SitAg 
 
Glass 
 Book 
 
 ^^:ihu 
 
Alaska Salmon 
 
 And Their 
 
 Practical 
 Propagation 
 
 By 
 
 A. J. Sprague 
 
 Supt. Territorial Hatcheries 
 
 of Alaska (.Iv,) HJ^ 
 
 Cjci'WiI 
 
 MARCH, 1921 
 
 ALASKA DAILY EMPIRE PRINT 
 
U'SR^KY Of CUNUKtAi 
 
 
 JUN S 1925. 
 
sn.T-,f\^ 
 
 \-i 
 
 Page One 
 
 THE ALASKA SALMON 
 
 And Their 
 
 PRACTICAL PROPAGATION 
 
 By 
 I A. J. SPRAGUE 
 
 Superintenednt Territorial Hatcheries 
 of Alaska. 
 
 MARCH, 192L 
 
 I am writing this little book, dear reader, 
 tor the benefit of the Alaska fishermen, for 
 we are all interested, from the big cannery- 
 men to the little gunny sack fishermen of the 
 
 |j spawning streams. I want a little heart to 
 heart talk' with all the thousands of Alaska 
 
 i fishennen. 
 
 We all live in Alaska and desire to con- 
 tinue our residence here. The fish business 
 
 I is the largest industry in Alaska, and we, as 
 
 fishermen, must see that it is taken care of 
 i 
 I and that the industry is not destroyed 
 
 I through greed or lack of intelligent pres- 
 
 3| ei*va.tlon and propagation. This is no one 
 
 man's job. Everyone must do his part, and 
 
 f"" that means all of us. 
 We all know there is something wrong 
 
 p when we have spasmodic runs of salmon in 
 different districts of our inland waters. On 
 off years we always pat ourselves on the 
 
 I back and say, "Oh yes, next year is the big 
 cycle year." And when the fish do not come, 
 
 I we explain it away in one breath by mak- 
 ing a goat of the bear, seagulls, fish ducks, ^ 
 all species of trout and other fish eating 
 all the salmon eggs or to storms or lower 
 
 I water stream conditions. It would be good 
 policy for us to be honest with ourselves. 
 We all know that for centuries nature has 
 
provided for all of this loss, and she has 
 fixed, immutable and iron laws. For, to start 
 with, she has never given the power to 
 anyone species to destroy without placing a 
 limit to that destruction. (Frankly I don't 
 believe that there are any more seagulls 
 today than there were twenty years ago.) Whea 
 any living creatures become too plentiful, 
 nature has her own way to destroy and an- 
 nihilate them. Just leave it to her. She will 
 establish that balance or equilibrium neces- 
 sary. Her iron laws hold, from the minutest 
 form of life to man, himself. 
 
 Now. just a word about the tiout's de- 
 vouring all the salmon eggs. Possibly it has 
 
 INLAND PASSAGE SCENE 
 
 •CANNERY AT BIG PORT \\Al/rb:R. 
 BARANOFF ISLAND 
 
 r 
 
 "never occurred to one person in a hundred 
 that the young salmon, during his stay in fresh 
 water, before going to his future home in 
 the seas, eat the eggs and young of the trout 
 during their spawning season. 
 
 For nature intended this to be so, in 
 order that the trout may not get too plen- 
 tiful. On the other hand she has given to 
 one female salmon three thousand eggs. 
 Why? So that a few may reach maturity, 
 and the balance feed her other creatures. 
 
 Comes now, Mr. Selfishman, and upsets 
 
Page Three 
 
 and destroys, all of this balaace. He would 
 take all, and put nothing back. Now make 
 no mistake in this matter, for nature does 
 not intend to stand for any of that kind of 
 stuff. We are only fooling ourselves. It is 
 like the farmer that takes the crops off his 
 land and in turn has to fertilize it, and put 
 in another one. And Mr. Fisherman, that is 
 just what we have got to do with the sea. 
 We have got to put something back, and at 
 least allow a certain per cent, of a yearly, 
 run of salmon up to their spawning grounds 
 to seed the beds for the future generation. 
 If we don't we may just as well grab our 
 blankets and say, "To the Pioner's Home at 
 Sitka for us," or, "Where do we go from 
 here." We can't get in on the Siberian 
 fisheries, for the Japs and Reds have beat 
 us to it. They got there first, and anyhow, 
 just at the present time, we don't know 
 who to make an-angements with yet. 
 
 Now let's call a spade a spade in this 
 fish business. All of you fellov/s know how 
 to get the fish, by all the clever devices set 
 by the ingenuity of man, from the modern 
 floating trap to the gunny sack fisherman of 
 the streams, and why not, all of us help .a 
 little bit on the propagation end of this busi- 
 ness? Honest now, don't get sore, and lose 
 two weeks' sleep because a few salmon got 
 by your nets and racks during the night of 
 high water, and escaped up stream to seed 
 their spawning beds for the future preserva- 
 tion of the species. Let's take a look into 
 the propagatioii end of this most important 
 fish question. 
 
 ARTIFICIAL RETAINING POND FOR 
 
 YOUNG SALMON A FAILURE. 
 Now what about the Pond retaining, rear- 
 ing, system for the salmon which of late we 
 have heard and read so much? Take it from 
 me, you can't do it and get results. 1 paid 
 the price and it came high. Let me tell you 
 that experience is the best and only certain 
 teacher. 1 built and operated the Trask and 
 Klamath Falls Hatcheries for the State of 
 Oregon in 1909 and 1913, and as Superin- 
 tendent launched the Pond rearing system 
 March llth of that year. (See Tillo.mook 
 Headlight). Now listen, I built some dandy 
 little ponds good enough to swim in. They 
 now have the same kind, :it dear old Bonne- 
 
Page Pour 
 
 ville Hatchery on the Columbia River, Ore- 
 gon, where they claim to raise millions of I! 
 y' img salmon, taken from eggs shipped from 
 Alaska. They are kept in these small gravel 
 like ponds for a period of two years, and 
 then distributed at the cost of about one 
 dollar per fish, four inches long. If they 
 ever ' should return, are they coming back 
 to those same ponds when matured fori 
 spawning? Now I don't believe this, neither! 
 does the poor fish. 
 
