 
doubt, be made at this place, were it not for the fact that the Indians, 
at the time of the salmon run, are chiefly engaged in hop picking at 
places distant from their homes, having already laid in a supply of 
halibut and other fish to serve for their winter’s food. 
The aggregate yield of salmon on Puget* Sound in 1888 was 1,930,250 
pounds of fresh fish and 106,000 pounds of pickled salmon, valued at 
$41,005 and $3,410, respectively. 
The following notes on special devices for fishing, etc., employed in 
the salmon fishery at Point Roberts have been furnished by Mr. H. B. 
Kirby : * 
In order that the difficulties and drawbacks which I have met with here in setting 
a trap net which will take salmon in clear water may he understood, the following 
notes concerning my experience in Puget Sound and the Gulf of Georgia are pre- 
sented. 
It may first be stated that I was a fisherman on the Great Lakes for years before I 
came West. Soon after reaching Puget Sound I set a pound net in the same manner 
that they are fished on Lake Superior. This was a complete failure so far as taking 
salmon is concerned. I did not get over 100 salmon at a lift. Later I met with Lake 
Erie fishermen who had tried traps for salmon. They said there was too much phos- 
phorescence in the salt water, and because of this salmon would not “lead well’ 7 into 
the pound or bowl. 
I fished five seasons for salmon with seines. During that time I devised a plan for a 
trap that I thought would catch fish in this region. This new pound net was set off 
Birch Bay Head, in the Gulf of Georgia, on March 15, 1888. It proved a complete 
success, and caught everything that was running at that time— all kinds of salmon, 
halibut, cod, flounders, dogfish, herring, smelt, anchovies, sea lions, hair seals, por- 
poises, sturgeon, ducks, loons, etc. The salmon running at that time were steelheads, 
* Point Roberts is close to the bouudary line between British Columbia and Wash- 
ington ; it. is the northernmost point on the American side from which salmon fishing 
is prosecuted in this section. These notes were embodied in a letter written to mein 
March, 1890; they have been somewhat modified for the purpose of adapting them 
to publication, but the original expressions of the writer have been retained so far 
as practicable. The notes contain much that is novel, interesting, and instructive, 
and constitute a valuable addition to our knowlege of the fisheries of this region. 
With his letter Mr. Kirby sent me some pencil diagrams of the traps at Point Roberts 
and the canoes fishing on the roof oft that place. These have been redrawn, and 
furnish the illustrations on plates xuv and xlv. 
H. Mis. 274 17 
