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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
To fish a reef net a channel was cut through the kelp. The net was suspended 
between two canoes, anchored at both the sides and bows, with the forward end of the 
net sloping downward and the rear end curving back upward to the surface. In deep 
locations strands of rope were sometimes strung across in front of the net and below 
it, to lead the salmon closer to the surface. The nets were fished when the tide was 
running strongly, but a tide of over 5-6 knots per hour was considered too fast for 
fishing. Reef net crews often had two locations and fished them at different stages of 
the tide. A lookout was stationed in the bow of each canoe and when a school of 
salmon passed over the net they signaled for it to be lifted. The net crews immed- 
iately let go the side anchor lines and, since the bow anchors were placed close together, 
the canoes were swung toward each other by the current. At the same time the 
forward edge of the net was swiftly lifted, enclosing the salmon in a bag from which 
they were dumped into the canoes. 
Because of the manner in which these nets were operated, only a few localities 
were well suited to this type of fishing. One of the principal reef-netting grounds was 
off the southeastern point of Point Roberts, before that region was disturbed by the 
introduction of traps. Another excellent ground was along the western shore of 
Lummi Island, but the introduction of traps here diverted the salmon from these reefs. 
Other grounds, of lesser importance, were along the south shore of Lopez Island, the 
west shore of San Juan Island, the east and west shores of Stuart Island, and at 
Point Doughty on Orcas Island. 
The number of these nets in the earlier years of the fishery must have been con- 
siderable, as Rathbun says that 15 to 20 nets were formerly fished at Point Roberts, 
16 operating there in 1889. By 1894 the string of traps had destroyed the advantage 
of this reef for nets. Wilcox (1898) lists 25 reef nets in Whatcom County and 14 in 
San Juan County in 1894. As late as 1901 there were 27 reef nets licensed, 15 to 
Lummi Island Indians and 12 to residents of the San Juan Islands. Because of the 
amount of labor involved, and the scarcity of favorable fishing locations, this gear was 
gradually supplanted, and only about a dozen have been used each year for the past 
20 years. 
According to Rathbun the reef-net fishermen confined their attention almost 
exclusively to sockeyes, taking only a few king salmon. However, in late years they 
have taken more of the other species, especially pinks and cohos. A day’s catch has 
declined until, in recent years, it has rarely amounted to more than a few hundred 
salmon, but this decrease has been due largely to the fact that the more favorable 
locations have been rendered useless by traps. 
CONSTRUCTION OF THE TRAPS 
The trap fishery, which was abolished after 1934 in Puget Sound by the passage 
of an initiative measure in the State of Washington, was the second of the four main 
types of gear to attain prominence. From 1873-1934 they have taken 37 percent of 
the sockeyes caught in the region, as well as enormous numbers of the other species. 
Trap nets were tried at Point Roberts some years earlier than at other places, 
the first trap being built in 1880 by John Waller at Cannery Point, Rathbun (1899), 
(see fig. 7). Several years elapsed before the fishermen discovered the most desirable 