 In retaining ponds for young salrnoh itW 
 is always customary to put a screen in the 
 lower end of the pond in order to keep the 
 young salmon in and trout and other enemies 
 out Now when the instinct of the salmon 
 asserts itself, he wants and must have hisj 
 freedom to go to his future home, the sea. 
 And if you compel him to remain in thisj 
 pond he becomes stunted in growth, andj 
 development and, of course, dies. 
 
 Take for example, one hundred thousandh 
 salmon to be held in a pond for a period 
 of two years in order to protect them until j 
 they were good sized fish before being lib- 
 erated. The following results will take 
 place: (1) Because of the lack of natural 
 microscopic food, found in all tundra water, 
 and that cannot be artificially reproduced, all 
 artificial pond fish go bad sooner or later, 
 usually about the third month. (2) All sal- 
 mon pass from fresh to salt water by an 
 instinct of nature. They never ha,ve con- 
 sulted any human being as to that time, for 
 they have their own fixed schedule, rain or 
 shine, high or low water. (3) And if they 
 cannot go at their own specified time of 
 the year, they either die, because you have 
 them penned up against their better instinct, i| 
 or you have stunted their development andf" 
 growth for all time to come; and, worse 
 still, by continuous confinment and unnatural 
 food, freedom, and environment, you have in- 
 terfered also with the reproductive organs, 
 and liberated barren fish. The result is 
 thousands of immatured salmon all along 
 the Pacific and inland waters, wanderers in 
 their native element, with no instinct for 
 return to the parent stream to fulfill their 
 mission in life, then spawn and die. (4) 
 Besides having domesticated them, you have 
 robbed them of the vital instinct of self 
 
Pagre Five 
 
 preservation. (5) With one hundred thou- 
 sa,nd young salmon liberated in any pond the 
 loss before the end of the second year 
 will be eighty per cent, caused by fungas 
 and parasitic gill disease, and cannibalism, 
 the feeding off of their other weaker brothers 
 ?'by the thousands. Meanwhile, ducks and other 
 water fowl will collect their toll. We must 
 not overlook the fact that it is impossible 
 
 ,_ to furnish their miscrosopic, insect food .- 
 .^iound in the tundra swamps and waters that fe 
 
 ((|are natural breeding places of the Humpy, ^y 
 Coho, and Chum Salmon. The best artificial 
 
 I food that we can obtain is raw liver, almost 
 prohibitive in cost, limited in quantity, and 
 at best a poor substitute. At the present 
 lowest market price, it will cost a dollar and 
 eight and a half cents each to hold and feed 
 
 |!what salmon are left out of this hundred 
 
 |! thousand lot, for a period of two years, in- 
 cluding, of course, the cost of maintaining, 
 building and general upkeep of these ponds. 
 AVe can certainly pity these fish, when 
 turned loose into the watery elements in 
 which thei'e is no mercy, having been hand i| 
 
 lifed. petted and domesticated, knowing no 
 I fear. They eat out of your hand and fol- 
 ilow you around the pond, when the dinner 
 ilbell rings. Now, the question that we may 
 
 I'well ask ourselves is, "What becomes of this 
 wreck we have turned loose?" They are less 
 than four inches in length, derelicts with 
 
 |i everything their enemies, from the two- 
 legged man on down the line. They never 
 come back to spawn, they will never come 
 back into this pond, wherf; they were reared. 
 And it can make no difference in what man- 
 ner you mark, tag or mutilate their fins, 
 
 i'we can expect no reurn. All marks are _ 
 
 vdangerous for voung fish. "•'§;' 
 
 ii 
 
 EXPERIMENTS 
 
 ! The following experiment was carried out 
 
 jin September 1917. Two hundred thousand 
 
 ijfertilized Red Salmon eggs and 80,000 Humpy 
 
 I eggs were planted in the sand and gravel 
 
 |a depth of 12 to 14 inches in a tributary 
 
 ; spring stream leading from a small pond 
 
 I on the South side of Chilkoot Lake. It con- 
 
 I tained no fish whatever, being obstructed a 
 
 short distance above its outlet into the 
 
 lake. I found in this body of water no 
 
Page Six 
 
 familiar fungas spores so much in evidence 
 in natural salmon spawning streams that 
 contain thousands of spawning salmon, and it 
 was barren of fish life. Upon closer obser- 
 vation it was found to be a natural pond or 
 stream, with the water distributed from 
 heavy seepage. Fearing the lack of proper 
 fcod for the young fish after hatching, owing 
 to the lateness of the season, when bugs, 
 flies, gnats and various crustaceous food is 
 not available, I buried in the sand also a 
 short distance from the eggs, to prevent any 
 
 WATERFALLS 
 
 k 
 
 (^jfungas growth spreading to the buried eggs. 
 
 the bodies of the parent fish, for their future 
 food supply. (The bodies of the sockeye fish 
 stripped of their eggs.) 
 
 A large percentage of these eggs hatched, 
 but if they had been held to the eyed stage, 
 or say within 4 or 5 days of hatching, the 
 result would have been at least ninety per 
 cent, because later experiments proved this. 
 We must bear in mind that salmon eggs 
 brought to this stage of development have 
 not had time to breed the vegetable mold, 
 commonly called fungas. This fungas causes 
 
 ->;)i'\' "'-'njnTr'TmTi7T 
 
 TimnrmiinTn TTm. 
 
