268 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
JS^'otes on the iceight of salmon . — Owing to tlie practice of tbecanners of buying the 
salmon only by weight or by number, as may be determined on at the beginning of 
the season, it is not always easy to obtain accurate figures showing the average 
weights of salmon, except in small quantities and for isolated dates. The following- 
tabulations and notes may therefore possess some elements of general interest and 
serve as a basis for comxiarisons. 
In the case of Chinook salmon it is foiind that the largest fish are taken in 
greatest numbers about June 10 or 20*of each year. The fish running at the beginning 
and at the end of the season represent the minimum average sizes, the decline in weight 
from the middle of June being in botb directions. In 1891 there was a noteworthy 
run of very large fish in the lower river about the middle of June. One salmon 
weighing 74 pounds was lauded at the cannery of J. O. Hanthorn & Co., Astoria, 
which was the largest seen in a number of years; its greatest girth was 45 inches and 
its length was 56 inches. Seven salmon, caught in gill nets and traps on June 20, 
and weighing- 390- pounds in the aggregate, were found lying together at the cannery 
of Mr. M. J. Kinney, Astoria. 
The average weight of the Columbia River Chinook salmon is usually given as 22 
to 25 pounds. The detailed data obtained by the writer give 22.76 ijounds as the 
average w-eight of 104,831 chinook salmon caught in 1893 with gill nets, traps, and 
seines. The weights vary considerably with the apparatus employed and, as previously 
stated, with the season. Contrary to the usually accepted theoi-y, the average weight 
of the fish taken in pound nets is but little less than those caught with gill nets; 
during the month of June the. trap-caught- fish .are larger than those obtained with 
gill nets, and there are days in every month when- the tra]) fish will average larger 
than the others. 
'The following table is a detailed presentation of the variations in the average 
weights of Chinook salmon, depending on the month and apparatus in which ca-ught. 
More than 100,000 fish are involved in the comparison, a number-which is sufficiently 
large to warrant- generalizations from the figures. 
Statement showing hy months the number, iveight, and average weight of ehinook salmon taken tvith giU nets, 
jjound nets, and seines at the mouth of the Columhia JRiver and landed at a salmon cannery at Astoria, 
Oreg., in 1893. 
Moutbs. 
Caught by gill nets. 
Caught by pound nets. 
Caught by seines. 
Total. 
No. of 
fish. 
Total 
■weight 
(pounds). 
Aver- 
age 
■vN'erglit. 
No. of 
fish. 
Total 
■weight 
(pounds) . 
Aver- 
age* 
weight. 
No. of 
fish. 
Total 
■weight 
(pounds). 
Aver- 
age 
weight. 
No. of 
fish. 
Total 
weigh! 
(pounds). 
136, 621 
568, 420 
620, 819 
653, 164 
406, 602 
Aver- 
age 
weight. 
April 
May 
June 
July 
August 
Total . . . 
6, 409 
23, 4«8 
22, 008 
15, 917 
12, 892 
129, 052 
528, 498 
530, 397 
374, 851 
28/; 139 
20. 14 
22. 52 
21.10 
23. 58 
21.88 
146 
1, 793 
3,350 
6, 550 
3, 109 
7. 569 
39, 922 
86, 618 
146, 360 
64, 464. 
18.19 
22. 26 
25. 86 
•22. 35 
20. 73 
158 
5, 889 
2, 872 
3,804 
131, 9.53 
.59, 999 
24, 08 
22.41 
20.-89 
6, 825 
25, 261 
25,516 
28,356 
18, 873 
20.02 
22. 50 
24.33 
23. 03 
21.54 
80,694 
1, 844, 937 
22. 86 
15, 218 
344, 933. 
22. 67 
8,'919' 
195, 756 
21. 95 
104,831 2,385,626 
22. 76 
Some daily comparisons of the weights of chinook salmon caught in gill nets 
and pound nets, respectively, are presented in the following statement. The figures 
relate to about three months of the fishing season of 1893. The fish shown were 
landed at a cannery in Astoria between April 17 and June 28. The smallest average 
for gill-net fish was 18.49 pounds, on May 6; the largest was 26.15 pounds, on June 3. 
The smallest average for ti-ap fish was 15.95 pounds, on April 27 ; the largest was 
28.66 pounds, on June 10. 
