4 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 



same as the seed potato is necessary to insure a 

 crop the succeeding year. 



Many petitions have been circulated, asking that 

 the Fish and Game Commission open what is known 

 as the closed season from March 1 to May 1 on the 

 rivers of this state. No fishing of any kind for 

 commercial purposes is permitted during this 

 period. The closed season has been placed on these 

 streams in order to insure a future crop, or run, 

 of salmon, and is just as necessary to the future of 

 this food supply as is the retention of a certain 

 quantity of potatoes or a certain quantity of wheat 

 to be used as seed for the next crop. 



The salmon is a peculiar fish. It lives only to 

 spawn., It migrates to the ocean after being hatched 

 in fresh water, and in the fourth year, having ob- 

 tained its growth, it proceeds to enter the stream 

 from which it went into the ocean and ascend to 

 the upper reaches of its parent water, where it 

 deposits its spawn and then dies. The two months 

 of March and April have been considered, by men 

 who have studied the habits of the fish, to be the 

 best months for the spring closed season to permit 

 this migration. 



Many subtle reasons are advanced why the 

 closed season should be suspended this year, chief 

 among them being the necessity for fish food to 

 take the place of beef and pork. It is contended 

 that if the closed season is permitted to remain 

 that thousands of these fish, after spawning, die 

 and lie on the banks of the rivers, where they de- 

 compose and become a menace to the public health. 

 This is not literally true. The salmon which reach 

 the natural spawning beds do die, and they do float 

 down the stream, but they float slowly, work them- 

 selves along the shores into the shallow waters, 

 where they become the food of the baby salmon 

 and other fish which are in the stream. 