Page Seven | 
 
 I loss under artificial propagation but not 
 I among the alevins or fry in natural condi- 
 f'. tions. Also, it must be understood, salmon 
 I eggs, buried deep in the sand, are not at- 
 i tracted by fungas growth, but when you 
 I consider the length of time that the eggs 
 I must be buried in the sand, 45 to 90 days 
 E under natural spawning, it is reasonable to 
 I understand that thousands are destroyed by 
 ^ fungas. But if the eggs are within three 
 or four days of hatching they are safe from 
 t fungas or suffocation, piling, or bunching. 
 I I carried on these experiments largely at 
 I my own expense for two years, and was now 
 I broke. This Chilkoot experiment was car- 
 I ried out with the assistance of Mr. F. O. 
 I Burckhardt, of the Alaska Pacific Fisheries, 
 I who paid for and furnished .his cannery ten- 
 1 der, the "Chilkoot," with men, nets, native 
 I guides, etc. I had asked for assistance from j| 
 
 I all the cannerymen of Alaska on June 1, l| 
 E 1918, but few responded l| 
 
 Now what has been the results of this j| 
 experiment? Mr. M. J. O'Connor, Mr. Henry | 
 Roden, Mr. Martin Madsen and natives near i 
 Haines reported, that on the 20th of August, 
 1920. thousands of Humpys were seen in the 
 B.iy and Chilkoot Lake. I do not mean to 
 say this is positive proof, but Humpys were 
 seen and this is not a Humpy district. 
 I am getting more information on this point. 
 
 II It means much to us here in Alaska. First, 
 it explodes the theoi-y that the Humpys re- 
 turn in two years and back into the parent 
 stream where they hatched This was the 
 three-year cycle, and it must certainly apply 
 to this particular district at least — (Note) 
 To my mind, it speaks tlie whole history 
 of the sea on the question of the return 
 of salmon into the parent stream. Why 
 
 I should salmon pass by hundreds of clear 
 
 g water ideal spawning streams, to enter that 
 
 lone particular stream with apparently no 
 
 advantage over any other stream? It must 
 
 establish the homing instinct. 
 
 The time is now ripe for me to say that 
 I have studied salmon propagation and 
 spawning conditions in Alaska streams, and 
 what has been accomplished along practical 
 lines in the experiment of stocking, for the 
 first time, barren lakes — devoid of fish life 
 because of impassible fall? of water at the 
 
Page EigUt 
 
 i outlet, 50 to 60 feet high. Such bodies of j| 
 i water are alive, however, with natural fish I 
 U food, where it has accumulated for years in ^ 
 I5I vast storage basins making excellent feeding' 3 
 i grounds for young salmon. Thus it is made | 
 'c\ ideal for the propagation of a continuouis ji 
 ^ food supply for the young salmon that are 
 i placed therein; and, as soon as one specie 
 of salmon eggs are hatched, and in course of 
 their alloted time pass to sea, the lake con- 
 tinues to be a self producing food reservoir 
 for the next plant of hatching salmon eggs. 
 
 I Compare for a moment this condition and 
 
 '- that of other barren lakes with the two s 
 
 g 
 by four gravelike and unnatural retamingl| 
 
 ponds at the various hatcheries, with their | 
 
 unnatural environments, lack of shade, rock, a 
 
 y snags, and shelter, with costly constructior, i 
 
 ■1 and draining system and expensive main-:; 
 
 tenance. I 
 
 WARM SPRINGS LAKE ON BARANOF| 
 ISLAND,. ALASKA. OR BARANOF ' 
 LAKE IN WARM SPRINGS BAY. 
 
 The area 698 acres, available spawnins; 
 fi'i grounds, inlet streams and tributaries of 
 ten and a half miles, capable of holding andji 
 feeding, without any cost whatsoever, on.e|| 
 half of the entire output of young salmon I 
 = ' (up to the age of their passing to theirl 
 s; future home in the salt water) of the annualll 
 
 II pack of Alaska. Plants were made in this 1 
 |i lake, October 23, 1919, to February 13, i 
 i! 1920. In all, 2,690,000 eyed Humpy and CohOi^i 
 Ij eggs buried in the sand and gravel of thiSj^ 
 I lake. In November 1919 this lake took on itsji 
 I usual winter coat of ice. (This afforded more!| 
 I protection to the eggs and hatched fryll 
 
 (II planted therein, as no water fowl, of any 
 <|f description could eat or destroy them, and 
 there were no fish in the lake to devour|| 
 =1 them.) 
 
 Let us understand this experiment. Had 
 5| these eggs been fertilized, and then planted, 
 without being eyed, or been what is com- 
 monly known to fiah culurist as green eggs, 
 the loss would have been heavy. As before ri 
 stated the eggs would have accumulated t! 
 largely in bunches, suffocating them, also, j 
 exposing them to the cottony vegetable fun- 
 gas growth, as there would have been a 
 period or from ninety to one hundred days, 
 
 {^: 
 
 3iniimmii irn-rnTnrnTrTrrTTTTmTT iii n iiuiii i i iTrin?:\v ;)Xi> C^jj^^ ^ ^ ^ 'rrTiiiTrTiTmrmiT'nn un: 
 
Page Nine 
 
 before the hatching stage of the eggs would | 
 be reached. Observations on July 6. 1920, 
 from this plant of eggs were made. There 
 was located, and seen throughout the lake 
 and its tundra and tributary inlet streams, 
 \u schools of thousands, young salmon ofi 
 an average length of three and one half| 
 inches, in vigorous and healthy condition, 
 and not like the hand reared, domesticated 
 fish, robbed of the instinct of self preserva- 
 tion. One can realize that the cost of 
 maintaining and feeding these fish up to 
 this size and growth without the assistance 
 of a natural feeding ground, provided for by 
 nature, would have entailed an enormous 
 outlay of money. Following out this exper- 
 ment, we found that these young salmon 
 had passed to sea. the following September, 
 
 HUNTERS RETURN 
 
 1920. That is to say the Humpy Salmon had, 
 while the Coho migrated to their future salt 
 water home in October. Owing to the dif- 
 ferent ages of eggs planted, from October,. 
 1919, to February, 1920, a few remained irt "ij 
 the lake, and are still there, while those 
 that passed to sea. of the earlier lot, some 
 were found in the salt water, very safe and jl 
 sound. They had gone os^er the fift^z-foot 
 falls without injury. Be it understood that 
 these falls have prevented any and all fish 
 from entering this body of water. TJ^at probr 
 ably is the only reason for its being a barren 
 lake. It is not in any sense a mineralized 
 body of water, and is fed by glacier, spring 
 and tundra water. However, if it had been 
 mineralized it would not prevent spawning 
 or breeding salmon from entering. 
 
