DESTRUCTION OF SALMON 233 



lives quietly on the spawning-bed. By the end of six weeks 

 the yolk-sac is absorbed, and the young fry begins to float 

 down-stream toward the sea. When the journey is very long, 

 the trip occupies several months, or even a year; and when 

 the young salmon at last reaches salt water, it is 4 or 5 

 inches long, and is known as a "parr." Of course the young 

 salmon feed all the way down, on a fresh-water menu. 



Naturally, the salmon millions of the Pacific streams early 

 attracted the attention and aroused the avarice of men who 

 exploit the products of Nature for gain. As usual, the boun- 

 tiful supply begat prodigality and wastefulness. The streams 

 nearest to San Francisco were the first. to be depleted by reck- 

 less over-fishing, and now some of the fishermen of California 

 solemnly aver that the sea-lions are largely to blame for the 

 depletion of the Sacramento salmon fishery! It is the 

 rapacious and deadly net and salmon-wheel, not the squid- 

 eating sea-lion, that is to blame. Regarding the conditions 

 that in 1901 prevailed in Alaska, the following notes by Mr. 

 George Bird Grinnell in the "Harriman Alaska Expedition" 

 are of interest: 



"The salmon of Alaska, numerous as they have been and 

 in some places still are, are being destroyed at so wholesale 

 a rate that before long the canning industry must cease to be 

 profitable, and the capital put into the canneries must cease 

 to yield any return. 



"The destruction of salmon comes about through the com- 

 petition between the various canneries. Their greed is so 

 great that each strives to catch all the fish there are, and all 

 at one time, in order that its rivals may secure as few as 



