The Pacific Salmon 



tive organs. They are not in any way due to the action of 

 fresh water. They take place at about the same time in the 

 adult males of all species, whether in the ocean or in the rivers. 

 At the time of the spring runs all are symmetrical. In the fall 

 all males, of whatever species, are more or less distorted. 

 Among the dog salmon, which run only in the fall, the males 

 are hook-jawed and red-blotched when they first enter the Straits 

 of Fuca from the outside. The humpback, taken in salt water 

 about Seattle, have the same peculiarities. The male is slab- 

 sided, hook-billed, and destorted, and is rejected by the canners. 



On first entering a stream the salmon swim about as if 

 playing. They always head toward the current, and this appear- 

 ance of playing may be simply due to facing the moving tide. 

 Afterward they enter the deepest parts of the stream and swim 

 straight up, with few interruptions. Their rate of travel at Sac- 

 ramento is estimated by Stone at about 2 miles per day; on 

 the Columbia at about 3 miles per day. Those who enter the 

 Columbia in the spring and ascend to the mountain rivers of 

 Idaho must go at a more rapid rate than this, as they must 

 make an average of nearly 4 miles per day. 



As already stated, the economic value of any species depends 

 in great part on its being a "spring salmon." It is not generally 

 possible to capture salmon of any species in large numbers until 

 they have entered the rivers, and the spring salmon enter the 

 rivers long before the growth of the organs of reproduction has 

 reduced the richness of the flesh. The fall salmon can not be taken 

 in quantity until their flesh has deteriorated; hence, the dog salmon 

 is practically almost worthless, except to the Indians, and the hump- 

 back salmon is little better. The silver salmon with the same 

 breeding habits as the dog salmon, is more valuable, as it is found in 

 the inland waters of Puget Sound for a considerable time before the 

 all rains cause the fall runs, and it may be taken in large numbers 

 with seines before the season for entering the rivers. The quinnat 

 or Chinook salmon, from its great size and abundance, is more 

 valuable than all the other fishes on our Pacific Coast taken together. 

 The blueback, similar in flesh, but much smaller and less abundant, 

 is worth much more than the combined value of the three remaining 

 species of salmon. 



The fall salmon of all species, but especially of the dog salmon, 

 ascend streams but a short distance before spawning. They seem 



147 