Page Ten 
 
 It has been my obsei-vation that we have 
 many heavily mineralized short coast streams 
 I' in Southeastern Alaska which salmon use as 
 I spawning streams in large numbers, as for 
 g example, Duck Creek and Knudson Creek 
 I near Juneau. By burying the eyed eggs of 
 c salmon in the sand or gravel the inherited 
 I instinct and the vital impetus is potential 
 c in causing the salmon to return to those 
 I same streams or lakes to spawn. 
 ^g_ In the life study of the salmon, we have -r 
 P to go to nature, in singleness of heart, and 
 I work with her, having no other thought but 
 & how to best discover her meaning, rejecting 
 ^ and scorning nothing. She long ages ago 
 I discovered that the best way to make any 
 I race of men, animals or fish strong, and 
 '' hardy, was not to shield them from their 1 
 enemies, but to give them power of resist- j 
 -: ance against their enemies. i 
 
 I ADULT SALMON AND THE NATURAL i 
 % PROPAGATION. 
 
 I 
 
 I These observations cover a period of 
 
 I years from 1907 to the present time. jl 
 
 I Young salmon passing from fresh to salt 
 p water, their future home in the sea, natur- 
 ally make for the warmer Japan Current, 
 s wherein they find an immense and rich feed 
 li ing ground. Here is found the floating red 
 Ij shrimp crustacean food, shifted by the tides 
 ijinto immense shoals, acres in extent, 
 I giving to the water a reddish appearance. 
 I During the winter months thousands of 
 |i schools of shiners, herring and the young 
 I of other fishes are their food. It is true 
 e they pass beyond human observation to a ig 
 I large extent, but we have found them not 
 p so many hundred miles away from the "^ 
 1^ parent stream where they were hatched. We 
 \|liave with us any month of the year certain it 
 I species of matured salmon. They swarm j 
 I back to or near the Coast line. When i 
 I matured, salmon mill around for days and : 
 I weeks, adapting themselves for the change i 
 lifrom salt to fresh water, at the mouth of i 
 the parent stream, selecting their mates, and : 
 I pairing off while in the brackish water. They j 
 are weather prophets. You can always tell | 
 by watching the movement of salmon if | 
 heavy rains are due, for by instinct they g 
 jump and contort for the rains they know j| 
 
Page Eleven' 
 
 will flood the streams, assisting them to 
 reach the upriver spawning grounds, over 
 the otherwise shallow tributaries and sand [| 
 bars. It is, indeed, a struggle for the later | 
 
 || run of spawning salmon, in the low tern- I 
 peratural glacial water tributary streams, || 
 and their remaining strength is yet to be I 
 
 I matched by ice obstructions. In the North- " 
 
 =' ern seas, beaten by storms, chilled by ice ; 
 
 :i drifts, tormented by furious contending tides, ] 
 4^ a horde of seagulls mutilating their bodies, ,; 
 
 ji picking out their eyes. Beasts, and fowl, M 
 ^! driven with hunger attack them and they | 
 f, match their skill to evade them. With a | 
 '1 body rich in oil and fat, nature has truly | 
 ;| prepared the salmon for his mission in life. | 
 ^j With a wonderful vitality, he hesitates at || 
 I no barrier, to accomplish his mission at [| 
 spawning, and to permit his dead body to be- il 
 come food for the young after hatching, i 
 Observations on salmon movements through- | 
 out our inland waters will show us that the ?.. 
 scarcer herring are the smaller are our i 
 salmon runs. This is one of the main foods l| 
 for salmon, halibut, and other fish. We ir\ 
 know, of course, that thousands of dead 
 salmon are washed to sea at flood time of 
 streams, after they are through spawning 
 and are covered with sand and gravel. If 
 when salmon spawn in streams entering 
 lakes the decayed bodies of the parent fis)i 
 are washed into the lake. Nature intends 
 they shall help to produce and increase the 
 natural food supply, along with the organic 
 laden sediment carried therein, where it re- 
 mains until an over surplus is produced. 
 This year we had low water conditions at 
 all the field stations in this district. I have 
 ll;.noticed that the first run of salmon spawned 
 IJ'in the lower reaches of streams because they 'M 
 could not reach spawning grounds higher up. 
 The first run of fish spawned here, and the 
 next run used the same beds, gouging and 
 i digging up the eggs of the first spawned 
 fish. It would look like a very wasteful pro- 
 cess at best on Nature'is part. 
 
 My next observation was on Admiralty 
 Island, at Sprague Creek, where a rack 125 
 feet in length was in operation to prevent 
 ijthe salmon trout going up stream with the 
 p spawning salmon to feed upon their eggs. 
 y^Four pairs of salmon entered a small side 
 
