12 
strates that to be the cause. And the small catch and the empty spawning beds 
of the Fraser, this year and last, prove it. 
In my report of last year I had occasion to review in detail the conditions 
existing upon the fishing and spawning grounds of the Fraser, in which I sought 
to trace the movements of the sockeye from the sea to the river, and attempted 
to show that too great a proportion of the sockeye was being captured in the poor 
years, that an insufficient number reached the spawning grounds, and that there 
was urgent need of giving greater protection to the fish. In that review I sought 
to show, as others have done, that the greatest movement of the sockeye seek- 
ing entrance to the Fraser passed through the American channels of Puget Sound, 
and called attention to the fact that there were no limitations, either of time or 
method, placed upon the capture of sockeye in those waters, and that in con- 
sequence all, or most all, the fish which attempted to pass through those channvls 
were captured by trap, purse or drag-nets. It was also shown that in our waters, 
though fishing was prohibited until July 1st and that a weekly 36-hour closed 
season was enforced, and that the fishing was confined to the use of gill nets, 
there was an excessive number of such nets being used. 
My observations during the past season confirm these predictions. Since that 
time there has been no improvement in these conditions existing upon the fishing 
grounds. They remain in the same deplorable state. There is no occasion for sur- 
prise that no greater restrictions have been placed upon our fishermen in view of 
the fact that the whole burden of protection already falls upon them, while the 
Americans continue to take every fish possible during the entire time they are in 
their waters. If the decline in this fishery is due to excessive fishing, as I have 
already asserted, the censure for it rests principally, if not wholly, at the door 
of the State of Washington, as the unbridled fishing conducted in her waters is 
indefensible and unjustifiable, and, if continued, will wipe out the salmon fishery 
of the Fraser. We are told by some Washington officials that the decrease in 
the run of salmon is occasioned by the failure to provide adequate hatcheries; that 
only by their establishment can the run be maintained, and it is even proposed that 
the people interested in the fishing industry in the State of Washington will, if 
permitted, construct and operate extensive hatcheries on the Fraser. It may be 
that the great canning interests of Washington believe this, and are the authors 
of this movement, and would willingly contribute towards the building and main- 
tenance of extensive hatcheries. They would certainly be justified in doing so, but 
until they secure the passage of suitable protective legislation governing their own 
fishing methods, there would seem to be a lack of sincerity in their suggestion that 
is apparent to any one familiar with the regrettable conditions existing there, and 
which so seriously threaten their own interests and ours. No hatchery system, 
however extensive, can be devised that will maintain the run of sockeye in the 
Fraser from eggs obtained from its waters, unless the fishing is so regulated as to 
permit the free passage of a sufficient number of fish to reach the spawning 
grounds each year. While it is true that the output of young fish for the season 
could have been greatly increased had there been an additional hatchery at the 
head of Lillooet Lake, it is equally true that under present conditions 75 per cent. 
of the spawning grounds of the Fraser were barren of fish this year. Two of the 
three hatcheries already established on the Fraser were unable to obtain over 10 
per cent. of the eggs they have capacity to handle, and the eggs they did get were, 
with the exception of three hundred thousand, secured at Shuswap, taken from fish 
which entered the Fraser after most of the American traps had been removed from 
the Sound. 
The Canadian canners, chafing under the restrictions imposed 
upon them, united in petitioning the Dominion authorities to 
permit the use of salmon traps in Juan de Fuca Strait, in order 
that they might be placed on a comparatively equal footing with 
their competitors of Puget Sound. Their request was endorsed by 
the Government of British Columbia by the granting of foreshore 
rights (fish-trap sites), a substantial mark of sympathy, and Mr. 
Babcock expressed his views on the subject as follows :— 
