SALMON, AMERICA’S MOST VALUABLE FISH 
205 
It was believed at the outset that de¬ 
pendence would have to be placed on 
artificial propagation to offset the tre¬ 
mendous drains made on the supply by 
man and other destructive agencies, and 
it was generally maintained at a very early 
period in the history of the salmon indus¬ 
try that with adequate cultivation the fish¬ 
eries could increase almost indefinitely. 
The first salmon hatchery in the West 
was established in 1872, on the McCloud 
River, in California. By executive order 
there was set aside a large tract for a 
“piscicultural preserve,” which was fit¬ 
tingly named Baird, after the first na¬ 
tional commissioner of fisheries; and 
Livingstone Stone, a pioneer fish culturist, 
was placed in charge and continued in 
that capacity for many years, overcoming 
many obstacles, undergoing many priva¬ 
tions, repeatedly subjected to great danger 
from attacks of Indians and outlaws, while 
devising methods which showed the possi¬ 
bilities of salmon culture and led to the 
present extraordinary development of 
this art. 
THE VAST EXTENT OF SALMON CULTURE 
The original Baird hatchery, still in 
active operation, is now supplemented by 
numerous other government stations, 
which may be regarded as lineal descend¬ 
ants. Three of these are in the Sacra¬ 
mento Valley, in California; four are in 
the Columbia basin, in Oregon and 
Washington; seven are in the Puget 
Sound and adjacent Washington region, 
and two are in Alaska. The three Pacific- 
coast States now maintain more than 30 
salmon hatcheries, the largest number 
being in Washington. 
A feature of the salmon industry which 
is not met with in any other branch of 
the fisheries has been the establishment 
and maintenance by private interests of 
hatcheries at various places on the coast. 
At present this practice is confined to 
Alaska, where, in 1911, five hatcheries 
belonging to canning companies pro¬ 
duced and liberated many millions of 
young red salmon. 
The eggs of the salmons are .2 to .25 
inch in diameter, and are the largest 
handled by the fish culturist. They are 
easily obtained by intercepting the fish 
on their way to the spawning grounds by 
means of racks, traps, seines, etc., and 
then, when exactly ripe, by expressing 
by firm pressure on the abdomen. 
The size and activity of the salmons 
make it necessary for two or three men to 
work together in holding the fish and reliev¬ 
ing them of their eggs and milt, and the 
largest individuals are most readily man¬ 
aged by putting them in a straight jacket. 
In view of the inevitable death of the 
salmon after spawning, an improvement 
over the old method of forcible expul¬ 
sion of the eggs is the stunning of the 
fish by a blow on the head and the taking 
of the eggs by abdominal section. This, 
while greatly facilitating the work of the 
spawn-takers, adds approximately 10 per 
cent to the egg yield by the saving of 
eggs that would ordinarily be left in the 
abdominal cavity. 
Salmon eggs hatch slowly. Incuba¬ 
tion, beginning in late summer or early 
autumn, continues until the following 
spring or summer, depending on the 
temperature of the water. The most 
protracted period of incubation thus far 
coming to the notice of fish culturists is 
that of the red salmon at Karluk, Alaska, 
where eggs taken in September may not 
hatch until the following May or June, 
and in certain seasons the hatching time 
has been prolonged to 270 days. 
The annual deposits of young salmon 
in the waters of the Pacific seaboard by 
the Bureau of Fisheries, the three coast 
States, the province of British Columbia, 
and the private hatcheries in Alaska now 
total from 450 to 500 million, of which 
the largest quantity represents the work 
of the Federal government. 
The human effort represented by this 
tremendous output may perhaps be better 
appreciated when a season’s take of eggs 
is considered as a commodity. The aver¬ 
age number of salmon eggs to a bushel 
may be given at 125,000. The number 
of eggs taken, fertilized, and incubated 
by the United States Bureau of Fisheries 
at its California, Oregon, Washington, 
and Alaska hatcheries in 1911 was equiv¬ 
alent to 1,500 bushels. The salmon-egg 
harvest of the other efficient agencies in¬ 
dicated would bring the yearly total up 
to 4,500 bushels. 
HOW MAN IMPROVES ON NATURE 
In the discussions of important eco¬ 
nomic questions affecting natural re¬ 
sources, especially animals, the conten¬ 
tion is sometimes made that man cannot 
improve on nature’s methods. This plea, 
which impresses many people and con- 