 (( 
 
stream in which the water was very low 
 and splashed and dug with tails and flns 
 about all night, and when the nest was 
 completed it looked like a fair size shaft 
 about three feet wide and 18 or 20 inches 
 deep, during this process Mr. and Mrs.. 
 Salmon seemed very insistent that the nest 
 be just so deep and at this spot. I did not 
 get the reason just then, but after they had 
 spawned and had the nest covered with 
 gravel, this part of the stream went dry, /^^ 
 The eggs of salmon have a marked power " 
 of apparently suspending life in the moist 
 sand and resuming activities again, when 
 sufficient water arrived. They had evidently 
 by instinct foreseen this before hand, and 
 sure eaough, a heavy rain, enough to flotit 
 a boat over the spawning bed came a few jj 
 days after the parent fish had died. In the 
 last struggle of life, both fish had run under \ 
 
 an underhanging bank, and later both bodies 
 
 THE FISHING FLEET 
 
 ^Iwere partly covered with sand and coarse 
 3 gravel from the recent flood effect of the 
 |stream. The one nest that was under my 
 linvestigation had about 800 eggs therein, 
 ^iind I would say one half were dead on the 
 10th day, as up to this time I had not dis- 
 turbed them. Before they had reached the 
 "'eyed" stage 200 more were dead, caused 
 probably by nonffertilizaton. 1 say they died 
 because of non-fertilization because there was 
 no fungas growth at that depth of gravel, 
 even on spawning streams that are crowded 
 with fish. I have noticed that the male is 
 kept so very busy fighting off trout or other 
 enemies, preventing them from eating the 
 eggs, that he is not always on the spot to 
 fertilize the eggs, and hundreds are washed 
 
 w 
 
(II 
 
 Page Thirteen 
 
 down stream by the current and ai'e not 
 I fertilized, but serve as food for other fish. 
 i One of the most persistent andly dead ene- 
 £ mies is the fish known as molly grub, Eng- 
 I lish and Irish lords, bull-heads and by other 
 ^ local names. 
 
 I . Never under natural conditions can you 
 r find young salmon in what is known as the 
 p "food sac stage" in the stream. For he is 
 buried in the sand and gravel, and he has '^ 
 the inherited power to work up and out of it ^ 
 after the sac is absorbed, even though the 
 i, bed may be two feet deep in the gravel. 
 
 Nature provides wonderful vitality for the ■ 
 
 i' fry, and he knows by instinct that every- ^ 
 
 3 thing, fish, fowl, and man, is his enemy, a 
 
 Ij Upon the first shadow upon the water like | 
 
 a flaS'h he has gone under rocks and snags. | 
 
 How different from the pond raised fish that 
 
 feed out of your hand and do not know fear. 
 
 No spawning nest seems to have the full 
 
 amount of eggs of the female, and yet 
 
 there seems to be only one nest. I do not, 
 
 of course, understand this part of it. This 
 
 year's observation discloses during our oper- '| 
 
 |ation in taking Humpy Salmon eggs an over 
 
 surplus of seven to eleven spawning males 
 
 to' one female. This species uses largely the 
 
 short tundra coast stream and brackish g 
 
 estuaries for spawning purposes. e; 
 
 The young fry when hatched first feed ^ 
 
 on the decayed body of the parent fish, i 
 
 which by this time has gone through a pro- 1^ 
 
 I cess of purification in the sand, Nature's j 
 
 I own laboratory. The flesh disintergrates into ^ 
 
 r small white cornmeal particles. By a wise 5 
 
 I precaution of Nature this food is available 
 
 liduring the late fall or early spring months || 
 
 ^iwhen flies, bugs, and the larva of insect 'I 
 
 C^life are not to be found. By an instinct 'j^ 
 
 or scent they find this food. Now, while 
 
 salmon trout are found in salmon spawning 
 
 I, streams eating salmon eggs, don't forget 
 
 Ijthat young salmon are in turn feeding on 
 
 the spawn and young of the salmon trout 
 
 for both are brought to the same stream for 
 
 the same purpose of reproduction. Thus 
 
 nature holds an equalibrium on all forms 
 
 of life. The big fish live off the little ones. 
 
 There is no mercy in the watery elements 
 
 It is true that there is an over abundance 
 
 of salmon trout in some of our streams. But 
 
 f 
 
 tw 
 
Page Fourteen 
 
 Nature intends that one should live off the 
 other and her law of balance has been upset 
 by man until the trout hold the upper hand 
 of the salmon in some streams. Young sal- 
 mon feed very vigorously on the small eggs 
 and young of the salmon trout, until the 
 change from fresh to salt water. Trout of 
 no species do not feed heavily during their 
 spawning period, and the young salmon, which 
 feed heavily on their eggs at this time, will 
 
 f be seen on their spawning beds. 
 
 Young salmon also have a decided habit 
 
 3I of schooling with salmon trout, but this 
 
 Where Trout Abound 
 
 apparent friendship lasts only until the 
 salmon completely surround the bunch, and 
 eat them all. 
 
 Some interesting facts have been brought 
 to light on such streams as have been 
 racked and screened to prevent the ascent 
 of salmon trout with the spawning salmon. 
 Salmon trout are found in salmon streams 
 only during the spawning season. I mean by 
 this that they are by no means numerous, 
 although many of the smaller size fish may 
 be found. Where there are no salmon trout 
 there are no salmon, for under natural con- 
 ditions you find one with the other. It is 
 Nature's way of disti'ibuting and balancing 
 the food proposition in the watery domain. 
 
 I will also state that the larger Dolly 
 
Varden or salmon trout of the short coast 
 streams go to salt water for the winter, but ||; 
 where large lakes are found on the larger 
 streams, they remain in the deep water 
 lakes, for that period. By the means of 
 racking streams a census of the number of 
 spawning salmon and the species therein 
 entering was procured. 
 I Much confusion is due to the marking 
 I or tagging of salmon, as no two hatcheries 
 have the same marks. Salmon have been 
 caught in salt and fresh water, mutilated by , 
 eels, eagleis, seagulls, seals and a host of " 
 [; their numerous enemies, detroying and con- 
 fusing the marks of identification. 
 
 "MODERN PROPAGATION." 
 
