NOTES ON THE FISHERIES OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 
279 
AVlien tlie large number of salmon traps in tlie lower Golumbia is recalled, and 
when tlie larger or smaller quantities of sturgeon caugiit at nearly every lift are taken 
into consideration, it may be readily understood that the annual loss must be enormous 
and must have had an appreciable influence on the abundance and catch. It is diffi- 
cult to avoid the conclusion that the present scarcity of sturgeon of marketable size 
in the Columbia Eiver must be at least partly attributable to the destruction of small 
fish ill the manner stated, which has been becoming greater each year with the 
increase in the traps. 
LAMPREYS. 
Impiiries regarding the results of the attenqited acclimatization of the eel 
[Aufitiilla chrysypa) on this coast are apt to elicit misleading information unless great 
care is exercised. In the San Francisco markets one learns that eels are not infre- 
quently exposed for sale, and that both salt-water and river fishermen catch them 
occasionally, but an examination of the reported eels usually shows them to be 
lampreys.* 
The only ‘‘eel” of the west coast that attracts the notice of fishermen is the 
three-toothed lanqirey {Eniosphenus trUleutatus), which ranges from Monterey to Can- 
ada, and ascends all the major streams. It is especially abundant in the Columbia 
basin. The San Francisco market steamers fishing paranzellas off Drake Bay are said 
to take these “eels” at almost every haul. The lamprey has no commercial value 
except in the region of the Columbia River and its tributaries. Here it has the habit 
of ascending the streams in large bodies and of clinging to the rocks at falls, where 
they are entirely oblivious to the presence of man and may be easily picked off by 
hand. They are considered e.xcellent bait for sturgeon, and several hundred barrels 
were formerly salted annually for that purpose. 
The largest runs of lampreys are often coincident with those of salmon. 
At the falls of the Willamette Eiver, near Oregon City, Oreg., on June 23, the 
rocks at the particular i^art of the falls where salmon ascend were at times completely 
covered with lampreys. In i)laces where the force of the current was least they were 
several layers deep, and at a short distance the rocks appeared to be covered with a 
profuse growth of keli) or other water plants. A lamprey dislodged by the force of 
the current or by an angling rod would often carry half a dozen others with it to 
the bottom of the falls. At the sides of the falls, numbers of lampreys had drawn 
themselves entirely out of the water to avoid the current or remained hanging from 
the rocks with oidy their tails in the water. In the turbid Avater beneath the falls 
hundreds of lampreys could be seen trying to get a j)osition on the rocks, some being 
those Avhich had been swept from the rocks above, others being new arrivals from the 
salt water. This noteworthy run had been in progress for about a Aveek, and was 
synchronous AA'ith the movement of chiuook salmon elsewhere alluded to. 
It appeared to me that only a very small part of the run could ever surmount 
these falls, over Avhich, as has been stated, salmon must haAm passed with the greatest 
difficvdty. The bodies of most of them showed the effects of the rough usage receiAmd; 
the posterior part of some Avas worn off fully one-fourth the total body length by being 
whipped against the surface of the rocks while the head remained fixed ; and numbers 
were seen to lose their hold, fall back in the Avater, and float away apparently dead, 
emaciated, and covered with bruises and fungus. 
* A few true eels have been taken in California, but they are now very rare aud seldom seen. 
