No. 5. 
EETORT UPON THE EISHES COLLECTED ON THE SURVEY. 
BY DR. G. SUCKLEY, U. S. A. 
CHAPTER I. 
REPORT UPON THE SALMONPDAE. 
As the salmon family holds the strongest position in economical importance among the fishes 
of the northwest, the first portion of this report is devoted to the consideration of that group. 
The second division contains brief descriptions and notes of the other kinds of fishes found along 
the line of the survey. Those obtained east of the Rocky mountains are simply alluded to by 
the names given in the General Report on Fishes, vol. 10 Pacific Railroad Reports, with reference 
to the pages in which descriptions more in detail can be found. The fishes obtained from the 
region west of those mountains have brief scientific descriptions added, in order that they may 
be readily identified by students or future explorers in those Territories. This was deemed 
necessary on account of the great confusion existing among settlers regarding the common names 
applied to the fish, many of which, although widely distinct from each other, are known by the 
same names to different persons. 
The notes and memoranda furnished by Dr. James G. Cooper, surgeon and naturalist to the 
western division of the survey, have been incorporated over his initials. Credit is given in 
their appropriate connexions for information derived from other persons. 
The fisheries of Washington Territory will, at an early day, be considered of great importance 
to our commerce. The various kinds of salmon form the bulk of the valuable fishes there found, 
but there are, in addition, many others which, although not so numerous, are yet abundant 
and of fair relative commercial value. Among these are the cod , found in moderate quantity 
in Puget Sound, and said to be very abundant on a deep bar or bank, off the mouth of the 
Straits of Fuca; the halibut , found in the same situations; the eulachon , a very delicious fish, in 
some years coming in great shoals in the bays of the lower part of Puget Sound, and along the 
coast near the mouth of Frazer’s river; the herring , arriving in vast quantities in the same waters 
at regular periods, besides a vast number of good table fish, such as sole, flounders, the so-called 
“rock-cod,” viviparous perch, &c., &c., which, although not valuable for trade, are useful 
additions to the fare of the inhabitants.* 
Several points on the Columbia river are most excellent locations for the taking of salmon 
and the establishment of “packing” houses. These are generally at the greater falls and 
rapids. The best fish are there taken in the spring and early summer months. Salmon of 
* A trade in oysters has long been carried on between Sboalwater bay and San Francisco, and will, if properly conducted 
undoubtedly prove profitable. 