 At the hatchery of the United States 
 Bureau of Fisheries at Yes Bay, Alaska, in 
 1907 and 1908, where 50 million Sockeye 
 salmon eggs were taken, and liberated in the 
 food sac stage, in the inlet stream of Yes 
 I Lake, was where I first got the "inside 
 himch" of the failure and breakdown of all 
 I our salmon hatcheries. The slaughter of !| 
 I these helpless young salmon was appauling. |g| 
 It is the truth for me to say that if all the 
 host of trout, bullheads, Irish or English 
 i lords, or whatever you may call this specift 
 I of worthless fish, and if all the water fowl 
 1 had been notified by wireless, "to come and 
 I get them," they could not have arrived any 
 I sooner. For by the wonderful instinct or 
 I scent given by them by Nature, they all got | 
 I this prepared banquet. It was some feed, 
 I to beleve me. I never saw such a contented 
 I bunch of trout, fish, and birds in all my life. 
 I They really appeared to be friendly towards 
 fall of us. It was a revelation to them, and "^' 
 "^^ also to me. At the present writing it is a 
 wonderful trout stream, but the salmon are | 
 gone. We had been feeding the trout too 
 heavily, increasing their numbers and an- 
 niliating the salmon. 
 
 I was now thoroughly satisfied that our || 
 hatchery system was out of order, and de- jl 
 cided to back up a little and see if I could ji 
 discover a better sysitem, one more like 1 
 Nature's teaching. I could make no change 
 while in the service of the Bureau of Fish- 
 eries so I left Alaska, and through Mr, 
 Henry O'Mally and Mr. Harry McAllister, 
 
; Page Sixteen 
 
 the latter a very good friend, who was the 
 
 Master Fish Warden of Oregon, I secured 
 
 the position as Superintendent of the Trask j 
 
 River Hatcheiy near Tillamook, Ore., in 1909. i 
 
 I now started on the pond rearing system, 1 
 
 and secured a first class lesson from ji 
 
 Nature. I first found that the ponds were so | 
 
 costly to build, they would not justify the s 
 
 geat expense involved and began to look ^ 
 
 for more natural methods. I next took a 
 
 <4i part of a lot of 90,000 Coho salmon anil , 
 
 '/ eyed them in the hatchery. A portion of 3; 
 
 this same lot I buried in the sand of the j| 
 
 i stream supplying water for the hatchery. 1 1| 
 
 I now let Nature take care of them the bai-l| 
 
 I ance of the winter. In about three months 5 
 
 I those eggs had hatched, and the fry came ^ 
 
 ij down to the water supply reservoir and into il 
 
 |i the hatchery. The natural fish on an aver- a 
 
 I age were four times as large as those of ;| 
 " the same age which had been held and fed j| 
 
 in the hatchery. About this same time, I la 
 wrote an article for the Tillamook Head- g 
 light, under date of March 11, 1909, in which | 
 I placed our salmon hatcheries, under the 3 
 present method of operation, under fire, and | 
 ;;dvocated the natural retaining pond sys- 
 tem. That finished me with the Oregon 
 State Fish Commission. It was a little bit 
 too early for them to learn the truth. How- 
 ever, I got in good again in less than two 
 years, and was sent to Klamath Falls, Ore- f 
 gon, in 1912 and 1913. As Superintendent ; 
 I organized the Klamath Falls Sportsmens' g 
 : Club, and erected a hatchery on Spencer ^ 
 |! Creek, a tributary stream of Klamath River, i 
 
 II Here some natural salmon retaining ponds 31 
 li were provided in the natural tributary bed g| 
 g of Spencer Creek. In 1913, I introduced hi ^j} 
 "" Southern Oregon, the Colorado Brook Trout. - ■: 
 
 About this time, another political fight was | 
 on between Mr. Clanton and Mr. Finley, as ^ 
 to who would have jurisdiction over salmon 
 9i or trout streams in Oregon. Politics and 
 salmon don't mix well, so in 1914 my work 
 on natural pond popagation for salmon was 
 destroyed through Mr. Clanton. g 
 
 Political appointments to any position in | 
 the fisheries service should be condemned, I 
 because they are political appointments, and 
 not because of any Inherent objections to the ^ 
 man appointed' for no matter how great his | 
 
Page Seventeen ? 
 
 I 
 
 talents or how evident his fitness for the g 
 work assigned, the knowledge that his ap- J 
 pointment is due to political influence rather 
 than to recognition of merit, will clog his 
 efforts and weaken his ambition, and the con- 
 stant feeling of insecui'ity connected with 
 E public office will chill his ardor and ambi- 
 I tion. And this will alwa^ys remain so long , 
 |j as we live under our present form of Gov- | 
 E\\ ernment subject to frequent elections, spas- I 
 : modic reforms, and lifting into office of 
 ^ many men whose only claim to considera- 
 ij tion is the fact that they had more of a 
 f political pull than the other fellow. Eminent 
 I talents are rarely known and seldom sought 
 I for because the term of office is short, or 
 |; uncertain, and the encouragement lacking 
 and which makes merit and fitness for 
 service take second place to influence and 
 patronage. 
 
 So back I came to Alaska, still determined :; 
 to solve, if possible, this salmon question. Of | 
 one thing I was determined that politics would I 
 not iqueer me again. I wlaa going to i^e my own || 
 money this time, and trust to luck, to get % 
 over the rocks and reefs heretofore encount- i 
 ered. In Juneau I met Mr. B. L. Thane, of ;| 
 tj the Alaska Gastineau Mining Company, and I | 
 agreed to stock with trout, barren lakes. 
 Including the Salmon Creek drain and upper 
 and Lower Annex lakes. In consideration i 
 for this work he was to furnish and equip | 
 a hatchery at Tliane, Alaska. By so doing I 
 could demonstrate beyond a doubt what 
 could be accomplished with trout in barren 
 waters, and also with our salmon in Alaska.! 
 The first trout hatchery in Alaska was estab 
 lished at Thane, Alaska, on January 31, 1917, | 
 r,nd the first Colorado brook trout fry were 
 •^^ planted in Salmon Creek Dam June 11, 1917.- 
 On June 1, 1917, the upper and lower Annex 
 lakes were stocked. 
 
 "The Salvelinus Fontinalis," dear reader; , 
 means only a little "brook trout" and fisher- '. 
 men who know fish and their habits, never] 
 have the honor of baptizing or naming any ot i 
 our favorite fly fishing trout. It is always r 
 some scientist, who is giving some scientfic 
 name utterly inappropriate to all of them, ai i 
 for example : Now this brook trout had no | 
 idea, that he had ever fallen heir to this | 
 
 wonderful Latin name. It is that way with ^ 
 
 ,a 
 
all our fish, I never knew a scientist who 
 could catch a poor fish anyhow, unless he 
 was in a tub. 
 
 On May 24, 1917. the Alaska Fish and 
 Game Club was organized, with Mr. Charles 
 Goldstein as President, Mr. Charles E. David- 
 son, Vice-President, Mr. Charles D. Garfield, 
 Secretary and Treasurer, Mr. A. T. Spatz 
 and John Troy who at all times ready to 
 give us publicity and to assist in the fish 
 industry, and myself as Superintendent of 
 field and hatchery operations. The first three 
 officers were Alaskans of long residence in 
 the Territory, enthusiastic sportsmen and 
 well informed upon the game and fish condi- 
 tions in general. A drive was made for mem- 
 bership which resulted in over three hundred 
 of the business and professional men of the 
 Territory becoming interested. 
 
 The members of the Alaska Fish and 
 Game Club and those interested in the 
 preservation of wild life from a scientific or 
 esthetic motives are fortunate when the 
 ends they desire are supported by strong 
 economic and commercial reasons. 
 
 Mr Thane donated to the Club the hatch- 
 ery equipment and it was set up in a 
 building provided by Messrs. C&ro and 
 Hooker at a nominal rental, on Front Street 
 in Juneau. The Alaska Electric & Power 
 Co. and the Juneau Water Co. provided 
 i light and water service without charge. 
 
i When the object and work of the Club I 
 became known there was a demand from | 
 all over the Territory for trout fry for stock- | 
 ing barren and depleted waters. Another | 
 supply of eastern brook trout eggs was | 
 obtained and the resulting fry planted in the I 
 following waters: Lemon, Lund, Granite, | 
 Knudson, Duck, Grindstone, Sheep and I 
 : Treadwell creeks around Juneau; Upper and | 
 Lower Dewey. Black and Icy lakes near 
 <•>!, Skagway; Fleming Lakes on Chichagof Island .y'^ 
 \0 and Hesse Creek near Cordova. A small g) 
 allotment of public funds was made by Gov. i 
 J. F. A. Strong to assist in the expense of dis- | 
 tribution. While this trout propagation was | 
 going on some experimental work was being g 
 performed in salmon culture. | 
 
 It soon became apparent that there was |! 
 a greater need for salmon experimental and |; 
 research work than any other so the Club Ij 
 directed its Superintendent to drop all trout | 
 investigations and give his entire attention I 
 to the salmon. The expense involved in thi.? | 
 work exhausted the funds of the Club. Some J 
 of the salmon canners who were members of : 
 the Club suggested that if an appeal was I 
 made to those engaged in the industry the i 
 packers would supply the necessary funds § 
 to carry on. In June, 1918, a letter setting | 
 forth what had been accomplished, the de- | 
 mands of the future, plans for investigations, | 
 and requesting contributions of $200 from i 
 each cannery and $.50 from salteries and f 
 mild-cure plants making a total fund of I 
 $22,500 was mailed to all interested parties. | 
 In response to this appeal the following ^ 
 donations were received : s 
 
 Acknowledgement is hereby made of the | 
 .assistance and service rendered by Mr. O. F. 1 
 Burckhardt, Alaska Pacific Fisheries and J 
 the denotation offered by Henry Fortmann, I 
 Alaska Packers Association, June, 1918. - 
 
 Alaska Packers Association $ ,500. :; 
 
 P. E. Harris & Co 200 ^ 
 
 Thlinket Packing Co 200 s 
 
 Tenakee Fisheries Co 200. ^ 
 
 Total $1,100. i 
 
 This amount being insufficient for the l 
 
 j purpose intended, it was refunded to the i, 
 I payers. 
 
Pi-evious to this a bill was prepared by 
 the Club and its passage secui-ed in the Leg- 
 islative session of 1917. This bill provided 
 for a commission and carried an appropria 
 tion of $80,000. Owing to some technicali- 
 ties in its passage the law was illegal and 
 inoperative. 
 
 Undaunted the Club struggled along with 
 the work using all its funds, getting an 
 allotment of a few dollars from the Terri- 
 tory, the Superintendent and its active mem- 
 bers servng without compensation until the 
 legislative session of 1919, when a law was 
 enacted along the lines of the 1917 bill. 
 
 Under this law the present TeiTitorial 
 Fish Commission assumed charge of the 
 operations inaugurated by the Club upon 
 June 10, 1919. The hatchery plant and equip- 
 ment belonging to the Club valued at $1,500 
 was turned over to the Commission for 
 $275. an amount sufficient to settle the in- 
 debtedness of that organization. 
 
 The Club was broke but it had accom- 
 plished a great service to the Territory 
 and the salmon industry. 
 
 The control of the Alaska fisheries is in 
 the Federal Government. The Territorial 
 Commission can only assist by carrying on 
 experimental and research operations, im- 
 prove natural spawning facilities and re- 
 stock depleted waters with young salmon. 
 These functions are extremely valuable but 
 must be continued until such time as full 
 r.uthority and control is vested in the 
 Territory. 
 
 The work performed by the Commission 
 is stated in its reports which are interesting 
 and instructive and should be read by all 
 engaged in the industry and those who have 
 the affairs of the Territory at heart. 
 
 As for exr.mple if we had a number of 
 Field Stations on salmon streams equipped 
 with troughs to handle the eggs up to the 
 eyed stage only with this artificial assist- 
 ance and the planting of the eyed eggs in 
 barren lakes and streams, which in time 
 would be cleared largely of their natural 
 enemies, we could restock and take care of 
 all salmon streams within an area of say 30 
 miles and would in one stroke do away with 
 the expensive feeding and pond retaining 
 system. 
 
Page Twenty-One 
 
 Successful popagation artificially to the 
 eyed stage is therefore the starting point, 
 the object being the natural development | 
 to the free swimming stage of the resulting i 
 fry with practically the same degree of J 
 success as a natural hatch. 
 
 In the experiments conducted at Bar- 
 anof Lake, Chilkoot Lake and various 
 streams in Alaska, apparent success has 
 been achieved in the natural processes re- 1 
 p-; sorted to beyond the artificial eyed stage. :S|) 
 *j|; By planting eyed eggs in the gravelly 
 beds of these waters, a hatch. estima,ted to 
 be equal in quantity to the eggs deposited, 
 v/as obtained. In Baranof Lake the fry 
 grew to fingerling size in a few months 
 and migrated to sea early in the Fall. Any 
 maturing salmon from this brood will be 
 prevented from returning to the Lake by 
 the natural barrier between the lake and 
 sea. This will be unfortunate for this 
 phase of the experiment for the parent 
 water theory is no doubt correct. Observa- 
 tions will be made at the pool below the 
 falls of the outlet stream to ascertain if a 
 greater nuniber of fish appear there than 
 heretofore, when their period for spawning 
 arrives. 
 
 Eyed humpback salmon eggs planted in 
 a small tributary stream of Chilkoot Lake 
 produced a return of mature fish in three 
 years. None of this variety had even been 
 seen in these waters before. 
 
 We have a handicap of weather condi- 
 tions as related to depositing of eyed eggs 
 in the sand of some species of salmon. But, !£ 
 much in our favor of barren lakes, un-| 
 (||j' polluted stream and vast irrigration and | 
 ?5 power projects has not deprived our sal- >i, 
 
 mon of hundreds of miles of available 'M 
 spawning streams in comparison v/ith the" 
 Pacific States. 
 
 In summing- up the evidence before us 
 we have the following distinctive features: 
 
 1. The conditions which existed before 
 the packing industry started when the 
 natural equilibrium was maintained. 
 
 2. Demands upon the natui^al supply by 
 that industry. 
 
 3. The loss in natural supply occas- 
 ioned by the increased depredations of the 
 
predatory enemies of salmon through its 
 various stages of life. 
 
 4. Loss in natural supply through ill 
 advised and improper hatchery operations, 
 unknown until just recently. 
 
 5. Failure of all methods, in practice, 
 to augment or maintain the depleted supply 
 
 6. Lack of reliable information relat 
 ing to important characteristics and habits 
 of the salmon. (Results of natural propa- 
 gation and the census of streams.) 
 
 What knowledge we have regardiug 
 these features leads to much speculation and 
 debate. Many ideas, theories and beliefs 
 predicated upon personal opinions and ob- 
 servations are extant. None of these have 
 p)oven dependable, on the other hand they 
 are often visionary and misleading. 
 
 In relation to the 5th feature, it has 
 been practically demonstrated that ninety- 
 fice per cent of the eggs properly handled 
 can be brought to the eyed stage, v/hereas 
 it has been the observation and experience 
 of the writer extending through many 
 years, (that not over five per cent of the 
 eggs of the adult female salmon spawned 
 naturally ever reach that condition.) The 
 causes for this are touched upon elsewhere. 
 
 (a) Saving one-half of the cost of plant, 
 equipment and operating expenses. 
 
 (b) Eliminating the entire cost of re- 
 taining ponds and feeding of the fry. 
 
 (c) Preventing the loss of fry in per- 
 mitting them to obtain natural food in their 
 own way. (And abolishing confinement, 
 which tends toward rendering the species 
 barren.) 
 
 (d) Providing for the retention of the 
 natural instinct of self preservation (and 
 liberty of migration.) 
 
 These and attending requirements point 
 toward a successful campaign for the build- 
 ing up and maintaining of our salmon sup- 
 ply. Add to this a curtailment of catch 
 consistent with the visible supply and a 
 reasonable hope may be held that the de- 
 sired end may be accomplished. 
 
 In order to obtain properly matured 
 parent fish for the eyeing operations it will 
 be necessary to rack the most prolific 
 streams carrying the desired varieties. (This 
 v/ill afford protection to those fish which 
 
Page Twenty-Three 
 
 i 
 t 
 
 f 
 
 will be permitted to spawn naturally), an 
 opportunity for the invaluable stream cen- 
 sus and way lor destroying the voracious 
 salmon trout. Observations at our racks 
 during the lasit two years have shown a 
 remarkable predominence of (male over 
 female fish or the humpback variety.) In I 
 some streams the proportion has been as 
 much as ten to one. 
 
 Referring to the 6th feature it is true 
 that considerable labratory and field re-, 
 search work has been accomplished but W 
 we are still groping in the dark as to i| 
 the most salient features and the progress I 
 has been so slow it is feared that the 
 salmon will be destroyed from a commercial 
 standpoint, before the important facts can 
 be ascertained. 
 
 The passenger pigeon was ruthlessly 
 and wantonly destroyed, the buffalo merci- 
 lessly hunted to extinction for their hides 
 at one dollar each, the great forests of the 
 Pacific slope have been unwittingly exposed 
 to axe and fire until their complete de- 
 structions is in sight, certain varieties of 
 salmon in the waters of the Pacific States 
 and in British Columbia have been greatly 
 depelted through strenuous over fishing and 
 now the Alaska salmon is facing its inevit- 
 able end through lack of proper means for 
 its preservation and protection. 
 
 From these lessons of wanton Avaste and 
 unrestricted operations the people of Alaska 
 must learn the necessity for prompt and 
 effective measures if their great industry is 
 to be preserved. 
 
 This is the most important question be- 1| 
 fore the Territory today. It will not permit 
 of procrastination or temporizing as its 
 needs are insistent and demand immediate 
 attention. 
 
Oaylord Bros. 
 
 Makers 
 
 Syracuse, N. Y. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS