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SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA.

COMMITTEE ON THE TERRITORIES,
‘ Thursday, May 1, 1902.

A subcommittee of the Committee on the Territories this day met,
Hon. John A. Moon in the chair.

The subcommittee had under consideration House bill 9976, intro-
duced by Mr. Sulzer, entitled ‘‘A bill to encourage salmon culture in
Alaska, and for the protection of persons engaged in the production
thereof.”

STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM SULZER.

Mr. Sutzer. Mr. Chairman, and gentlemen of the committee, as I
have previously appeared before and addressed the committee at length
regarding the bill under consideration which I introduced on the 23d
day of January , 1992, entitled ‘‘A bill to encourage salmon culture in
Alaska, and for the protection of persons engaged in the production
thereof,” -and as the bill has been printed in * the Record, and I have
addressed the House in regard to it, I shall be very brief in what I say
at this time to the subcommittee, especially as there are several gen-
tlemen present more familiar with the subject who wish to be heard,
and whom [shall take great pleasure in introducing to this subcommittee.

This bill, gentlemen, as I have previously stated, is for the protec-
tion of the salmon of Alaska and to prevent their extermination. It
is well known by those who have studied this matter that unless there
is some legislation to artifici ally propagate the salmon it is only a ques-
tion of time when the salmon in Alaska will become extinct. Those
who do this at their own expense should be protected.

The salmon industry is one of the great industries in Alaska. A
great many canneries have been established there, are being estab-
lished there, and will continue to be established., At the present time
millions of dollars are invested. The product of these canneries is one
of the most valuable products of the district and one of the great
products of this country. It foots up every year into millions and
millions of dollars. Besides the monetary question involved in this
matter as an industry of the United States, the great point that I wish
to make is this: I am in favor of protecting the fish and game of
America, and I have always, since I have been a legislator, in my State
and here in Washington, done all that I could to accomplish that pur-
pose. It is a sad commentary on our civilization that by reason of our
lack of judgment.agnd oe We. have are the most valuable fish

2 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA.

of the Atlantic to be exterminated, and we have allowed the larger
wild animals of our country to become practically extinct. In Alaska
the salmon industry

Mr. Luoyp. Just at that point; you have been in Alaska and investi-
gated this matter yourself 4

Mr. Suuzer. Yes; I have made two trips to Alaska and have quite
thoroughly investigated this matter. The salmon industry is to-day
one of the great industries of that great country, and outside of the
mineral industry it is the greatest and I believe the most valuable.

Mr. Luoyp. Inaddition to that you have some personal interest in it /

Mr. Suuzer. Not at all. I have absolutely no personal interest in
the matter other than as a believer in the theory, which is growing
every day, that it is the duty of one generation to protect the natural
food products for the next generation. I believe it is incumbent on
us to protect the fish and game of our country for future generations.
I believe we will be derelict in our duty to posterity if we fail to do
this. Another thing, Iam a disciple of Sir Izaak Walton, and a true
friend of the wild fish and game. I protest against their wanton °
slaughter. While in Alaska I visited several of the big canneries and
Iam familiar with their operation. I have seen the way the fish are
caught, prepared, and canned. I have also visited several of the hatch-
eries there and witnessed the way the salmon can be propagated, so
that if the Government in some way will protect the people who are
propagating salmon the fish will never become exterminated, and the
supply, instead of diminishing, will undoubtedly be increased.

Of course, we know that canned salmon is one of the staple diets of
the world, and I believe nine-tenths of the supply of the world is pro-
duced by the canneries of Alaska. I believe the statistics will show
that for the last ten years the value of the supply of canned salmon
that comes from Alaska will amount to several million dollars a year,
and it will probably average a great deal more in the years to come
because new canneries are being established all the time.

This bill is intended to give a little protection to the men who are
willing to invest their money in salmon fish hatcheries in Alaska for
the purpose of propagating the salmon and increasing the supply,
giving these men the privilege of catching part of the salmon that.
will come back

Mr. Lioyp. What is a hatchery?

Mr. Suuzer. A salmon hatchery is a place where young salmon are
artificially propagated. It is man aiding nature. The spawn are
planted and protected; they soon develop, and these little fish grow,
and then go out to sea after eight or nine months, and in nine, ten,
or eleyen years these same salmon return, it is claimed, to the very
place where they were hatched.

Mr. Luoynp. It is a place where they are impounded?

Mr. Suutzer. Yes; a place where they are hatched, cared for, and
protected until they are ready to go to sea to come back after many
years to spawn and die. .

There is a gentleman here, Capt. John C. Callbreath, of Alaska, who
has been experimenting with a salmon hatchery for a number of years,
and he is more familiar with this subject than Iam; hence I do not
care to take up the time of the committee in going into the details of
the matter. I fully explained to the committee the last time I was
here that the salmor of. Alaska_are different in their habits of life:

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‘ SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 3

«from the salmon of any other country in the world.’ They only spawn

once and then they die. They are born, and after eight, nine, or ten

“ months they go out to sea. We know not where they go. They are
‘never caught i in the ocean. They must go to and live in deep water,
because they are never seenin the ocean. It is believed they come
back after eight, nine, or ten years to the place of their birth, and the
moment they spawn they die, so if the salmon are not protected by
this method of artificial propagation it is only a question of time when
‘they must be exterminated if the canneries continue business. They
have been exterminated on the Atlantic coast, with the exception, I
believe, of one river in Maine, and in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland,
and Labrador. ’

Mr. Powers. We get them, in the Kennebec and the Penobscot
rivers, where they run up quite freely.

Mr. Sutzer. Two rivers, then, in Maine. On the Pacitic coast they
are practically exterminated in California, Oregon, and W skinpton,
and they will be exterminated in Alaska unless the Congress does
something to prevent it. I think my bill will accomplish what is
desired. The bill has been carefully considered and carefully pre-
pared by gentlemen thoroughly familiar with the subject. It must be

apparent that such a bill as ‘this ought to pass. Now, gentlemen, that
is about all I care to say at this time

Mr. Powers. Let me ask you one or two questions in reference to
the scope of the bill. I see the purpose is to grant the right—

That any person or persons heretofore or hereafter authorized to establish or main-
tain a hatchery for the artificial production of salmon in the district of Alaska shall
be entitled to the exclusive right of all fish that such hatchery may produce in excess

of the normal product of such streams fora distance of 1 mile in all directions in tide
water from the mouth of the stream upon which such hatchery may be located.

There is no limitation there as to time, and I just jotted this down.
What do you think of adding another section—
that all rights and privileges granted by this bill are subject to the supervision and
regulation ‘and repeal by Congress?

We have a general statute in my State that makes everything in that
way. This seems to grant an absolute right without any end to it.

Mr. Sutzer. Just a word in that reg ard. The provisions of this
bill give no monopoly toany individual or individuals or any company
or corporation. The bill does not give exclusive rights. It gives cer-
tain rights.

Mr. Powers. That gives them about a thirty years’ lease

Mr. Sutzer. Well, ‘about twenty years.

Mr. Luoyp. AsI understand, the history of the salmon is that there
is no question but they return to the place where born.

Mr. Sutzer. Yes; it is believed they return to the same place where
they were born. So far as Alaska is concerned, I am informed it has
been demonstrated they return in from eight to eleven years.

Mr. Luoyp. I have a curiosity to know how they determine they are
the same salmon?

Mr. Sunzer. I believe they mark the young fish when they go out
to sea. When the young salmon are 8, 9, 10, or 11 months old
they leave the little stream or lake in which they were born and
start out for the ocean. They go out in schools and keep in schools.
A few are marked, and they have been known to return. But, after
all, little is known of their lives and habits. It isa ereat study.

4 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA.

Mr. Powers. They are about that long [illustrating].

Mr. Suuzer. Yes; and it is said they take and mark them then so
they know and can tell the exact salmon when it comes back.

Now, gentlemen, just a few words more. This bill is not in the
interest of the canneries, although in my judgment it would help and
not hurt the canneries. I am informed that they have no objection
to this bill. After careful study, it is my opinion that if this bill
should become a law it will do more to perpetuate and increase the
salmon than anything else that we can do at this time.

I say further, this bill gives no exclusive rights, no monopoly to
anyone. It is a fair, just, and conservative bill, and ought to pass.
7: any member can suggest amendments that will improve it in any

vay I shall be glad to acc ept them. Another thing, this bill proy ides
ae nothing contained in it shall in any way prev ent line or fly fishing
by tourists, sportsmen, or persons who go to Alaska, or anyone in
Alaska. It also provides that the Indians, or natives of Alaska, can
catch the salmon for food, or for drying for winter use as food for
themselves and their families. Hence, taking it all in all, I believe
this bill is a very fair and a very just bill in the interest of one of our
great industries, which, if not protected by a law similar to this bill,
will ere long be destroyed, the greatest fish in the world exterminated,
and one of the ereat staple diets of civilization eliminated.

Mr. Powers. Another question. Under the first section of this bill
it evidently creates no monopoly and says: **Any person who may here-
after” do it, but when you read section seven in connection with that
section it says:

That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to grant leases in accordance
with the foregoing sections of this act, for a period not to exceed twenty years, ete.

What do you say to the Secretary of the Treasury after he grants a
lease to a company having the right to grant another lease to ‘another
company on the same eround and territor yi

Mr. Sunzer. Well, sir, the bill provides that can be done provided
the stream produces a certain number of fish. I think it says 10,000.

Mr. Powers. Yes; but—
before any lease shall be granted the party or parties making application therefor
they shall accompany such application with proof sufficient to establish the normal
product of such streams; and no person shall be entitled to more than one hatchery
lease with the privilege of stocking more than three barren lakes or streams and
being protected in the product thereof.

And it says further on, ‘‘On streams producing not more than ten
thousand.” That is not exactly my point. A man goes on and estab-
lishes a hatchery under the first section of the bill and proves to the
Secretary of the Treasury that the stream in its normal condition does
not produce 10,000 salmon per annum. The Secretary of the Treas-
ury grants a Jease for about thirty years. Now, another man desires
to go and establish a hatchery. Can he do it and get a lease after the
first one?

Mr. Suuzer. Certainly he can.

Mr. Powers. The first section says so; but Iam not sure about that.

Mr. Sunzer. He certainly can get a lease, but he can not catch fish
unless the stream will produce more than 10,000. This 10,000 refers
to a stream which in its normal condition does not produce 10,000.
In other words, it refers to barren streams. Take a stream where the
fish grow, where they propagate themselves, there the Secretary of the

SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 5

Treasury can graut leases to as many people as desire to establish

’ hatcheries.

Mr. Powers. The only reason I am asking the question is that I
‘have got a little old Democratic prejudice against monopolies.

Mr. Suitzer. So have I; we will never disagree concerning that
proposition.

Mr. Powers. That is what I am looking out for.

Mr. Suizer. So am I; and I want to say this, that if this bill in any

"way could be construed* in establishing a monopoly I would not have

introduced it, and I would be absolutely opposed to it if anybody else
had introduced it.

Mr. Powers. That is why I made the mere suggestion, that all
rights and privileges eranted by this bill should be subject to the super-
Vision, regulation, and repeal by Congress, so if it was construed to add
any kind of monopoly

Mr. Scurzer. Iam willing to accept that amendment. Gentlemen,
I have occupied more time than I intended. Of course, I can discuss
this matter at any time with you, but these other gentlemen here can
not, and

Mr. Powers. I heard you upon this bill before, and I confess frankly
I could not see any objections to the bill except the question of allow-
ing Congress to retain the right of handling the whole thing.

Mr. Stizer. As I said, I have no objection to that.

Gentlemen, I take pleasure in introducing to the committee Mr.
John C. Callbreath, of Fort W rangell, Alaska, who is perhaps more

familiar with the subject-matter than any other man in the country.

STATEMENT OF MR. JOHN C. CALLBREATH, OF FORT WRANGELL,
ALASKA.

Mr. Catypreatu. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee,
my friend Mr. Sulzer has left very little for me to say. I have jotted
down some items here rather explanatory of the habits of the salmon
of Alaska, and the reason why this bill is necessary to preserve the
salmon of Alaska. The proposed law simply gives to parties a legal
right to property they create from the wastes of nature at their own
cost and without taking anything of value from the public domain. If
they produce ten where nature has produced but one, they surely
should have the right to the increase. They also enrich the waters
outside the protected zone by thousands of fish that will be public
property. Now the propagator will not get all the fish—probably not
more than one-half of the fish—outside of this protected zone. Others
are there to take the fish, and everyone is free to take them, and inside
the protected zone the normal quota of the stream is free to everybody
until that amount is taken. When the salmon commence to run, ‘under
the provision of this law, the public would have free access to catch
those salmon up to the normal quota of the stream, and that quota
must be established to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treas-
ury before he will grant a lease by proof that can not be disputed.

Mr. Lioyp. You mean the normal product must be 10,0007

Mr. CaLipreatH. Many streams are less than 10,000. If it is 10,000,
it shall be at 10,000. If it is less than 10,000, it shall be estab-
lished at what it is. No title in fee simple is asked, merely a lease
that need not’ be renewed unless the continuation should seem just and

6 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA.

proper. No person or corporation will have a monopoly of any stream.
All have equal rights as provided in section 5. And no individual can
have more than one franchise, or corporation more than one for each
cannery actually operated. The rights of Indians are more than pro-
tected, as he has free access for food purposes to the artificial product,
and in common with others to the normal product.

Fishing with hook and line is free to all. Limiting hatchery fran-
chises to small producing streams will prevent clashing of interests, as
streams producing ten thousand or less of the valuable redfish are
considered of small value and are seldom fished by more than one
party, while the large producers, running as high as two and a half
million, are fished by several persons and corpor rations. The normal
product might even be reduced to 5,000, which would still further
limit the liability of conflict of interests. My own stream produces
even less where I am hatching, it is less than five thousand, and I think
all parties should have the right to a stream running as high as ten
thousand. Those who have already maintained hatcheries on streams
producing large numbers should be protected in all fairness. Now,
there are three different parties that have been maintaining hatcheries
for a number of years in Alaska on large producing streams. For
instance, take the stream of Karluk. I presume the normal product
would run close to 2,000,000, These 2,000,000 are the normal quota
of the stream. Those 2,000,000 would be free for the public until
they are all taken, and the propagator will never get any benefit of his
propagation. Until the normal product are all taken parties who have
started hatcheries on these large producing streams should in all fair-
ness have the protection.

Mr. Luoyp. Do I understand that a man who establishes a hatchery
under this bill is to have no benefit at all until the fish return and then
shall have no benefit from their return except that which is in addition
to what would be the normal product of the stream 4

Mr. CaLipreatH. That is right, sir. We do not ask for anything
except that which we produce. The normal quota we leave free, and
they should be free. Of course we would have the same rights as
others to the normal product.

Mr. Powers. There is another thing. I understand this bill does
not establish any hatchery on any stream that now produces 10,000
salmon a year?

Mr. Luoyp. I understand that, but I wanted to be clear about the
other point.

Mr. CaLtypreatu. There are thousands of streams and lakes that are
barren. That is something I must explain. These barren streams—
I am sorry some of the gentlemen have not been in Alaska, Mr. Sulzer
has been there and can describe better than I can what barren streams
as you go along in Alaska you see falls on quite good-sized
streams. and back you will see a hollow where the contour of the
mountains will show you there is a great lake there. Those lakes are
entirely barren because nothing can ‘eet into them. I propose to stock
those lakes, and those lakes would be included although a man has no
hatchery on those lakes, and you could not have one there because
there are no fish; but if he stocks it, although there is no hatchery, he
shall be entitled to the fish when they come back.

Mr. Luoyp. They would not come back.

Mr. Powrrs. We do that in Maine, in a good many places we do

SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 7
that identical thing. There isa fishway where the water comes over
very rapidly, and you will find the salmon going up to spawn. I tell
you wecatch salmon in my town coring upthat way. We doit by fixing
‘up a fishway. I understand that thine fully. We are doing it in my
State and have done it for years.

Mr. Catiereatu. I consider that one of the greatest nurseries; it is
greater than the natural hatchery ground, because there is a proportion
of three of these barren lakes to five that the fish can get into.

Mr. Powers. You would be surprised at the swiftness of the water
as it comes along a sort of a race way that these salmon will go up.

Mr. CALLBREATH. They will actually climb it like a dog on a ladder.
They hang on with their mouth, get hold with their tails, and wriggle
and climb up like a dog.

Mr. Powers. And where the water is coming over very rapidly.
I can show you that where there are fishways.

Mr. CaLiBreaTH. There are thousands of streams and lakes that
are barren because of falls near tidewater which no fish can pass on
the upward passage. By stocking these streams with young fry you
reclaim a desert, vet this can be accomplished, the commercial results
of which would be enormous. To accomplish this, however, entails a
considerable expense. No policy will advance the settlement of Alaska
more than or as much as that provided for in this bill. Every indus-
trious fisherman can and many will embark in salmon culture, and in
connection with his hatchery will develop what there may be of agri-
cultural resources that will never be utilized except in connection with
some auxiliary industry.

Nearly all the lands suitable for agricultural purposes are situated
at the mouths of streams. The 1-mile reserve to the propagator in
many cases will not be sufficient protection, but a further reserve of
4 miles as set forth in section 2 of the bill, from which all parties
are excluded from taking fish of the kind propagated, will leave those
which might be in transit free to pass on to their native stream unhin-
dered; andif they are the product of the protected hatchery, they will
go there also unhindered. Now, the object of that is, in many cases
there is a little narrow salt-water ‘* gut,” you may call it, running up
in the mouth of the hatchery stream, and to give a man a mile of “that
would not be giving himaproper protection. Then again, his hatchery
might be situated down close to the salt water, where, if you gave him
more than a mile, you would give him a chance to get fish he did not
produce, which we do not want to do.

Now, if the additional 4 miles is closed to all parties—the hatchery
as well asanybody else—if the fish are in transit to another stream they
will go unhindered, and if they belong to him they will come there.
That is the reason w hy that clause is put in. Fishing for all kinds of

salmon of the different species from those propagated, as well as those
of other species of fish, is free and open toall. All parties are allowed
to catch fish in this protected zone that are not of the kind the hatchery
produces, and the propagator is simply given exclusive right to take
the fish he produces. All others are free for everybody.

Mr. Kurenty. Other kinds of salmon, I will say.

Mr. CaLtLBreatH. Now I will read you something about the habits
of the salmon. .

Mr. Sutzer. Regarding the habits of the salmon, your type-written
statement can*go in the record. Mr. Kutchin, of the Treasury Depart-

8 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA.

ment, is here and desires to say a few words. We only have a few
moments left and I wish the committee to hear him.

Mr. CaLtiBpreatH. I would like to explain one reason why the law
as it at present stands is no protection to the salmon of Alaska. Con-
eressman Knox made some remarks in opposition to this bill, and he
stated that if the laws that were now in existence in Alaska were
enforced there would be all the protection of the salmon that was
required. That is a mistake. The law is tolerably well observed now.
Now, the law only provides three-fourteenths of the fish shall be
allowed to go up and spawn, but we will give them better than that—
we will say a stream produces 50,000, and one-half would be allowed
to go up; that would be 25,000.

That 25,000 is subject to all the marauders that prey on the 50,000
salmon and prevent them from being so numerous that they would
block up the Pacific Ocean. They keep them down to the normal
quota. They only reproduce themselves in the natural state; they do
not increase. If they increase one-half of 1 per cent you would
readily see in the lapse of ages that have passed the Pacific Ocean
would not hold the salmon. They simply in a state of nature repro-
duce themselves. Say 25,000 go up that stream. They have to con-
tend with all the marauders that formerly had 50,000 to feed upon.
You can not reasonably expect there will be more than 25,000 come
back. In fact, there will not be as many as 25,000. When they come
back you cut them in two again, and how long before there will not be
a salmon left in Alaska, ora mere nothing? That is what denuded the
salmon of the Eastern seaboard. Their appliances were so inferior
seventy or seventy-five or « hundred years ago that they took but a
small percentage. Now they sweep the bays completely. I thank
you, gentlemen, for your indulgence.

Mr. Suuzer. I will say, gentlemen, that Mr. Callbreath has a type-
written statement regarding the habits of the salmon. I request it
go in the record asa part of his remarks. I now take pleasure in
introducing Mr. Kutchin of the Treasury Department.

There was no objection.

A peculiarity of the valuable red salmon is that they will not fre-
quent a stream unless it has a lake that they can reach, where they
may lay and ripen before ascending the small streams that put into the
lake for spawning. Fully one-half of the small streams that produce
a large percentage of the salmon of southeastern Alaska have no lakes
on them, and fully three-fifths of those that have lakes are barred by
falls between the lake and tidewater, over which fish can not pass;
hence the scarcity of this valuable species of fish. The cohoe. dog,
and humpback salmon, all inferior fish, take any stream on which there
are spawning grounds. As a consequence they are very numerous and
the valuable red salmon correspondingly scarce.

These valuable red salmon are fast becoming extinct, and, unless the
Government institutes an extensive system of hatcheries and private
parties are protected in the output of their hatcheries, will in the near
future be numhered with the buffalo. No private party, unless pro-
tected in the results of his industry, can withstand the enormous pres-
sure of the great combines. In my own case I have expended a small
competency in the enterprise of salmon culture that will in the end be
of incalculable benefit to the country; but unless I am protected in
what I produce others will reap where I have sown. It is of record in

SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 9

Holy Writ, ‘*That he who buildeth a house shall dwell therein, and he
who planteth a vineyard shall gather the fruit thereof.” The claim of
the salmon propagator is even stronger than that of the vinyardist, as
‘a vineyard implies the occupation “of good land; which can only be
occupied by the vineyardist, and there is a limitation to good land, but
the fruits of our hatcheries take no land for their grow vth; the broad
Pacitic is their range, and streams and lakes that are practically value-
less—and as to the barren lakes and streams absolutely so—are their
nurseries. :

There are several things in connection with salmon propagating that
are not generally understood except by those engaged in the business,
prominent among which is the necessity of protecting the young fry
while in fresh water from their ereat enemy, the sea trout, who also
devour over one-half the eggs before they can be buried in the gravel
by the parent salmon. W here they breed naturally this protection is
next to impossible and entirely impracticable, but the propagator
makes this his first step. Ina normal state, where even no onslaught
by fishermen at all is made upon them, the salmon merely reproduce
their normal numbers, for if they increased one-half of 1 per cent each
year in the thousands of past decades the ocean to-day would not
contain them.

A single female red salmon contains an average of 3,500 eggs. In
a state of nature probably 100 young fry would. dig their way “out of
the gravel and begin life, which from the start is a fight for existence.
Everything that swims, walks, crawls, or flies is their enemy, seeking
to devour them: even their year older brothers who are. still in the
fresh water go for them ravenously, so that in the end but one of each
sex will return at the end of ten or eleven years to plant their spawn
and die as their parents did ten or eleven years before them.

With artificial propagation, out of the 3,500 eggs that one female
produces the propagator gets 3,000, the remaining 500 being difh-
cult to extract. From these 3,000 egos the propagator will bring out
an average of 90 per cent. The past winter my own hatchery br ought
out 973 per cent, but the eggs the past year were unusually good.
Like everything else in nature, no two years are exactly alike. This
975 per cent were first turned out in preserves, where they are com-
pletely protected from all enemies until they have consumed the egg
sack and become swimmers—a period of about six weeks—when they
are gathered up by means of a fine dip net and placed in their native
waters, where they would have been had their parents been allowed to
spawn naturally. These waters have already been swept clean of the
sea trout, the young salmon’s greatest enemy, by means of adam at
the mouth of the stream over which no fish unaided can pass. The
sea trout follow the salmon for plunder; the eggs and the young fry
are their tidbits.

Below my dam is a barricade and trap where everything is gathered
in that is trying to ascend the stream. The red salmon from “which I
am propagating are picked up with a dip net and carefully passed
over the dam to the pond above; all else are consigned to a pen on
shore, where death soon ends their marauding career, when they are
chucked back into the creek and swept away. This is the protection
that the propagator gives his weaklings. No protection at all do they
have under natural conditions.

This system, as will appear from my statements, makes the propa-

10 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA.

gator turn out from the same number of salmon and in a place of com-
parative safety 30 to 1 more than the normal turn out that would be |
open to the destruction of their numerous enemies.

Let us now discuss the protection that the present law affords the
salmon. To do this in an intelligible manner I must first describe the
habits of the salmon when they come to the stream for spawning. The
valuable red salmon come into the bays and inlets in the early summer
months, at which time of year the creeks are low, and Le around,
sporting and jumping from seven to ten days and longer, unless a rain
occurs to swell the creeks, which is quite unusual at that time of year,
but always, rain or no rain, they lie around five or six days.

The law suspends fishing from 6 p. m. Friday till 6 p. m. Sunday,
thirty-six hours, which as a rule is well observed. The fisherman
plies his work assiduously all day Friday, and when 6 o'clock comes
around not a salmon is left in the bay. He then lays off till Sunday
morning when a fresh supply will have come in, but not one will have
gone up the stream. Of course he takes them in if there are compet-
ing seins in the bay, if not he will probably wait a day or two until
there is a good school in the bay and he can make a fat haul; he is
not afraid of losing them, they will wait his pleasure. By this you
will see, gentlemen, that the fishermen can take all that come and still
be within the law.

But suppose of a stream that had a normal run of 50,000 one-half
were allowed to go up, the same number of marauders to prey on their
spawn and young fry would be on hand as though the whole 50,000
had gone up. Now, if the 50,000 normally only reproduce themselves
it is reasonable to suppose that, 25,000 thousand would do no better—
would they do as well, having to feed the marauders that formerly had
the product of the whole 50,000 for their feast? I think not. I
think something considerably under 25,000 would be the result. Now,
when the product of the 25,000 returns let 12,500, half the product,
go up, and so on, letting one-half go up each year, how long will it be
before that stream is depopulated 4

It was this process that denuded the streams of our Eastern seaboard.
The primitive means of taking fish in those early days bore no com-
parison to the sweeping means now in use that rake the bays and inlets
as with a fine-tooth comb. It is this process that is killing and will
effectually exterminate our salmon fisheries of the Pacific. The remedy,
and the only remedy, is artificial propagation. Protect the hardy
fisherman in the fruits of his labor and he will build up the fisheries
a hundredfold beyond what they were before the canneries depleted
them, without a dollar cost to the Government. He will do more, he
will give youa population of hardy seamen, of which Mr. Seward said
Alaska would be the nursery; he will develop what there may be of
agricultural resources; will be a permanent resident of the country,
and his children to the manor born. Every fisherman, though he may
never have made a voyage at sea, is half a sailor, and when he gains
the other half, makes the best sailor in the world.

The belief expressed that these propagators would all be bought up
by the great corporations is groundless, as well might we withhold the
homestead from settlers on the public domain, lest when he obtained
his patent he would sell out to the land shark. The small streams on
which all future hatcheries would be confined are numbered by the
thousands, the most of which, aye, all, would be utilized sooner or

SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. J pail

later if the fisherman was protected in the product of his toil. Under
present conditions the great combine can and will continue to gobble
the entire product of the country

- If the boon asked for in this bill be granted, the fisherman, when
the fishing season is over, instead of wasting his time and summer
earnings around the saloons and dance houses of the towns, will be at
his hatchery rearing salmon and supplying the market with a cheap
luxury that will be “within the reach of ever v factory girl or artisan in
the land at a nominal cost—it will help kill the food trust.

I would draw a simile between the enormous increase in salmon that
would follow the passage of this law and the phenomenal increase of
the rabbit in California and Washington. The destruction of the
coyote, hawk, and wild-cat (by the settlers), whose common food was
the young rabbit, caused that little ruminant to increase to such an
extent that concerted action was necessary to save the crops; whole
townships turned out for drives to destroy the rabbits. Now the prop-
agator will not only destroy the natural enemies of the young salmon

as did the settler the coyote, but he will beat nature a hundredfold in
their reproduction—he will, in fact, become a stock breeder of the
advanced period in which we live. No cowboys will be required to
round up his herds, droughts will not starve nor blizzards freeze them,
the broad Pacifie will be his pasture, the world his market, the human
race his beneficiaries.

It is true property in fish is a new proposition, but we are living in
an advanced age and new propositions are especially in order. Our
Government claimed property rights in seals that are purely the prod-
uct of nature, and the admittedly ablest jurist on that Commission,
Baron Courcell, sustained our claim but was overruled by the majority.
The propagator’s claim is far stronger, as he lays no claim to nature’s
product, he simply claims that which he ereates from the dormant
capital of her great banking house, which he merely uses as a loan.

This Congress is considering the adoption of a ship-subsidy law to
assist in building up a merch: ant marine. Give the propagator a prop-
erty right in that which he produces and he will help fill their holds
with freight and man their decks with seamen without one dollar of
subsidy. Everything in this bill that might tend to give the propa-
gator monopolistic privileges is carefully guarded; the onus of proof
in every case is on the propagator. The Government will be winner
thousands of dollars annually in the increased output of canned salmon,
on which a tax of + cents per case is collected. It will give employ-
ment to thousands of laborers, will be a large factor in building a new
State in the extreme Northwest, and vastly increase the food supply of
the world.

STATEMENT OF MR. H. M. KUTCHIN.

Mr. Kurcnin. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I
had no expectation of making any formal statement in regard to the
bill under consideration, but came in response to the invitation to
endeavor to reply to questions which you might put.

Mr. Liroyp. Would you have the time to prepare a statement that
might be submitted to the stenographer in the next few days?

Mr. Kurcur. That would be pretty sweeping; I have made tive
annual reports;which cover almost every phase of the question.

F?2 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA.

Mr. Luoyp. I appreciate that.

Mr. Kurcury. I want to say in relation to this bill that I do not.

gard it as the sole or perhaps even the best method of preserving the
eee industry of Alaska. I regard it as a question of pure equity,
and a proper protection of the rights of those who are seeking to con-
tribute to that end. Every man who has the enterprise and public
spirit to start a hatchery in Alaska ought to be protected. Under the
present law such is not the case. There is a regulation of the Treas-
ury Department now which requires that every conductor of a can-
nery or saltery in Alaska shall establish and run in cooperation with it
a hatchery to reenforce nature. Geographic and climatic conditions —
make that impracticable and impossible as an universal rule. There
are places where the streams freeze solid. There are other places
where hatchery sites are inaccessible and unobtainable, and there are
regions where at present they do not need any hatchery.

Conditions in southeastern Alaska are v ery different from those in
other portions of the district. In southeastern Alaska there are many
small streams. In Bering Sea, in Cook Inlet, in Shelikof Straits, and
Prince William Sound there are very few streams and those are very
large. I believe that the reenforcement of nature by artificial propa-
gation is the only method of preserving the salmon industry of Alaska.
The law as it exists is impracticable, contradictor y. and of little effect.
The prime spirit of it is that the fish shall be protected for access to
the streams to spawn, and by a curious exhibition of ignorance the law
applies only to ‘‘rivers and streams” in terms. Asa matter of fact,
except in Bering Sea, there is very little fishing done in the rivers and
streams, and in ‘southeastern Alaska I might say almost none; so that
men plying their nets at the mouth of a stream and approaches .some-
times would do all that adam would do in preventing access of the fish
to the stream; and there is nothing in the law to prevent it. It is not
violations of the existing law that is decimating the salmon (if they
are being decimated), but the stupendous machinery of the packing
establishments there. In my experience of the fisheries of Alaska—I
have been going there, this next trip will be my sixth cruise, I have
traveled from eight to ten thousand miles every summer

Mr. Lroyp. Has it been a part of your duty to see that the law is
enforced 4

Mr. Kurcuty. It has been my paramount: duty as far as possible,
but the great area and the multitude of fisheries make it absolutely
impossi ble to visit all of them. 1 suppose there are five hundred dif-
ferent streams and places where fishing is done. There are two men
to maintain surveillance over all that region and police it, which, you
see, is absolutely impossible.

Mr. Lioyp. The matter has been discussed somewhat in the House.
Do you think additional help will remedy that

Mr. Kurcnry. It wouldin a measure, but a revision of the law which
would cover all the waters where the fish are taken would be much
better. Asa matter of fact, the Secretary of the Treasury under that
law has no power over the approaches of astream. You can take all

the fish that come and prevent any fish, practically, from going up the
stream without violating the law at all.

In portions of Alaska there is a great abundance of fish now. In
Bering Sea in going a distance of 5 miles last summer in a steam
launch the wheel was clogged several times with live salmon, and we

SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 13

had to stop and pick them out with a boat hook. ~ It will be many
years before those fisheries are destroyed. So far as the evidence is
concerned there has been no decimation of the fisheries. The first year
T went up there the take was something less than a million cases. — It
has gone on in an ascending scale steadily, with one exception. Last
year it was over 2,000,000 cases, or 96,000,000 pounds of prepared
food. In 1897 I think there were 29 canneries, and last year disclosed
55 and a large number of salteries.

It is a great industry; as Mr. Sulzer has said. It will average
$4,000,000, perhaps, a year. The product of Alaska is about equal that
of Puget Sound and Fraser River. There are something like 11,000
persons employed there and a large number of ships, and the product
this year is approximately $7,000,000. The taxes paid to the Govern-
ment this year are about $90,000.

My theory is that the Fish Commission, with an appropriation under
the Government, should take charge of the hatchery business. There
should be three or four large stations, with proper steamers for the
distribution of the fry; the fry should be properly distributed in the
streams, and supply all the packers who would prefer to procure
their fry from the Government rather than to produce it themselves.

I do not believe that the attempt to reenforce these fisheries by the
production of salmon in the hands of private parties will be effective.
There is a large hatchery at Karluk—it was one of the greatest fisheries
in the world at one time—and they put out 30,000,000 of spawn this
year, but under the existing conditions there are four or five different
companies that fish at that fishery who will take the fish produced by
this one company, which is manifestly inequitable and unjust.

Mr. Lioyp. And the Fish Commission has no control over them at
present ¢

Mr. Kurcaty. The Fish Commission seems to be averse to going into
Alaska. They treat of the scientific conditions, but they apparently
do not wish to have anything to do with the policing and taking care
of the fisheries.

Mr. Lioyp. You are satisfied from your own knowledge of the
matter that the trouble at present is with the law and not with the
officers of the law /

Mr. Kurcutin. Iam quite sure of that. I can say conscientiously —-

Mr. Luoyp. I am asking specially about that because the Fish
Commission or other parties have said that the fault was not on their
part. Ido not seek to make it personal, but since you were there, I
want to ask the question directly.

Mr. Kurcniy. Iam glad to have you ask it.

Mr. Suuzer. Just in that regard, permit me to say that during the
two summers I spent in Alaska I never heard a man complain about
Mr. Kutchin’s work; they all spoke in the highest terms of it, but, as
he says, the fault is with the law, not with the officials of the Treasury
Department.

Mr. Koren. The law and the limitations that prevent the enforce-
ment of its true intent.

Mr. Lioyp. Do you think the machinery could be remedied ?

Mr. Kurcurin. Just to the extent that three men would be more
valuable than two and forty men would be better than four men.

Mr. Luoyp. But if you had the forty men, that would still not be
enough /

14 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA.

Mr. Kurcuiy. I do not believe a regiment of men, under the exist-
ing law, can preserve the fisheries, for the reason that the machinery *
employed by the persons engaged in taking the fish is so stupendous.
that they will violate the spirit “while preserving the letter of the law.

Mr. Lioyp. Can you suggest a simple plan that will make a law
which would be effective ?

Mr. Kurcury. I have cudgeled my brain a long time for some rem-
edy, and have reached the conclusion that it rests on abundant artificial
propagation; but no man knows that a hatched salmon has ever come
back to fresh water; thus far it is purely experimental. I heard this
summer that marked fish came back toa certain stream. Iam certain |
it was a mistake, for they do not know whether they come back in
four years (the common American idea). Mr. Huxley says seven
years, and Mr. Callbreath eleven years. No man knows, as a matter
of fact. But we know the success in the propagation of shad and
other fishes. The habits of the salmon are unknown and it is experi-
mental, but nothing can be accomplished unless it is initiated, and pre-
suming that what is believed to be the fact in regard to other fish is
true of salmon, they should be propagated and should return to the
parent stream. I think that is the only remedy.

They will last longer in Bering Sea for the reason of the conditions
in the great rivers where it is impossible to prevent their ingress to
the spawning grounds—the width, the currents, and the tides—but.
they will ultimately be exterminated. Years ago the salmon rivers of
Scotland were so teeming with salmon that the | laboring men bar-
gained that they should not be required to eat it more than three times
a week. Now fresh salmon is a luxury for the rich, just as the white-
fish on the lakes have become. They used to be packed in every little
cove and port on Lakes Michigan and Superior, and now there are
very few white-fish, and the packing of white-fish is almost gone.
History agrees in all particulars that inland fishing is subject to exter-
mination, and I believe that this will be true as to the salmon in
Alaska to-day, that they are doomed within a reasonable period—within
the life of any person here present.

This bill, which we are here to discuss, is fair and equitable. I
think that any man who is disposed to put in his time and money and
effort, as Mr. Callbreath and others have, should be protected, and I
think this bill does it fairly and well, and that it does not encroach
upon the rights of anybody. It does not give anybody the exclusive
rights of streams. There will probably be contentions, where there
are two men on a stream, as to how many fish each produced and how
many of the returning fish are his, and a great deal of trouble of that
sort, but that can not be well eared for in this particular bill. I think
it is a good bill. So far as the preservation of fisheries is concerned
: think there should bea vital revision of law. There should probably
be limitations as to the duration of the fishing seasons and the size of
the pack.

Mr. Smirn. I understood you to say that one of the infirmities of
the law was that there were poiuts that the present law did not cover
at all?

Mr. Kurcuty. The law is presumed to cover them.

Mr. Smrrn. Does not the law cover the streams?

Mr. Kurcuin. The language of the law is contined, as you remem-
ber, to the rivers and streams. Now, as a matter of fact, there is little

SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. ee

fishing in,the rivers and streams except in Bering Sea. Karluk River
is a little, narrow stream which has been the greatest fishery in Alaska.
They lay a net there outside the mouth w ith a steam launch and they
draw it in with a steam winch, and that net will embrace a mile of
water; and this operation is kept up uninterruptedly, except during
the closed season, while a salmon is to be had. It is inevitable that
few fish are permitted to enter the river.

Mr. Surzer. Permit me to interrupt you right there. I have abso-
lutely witnessed a haul bringing in over 40, 000 salmon.

Mr. Kurcnin. They have a “story about pulling in 125,000 salmon
this season in a single haul at Karluk. There is one of the eccentrici-
ties of salmon theories. The Karluk production was one of the largest
and it has gone steadily down, every year smaller than the year before,
and this year there were so many fish there that it was impossible to
handle them and they were sent off 150 miles to replenish the meager
supply of other canneries.

Mr. Luoyp. That would carry out the theory that they come back
to the same point where the spawn is?

Mr. Kurcuiyn. They do there. The fishat Karluk is distinctive in
character. They are almost the smallest salmon in Alaska, and 150
miles away they get one of the largest fish. But in contradiction of
that statement, Twas down at one place last summer where fish were
commonly scarce. The stream is said to have been fenced for many
years, as it is inaccessible and had never been visited by an official.
But that season there were swarms of salmon, and packers ‘at a distance
came to profit from the unusual run. It is us certain as anything can
be that those fish were never hatched in that river. Where had they
come from? They were unlike those ordinarily taken at adjacent
fisheries.

At Chignik they have the most odious fishing system in the whole
business, the traps. Traps starting out from the shore line and run-
ning to here [indicating] and then over here [indicating], half a mile
long. Those traps are planted in the river so close together that
you can not shoot a rifle without hitting a pile, and still the lake is full
of fish. How they ever got up there no man knows. They have no
business to use those traps, they are illegal under the spirit of the
law. There is no such thing with them as a closed season. The law
provides that the closed season shall be from 12 p.m. Friday until 6
p.m. Sunday. These infernal traps take everything that comes, all
kinds of fish, even seals. There is a regulation that they should open
those traps during the closed season, “but it is not fully effective.
Curiously enough in one section of the existing law traps are forbid-
den, and in another section it provides that they may be used if they
do not extend more than one-third across the width of the river, and
it has been decided that the traps are permitted under that provision.

Mr. Powers. I understand you distinctly to state that you believe
the existing law furnishes no adequate protection, for the reason that
without violating the law parties can go farther out to sea and can

‘atch nearly all the fish?

Mr. Kurcuty. I do not think the existing law affords any protection;
not in the small streams, except in so far as it provides for a closed
season and forbids barricades.

Mr. CaLiereatH. In the small streams the existing law affords no
protection whatever.

16 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA.

Mr. SutzEr. Gentlemen, we have here Mr. H. B. Martin, who
represents the American Anti-Trust League, and who is interested in
this bill in the interest of the consumers of the country. I would like
to have the committee listen to Mr. Martin a few moments.

Mr. Martin. I will not ask to make any argument. I want to leave
with the committee the report of Commander Moser, of the United
States Navy, giving extracts from his report on the Alaska salmon
investigations in 1900, and the report of operations of the United
States Fish Commission steamer A/batross, of which he was the com-
mander; and in his report for 1900 he devotes pages 221 to 227,
inclusive, about eight pages, to the methods used by Mr. Callbreath:
to propagate the salmon and inerease the supply of young fish. In
closing that report, which is very interesting and which will be instruc-
tive to the committee, I will leave it here asa part of the hearing.
He says, in the last paragraph:

Mr. Callbreath is positive that his fish will return, but he now believes the time has
not yet arrived for the first output to mature. It is earnestly hoped he may realize
all he anticipates, for the zeal and enthusiasm which he displays should meet with
ample reward. In the meantime he is carrying on a very interesting experiment:
If his fish return he will have demonstrated that salmon do return to the parent
stream, he will have thrown much light on the age of fish, and he will have proved
that a stream running a few fish can be made to yield abnormally. If this is demon-
strated a law should be passed permitting the leasing of small streams for hatchery
purposes and recognizing ownership in fish thus hatched. This would mean a great
deal to southeastern Alaska, as it would draw settlers who could make a very good
living by operating a hatchery and cultivating the little patches of land that are favor-
ably located.

That is on page 227 of Captain Moser’s report, which has just been
placed in the hands of the Government Printing Office; this is from
the advance sheets.

Mr. Suuzer. I desire to say that the Secretary of the Treasury
informed me that Captain Moser had made this report on the salmon
industry of Alaska, and that the report had been sent to the Government
Printing Office, but had not yet been printed, but that if I would send
to the Government Printing Office they would give me advance sheets,
and these are the advance sheets, a part of this report, relating to this
very matter. Ido not think this part of the report will take up more
than a few pages, and I desire to ask the Committee to have it printed
herewith.

Mr. Martin. The only other word I desire to say is very brief, and
is that the interest I take in this matter of the preservation of the

salmon fisheries is as a student of economics, and as one who desires to
see the food supply of the world preserved and increased in every way
possible. We know that the human race is increasing very rapidly in
numbers, and we want to provide as good and abundant a food supply
as is possible, and we want to prevent the creating of a monopoly . such
as the recent beef trust, and so we favor anything that will increase
the supply. From the reports of Captain Moser, who is an expert,
and from the reports of Mr. Kutchin, the special agent, and from the
statements of other gentlemen who are experts and author ities on
this question, and from the testimony of Captain Callbreath, it is very
evident beyond any question that it is necessary to do something to pre-
serve the salmon fisheries from extinction, and as they are of enormous
value as food supplies, and as this bill does not give any monopoly, but
simply provides that the men who have worked and labored to increase

SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. Li

the supply shall be protected; in other words, that they may reap
where they have sown, we believe that it would be proper and desira-
ble legislation, and we hope that your committee will report the bill.
. Mr. Luoyp. I would like to ask Mr. Callbreath whether he has made
experiments in this line for some time?

Mr. CaLiBreaTH. Yes, sir; for ten years. I have been looking into
the matter for some forty years, but this is the tenth year I have had
this thing under my personal observation.

Mr. Luoyp. You mark the fish for return /

Mr. Catitprearu. I never marked any fish.

Mr. Liuoyp. When did you begin to mark any ?

Mr. CaLiBREATH. I never marked any fish. I have a chéck on
them, which is far better than the mark, because the marked fish counts
for nothing. Other people mark them just as youdo. I have picked
up in my place many fish that have the marks on them that you would
suppose they came from Puget Sound, but they were all ‘local fish.
They cut off a fin, or they cut off part of the tail. My plan is the
simplest thing in the world. I have a dam at the mouth of my stream
over which no fish can pass unaided. When the fish come up to the
dam, going to the spawning ground, I pick up the valuable fish with a
dip net, and they go on up to the lake.

The humpback, an inferior fish, comes to this stream, probably from
fifteen to twenty-five thousand, and I kill them all. I have killed
them ever since 1892. There is no spawning ground below my ground,
and I have killed that whole mess of fish since 1892, and they came
back as plentiful last year as ever. When we progress further, these
inferior fish will become extinct, and there will be an increase in the
fish that I am producing there. The normal product has not been
altered a particle: the smallest year was 2,500 and the largest year
5,000. Here [exhibiting] I have some specimens of fish that are 2
years old. They show you that these fish take a long time to grow.
These specimens are just about to leave the fresh water and go to sea.
As Colonel Kutchin has said, it is an experiment, and it Is a very
expensive experiment, one in which I have alr eady, spent $20,000 and
have not received 1 cent yet, but I expect to get something from it.
I know the whole world is wrong as to the salmon’s age. I do not
know how near I am right, but I will know before many years; but
I do know that the whole world is wrong; I know that : absolutely.

Mr. Luoyp. You know that because you have been killing this par-
ticular class of fish?

Mr. CAaLuBREATH. Yes, sir.

Luoyp. And you have been doing that for ten years?

, CALLBREATH. Yes, sir; I keep a strict account of every red
cae that passes over my dam, male and female, and I know just
how many start up the little streams, and all that. There is a pecu-
liarity about the red salmon; he will not take a stream that has not a
lake on it, and yet he does not spawn the lake. There may be two
streams, one of which has fine spawning grounds, but the red salmon
will not go up that stream unless there Is a lake; he wants to lay in
the lake in the deep water and ripen. The other ‘fish take any stream
on which there are good spawning grounds, but the red salmon will not.

Mr. Kutcuin. I want to amplify my statement as to the enlarge-
ment of the force and the effect. You asked me if more men would
improve the situation and make the law more operative. As to those

SAL——2

18 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA.

places where barricades are forbidden at the mouths of streams and
where the closed season is observed, of course close observance of the
regulations would be beneficial; but that would not prevent the steady
extermination of the salmon.

Mr. Suuzer. We are very much obliged to the committee for its
attention, and I trust the bill will be favorably reported.

Thereupon the subcommittee adjourned.

The report submitted by Mr. Martin follows:

ALASKA SALMON INVESTIGATIONS IN 1900—REPORT OF THE OPERATIONS
OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION STEAMER ALBATROSS DURING |
THE SUMMER OF 1900.

[By Jefferson F. Moser, Commander, United States Navy, commander.]
[Pages 221 to 227, inclusive.]
CALLBREATH HATCHERY.

Mr. John C. Callbreath has been a resident of Alaska for many
years; he was the manager of the Point Ellis cannery until it was
destroyed by fire in 1892, and has lately been engaged in the transpor-
tation business on the Stikine River and in trading, making his home
at Wrangell. He isa representative citizen, enterprising, and devoted
to salmon culture.

In 1892, in connection with the Point Ellis cannery, he started the
hatchery referred to under that stream heading. Having seen the rise
of the salmon industr y, and knowing, as all must know who are familiar
with the question, that the abusive and excessive fishing and total dis-
regard of the law by the fisheries must slowly but surely exterminate
the salmon for commercial purposes, he determined to take a salmon
stream that under normal conditions carried a few thousand redfish,
and by artificial propagation increase the production to hundreds of
thousands. He hoped that, if successful, a law would be framed mak-
ing the increase his own property.

The hatchery is a private enterprise, unconnected with any cannery
or fishery, and based upon the widely prevailing belief that the salmon
return to the parent stream in four years after they are hatched. As
this time has passed, however, without any apparent return, Mr. Call-
breath has extended his period to ten years.

In establishing the hatchery a stream was sought satisfying the con-
ditions imposed, and one was found at the head of MeHenr v ‘Inlet. It
is small, about one-half mile in length, and flows over a rocky and
bowldery bed between heavily wooded shelving banks. At its head is
a small lake 42 feet above tide water, slightly L -shaped, about three-
fourths mile long by one- fourth wide, and bordered by low wooded
banks. The stream was never known to supply more than from 3,000
to 5,000 redfish, a number too small to attract the attention of the
commercial fisheries. In fact, it was known asa ‘‘cultus chuck” or
worthless stream.

After making satisfactory arrangements with the Indians claiming
the stream, a hatcher y was built in 1892 on the right bank about 200
yards from the mouth, and suitable dams were “thrown across the
stream to impound the fish. The hatchery water was taken from the
stream, conveying it by a flume from a point near the lake, where a

Oo

ALASKA.

OF

SALMON FISHERIES

}

Ruins of trough and baskets

’

(

allbre

ath’s old hatchery.

20 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA.

dam was built. After operating the hatchery during the latter part of
the season in 1892 and turning out about 600,000 fry, it was seen that .
the breeding fish could not be impounded properly in the stream, many
dying, probably from exhaustion in attempting to pass the barrier. It
was also found that the stream water used in the hatchery was unsuitable,
not only on account of the wide range in temperature, but the organic
matter it contained smothered the eggs and caused fungus. An excel-
lent site having been found on the lake in the vicinity of. the streams
forming the natural spawning-beds, with a spring giving an abundant
supply of pure water of very equable temperature, the hatchery was
moved in the spring of 1893 to its present site. It was operated that
year and every year until 1900, when the projector decided that his
means would not permit him to continue the work unless some return
was made.

From its first inception it was determined that, in order to obtain
the best results, only the most desirable species should be admitted to
the lake, and that all enemies must be removed and excluded. In order
to carry this into effect dams were built across the stream with racks
below them, as shown in the sketch, at a point about 100 yards from
salt water, where an islet divides the stream into two parts. The dam
and fence on the western side of the islet allow nothing to pass. The
fence on the eastern side has a trap opening, admitting fish to the foot
of the dam. Here the redfish and cohoes are lifted by dip nets to the
pool above, from which point they can ascend quickly to the lake.
Nothing can enter the lake which is not passed over the dam by hand.
The humpbacks, dog salmon, Dolly Varden trout, and all enemies are
carefully excluded, and the lake is therefore free of undesirable and
predatory species. The lake has been carefully fished, and all enemies
to the fry, such as cut-throats and other trout, sticklebacks, bullheads,
sculpins, etc., have been removed, so that it is comparatively clear of
enemies.

The hatchery is located on the northern side of the lake, about three-
eighths mile from the head of the outlet, and midway between a series
of 11 springs and feeders, the extreme distance being less than one-
fourth mile from the main building. The hatching-house stands on the
border of the lake, partly over a small feeder, and back of it is a sub-
stantial and comfortable log dwelling, 20 feet by 36 feet. Strung along
the lake are two houses for the hatchery hands, each 12 feet by 16 feet,
a smokehouse for smoking the stripped fish, and a tool house. The
original cost of the plant, and all expenses connected with it to date
(September, 1900), amount to $16,000.

The hatchery usually opens July 1, when preparations are begun for
the season; stripping generally commences September 1; the place is
closed about March 1.

The hatchery building is 75 feet long, east and west, by 11 feet in
width; south wall 11 feet high, north wall 6 feet high; shed roof, with
windows on the south side only; on the east end is an open-shed annex,
18 feet by 11 feet.

The troughs are 16 feet by 134 inches by .53 inches, inside measure-
ment, made of planed lumber, 14-inch bottom, 14-inch sides, covered
with asphalt varnish. In the main building are 2 lines of troughs
arranged in pairs, with 8 troughs in a line, making a total of 16,
arranged witha passage around the lines as shown in the sketch. Each
pair of troughs bas a drop of 1 inch in its length, with a fall of 4 inches

SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 27.

to the next. The first compartment in each trough is 8 inches in length,
and receives and aerates the water; then come 7 basket divisions, each
24 inches long, separated by the Williamson system of division plates,
2 inches apart; the last space is 4inches. The annex will accommodate
4 troughs, but it has seldom been used.

The “baskets are of the usual wire webbing, five-eighths inch by one-
sixth inch for redfish eges, and five- eighths inch by one-fifth inch for
cohoes, and are 23% inches by 124 inches by 4} inches, and have no

‘wooden rims. They ate supported an inch from the bottom of the

trough by broad-headed nails and tin clips. All are well lacquered.

A full basket contains 60,000 redfish egos, or 30,000 to 35,000 coho

egos. The capacity of the hatchery is therefore 6,720,000 redfish egos,
and the annex 1,680,000 of the same species, but it is doubted if “the
latter can be reg: arded asa reliable factor in estimating the capacity.

The hatchery water is received from a pool about 150 yards north
of the hatchery, which is supplied by three springs (see Sketch G) in
the immediate vicinity, augmented by an additional spring, which is
connected with the pool by a ditch. From the pool the water is con-
veyed by a covered flume to the west end of the hatchery building and
is then distributed, as shown in the drawing. The flow is regulated at
the closed end of the flume in the pool by means of holes in the bot-
tom plank, in which plugs may be inserted, increasing or decreasing
the supply as may be necessary. The main flume, “midway in its
length, is joined by a flume running from a reserve pool to the east-
ward, which may be used if necessary. The water is very clear and
evidently quite pure, as no trouble has ever been experienced from
fungoid growth. It is not filtered, but there are screens in the upper
end of the flume to strain out foreign particles which may fall into the
pool. The water is very equable in temperature and is said never to
freeze. The lowest temperature observed in midwinter is recorded as
38° F., and the highest in midsummer 46° F. These are the extremes,
the average range running from 39° to 45° F. During moderate win-
ter weather the temper rature of the water runs from 40° to 43° F.—
never above the latter. While the temperature of the water is fre-
quently taken during the season, there is no daily record from which
curves may be drawn. The following may he noted as fair averages:
July 25, 1898, 45° F.; September 14, 1898, 43° F.; lowest during “the
winter of 1898—99, 39° F.; April 15, 1899, 41° F. The lake water
ranges from the freezing point in winter to 60~ F. in midsummer. It
is claimed that the present hatchery supply is sufficient for 15,000,000
egos and that there are additional springs in the vicinity which, at small
expense, can be utilized. In the hatcher y the same water is used
through four troughs, and if the annex is used, through five. It then
passes s by a sluice to the small creek under the hatcher y-

The arrangements seem crude, and all fittings and appliances are
constructed at the least expense, y a it all indicates an intelligent
endeavor in a direction where there was but little previous experience
in the work. Judging from the Satant: however, the hatchery has
been very successful, and is a striking example of what may be done
in this line of work if undertaken in an intelligent manner. Mr.
Callbreath certainly deserves great credit, not only for the work he
has accomplished, but for the proof he has given that a hatchery may
be operated successfully for very little money.

veders, ripening pools, and nurseries.—The redtish and cohoes after

OF ALASKA.

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SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASAA. 23

entering’ the lake «emain in its waters until ripe, a period varying from
two to six weeks, sometimes longer, depending upon the condition of
the fish as they enter from the sea; and when ripe they seek the
feeders to spawn. In the immediate vicinity of the hatchery there are
six feeders and springs which form natural spawning-beds and are
arranged for taking ripe fish, and also several nursery ponds. (See

sketch.) The mouths of these feeders are fenced and have trap

openings; which admit the fish, but do not permit them to leave.

Feeders A, B, and K’are tightly fenced to prevent adult fish from
entering, as they are full of obstructions on which the fish might injure
themselves. C, D, E,and F are spring pools, which have been cleared
and improved, opening on the lake The pool C is separated by a dam
into two ponds, the inner one forming an excellent nursery. D is not
considered very good. E is the best pond, and secures the largest
number of breeders except J. F is a nursery pond; an inclined fence
of brush surmounts the dam and partly shades the pool, which is
believed to benefit the fry. G is the outlet for the overflow from the
hatchery reservoir pool; it has several small pools, formed by widen-

-ings in the stream, where fry were one year planted but did not do

very well. The lower of these pools, shown on the sketch, was also
used as a nursery, but was unsatisfactory. H is the overflow from
the auxiliary pool for hatchery supply, and receives the hatching-
house waste; at times a few fish are permitted to enter and are spawned
as needed to fill up baskets. J is the chief feeder entering the lake,
and is about 100 yards east from the hatchery; the mouth is fenced
with the usual trap opening, and from this point for about 70 feet
upstream the banks are walled up with vertical slabs. At J the stream
has been dammed to make an upper pool in which, and in the upper
reaches, fry are released. The ripe fish are stripped on the west bank
of the lower reach.

Spawning.—The ripe fish enter the pens through the traps and are
secured by dip nets; they average about 7 pounds in weight. Spawn-
ing begins about September 1, and continues actively for about six
weeks; a few ripe fish keep running until late in the winter, the latest
arrivals having the most perfect eggs.

In spawning the wet process is used; a pan is half filled with water,
into which the ova are stripped and the milt added; these are mixed
with the fingers, and then set aside for one hour, after which the eggs
are thoroughly washed, transferred to buckets, and carried to the
hatchery where they are placed in the baskets.

It is found that impregnation will take place up to 3 minutes after
the ova have been ejected, and that the best results are obtained by
adding the milt between 4 and 14 minutes after ejection.

Size of eggs.—The number of eggs of both redfish and cohoes has
been frequently counted, and it has been found that a full healthy
female of each species contains 3,500 eggs, but it is rare that the full
number is obtained. As frequently some are left in the fish, and
others are not in good condition, the count is made on 3,000 eggs to
the full fish, or 20 redfish, or 10 to 12 cohoes, to the basket, the eggs
of the latter being about twice the size of the former. When a large
number of fish mature at the same time it is frequently found that
some eges have been voided, and in such cases it will take two and
sometimes three fish to make one ‘*‘ count” fish.

In counting the eggs a condensed-milk can is used as a measure.

24 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA.

This measure, by repeated counting, has been found to contain 1,904
redfish or 848 coho eggs. A quantity of eggs from a healthy, normal,.
ripe female redfish was secured and measured with the following
results: Forty covered 2 square inches and 20 in a line against a
straight edge occupied a length of exactly 44 inches, giving a single
ego a diameter of 0.225 inch. It has been observed that brilliantly
colored or unusually large or small eggs are apt to prove failures.

Several hundred cohoes are usually stripped each year and the eggs
hatched. They run about six weeks later than the redfish.

The picking ‘of eggs is done with ordinary tin forceps and is com-
menced six to eig ht weeks after the egos are placed inthe baskets. It
is claimed that the percentage of bad eggs is very small, and that very
little, if any, fungus appears. The delicate period is unknown here
It is probably covered during the time the eggs remain undisturbed.

Period of incubation. —The temperature records are not at all com-
plete, and no attempt has been made to determine the thermal hatching
unit. Generally it may be said that with a temperature of 45> F., the
average highest, to 39°, the average lowest, the eye spots appear in
from 30 to 38 day s. A few are earlier, and a few are 45 days before
they are well eyed out. In 90 days they are hatching rapidly; in 100
days two-thirds are hatched; in 110 days four- fifths are out, and the
remainder straggle along for several months. As the hatchery closes
March 1 the unhatched ¢ egos are buried in the gravel, simulating the
natural conditions. The cohoes hatch about 10 days earlier, and an
experiment made with a basket of humpback eggs showed that they
hatched in 70 days under conditions in which the redfish hatched in 90
days.

Eges which hatch out well in advance of the mass (‘* premature es”)
and those equally late, produce usually very weak fish, or *‘ freaks.”
It has been the experience here that it is useless to waste time on these

fish, as they invariably die. It has been found that the fry just hatched
collect in the lower end of the troughs, and to prevent loss they are
removed as early as possible, within a day or two after hatching, and
placed in the nursery, the upper ponds of the feeders, and sometimes
in the lake, where the bottom is grassy or covered with pond lilies.

The yolk sac is absorbed in from forty-five to fifty days, but shows
plainly at sixty days, though skinned over and in the belly. After
this has taken place they are taken from the nursery and some are
placed in the feeders and others in the lake, where the natural condi-
tions are most favorable for their protection.

The loss varies from 8 to 12 per cent, depending upon the season;
if there is an abundance of rain, permitting the fish to ascend without
injury, the eggs are found in good condition and the loss is small.
During a dry season the fish are kept from ascending until the fall
rains, and as thee partially ripen in the salt or brackish water the
eggs are more easily injured. Realizing the advantage in having the
fish arrive in the lake ina healthy, vigorous state, considerable work
has been done at the outlet to remove obstructions and to improve the
natural conditions.

Barren lakes.—My. Callbreath lays considerable stress upon the use
of what he terms barren lakes in connection with hatchery work.
These lakes have in their sea connections high falls or cascades pre-
venting the passage of fish from the sea and usually are quite clear of
the enemies of salmon fry. Mr. Collipreaet has planted redfish fry in

i

ro

SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 25

two of these barren lakes, both discharging their water into Burnett
Inlet. In 1894 and 1896, ne 000,000 redfish fry were planted each year
in Burnett Lake, about 13 miles from the hatchery, and in 1895,
‘9,000,000 redfish fry were planted in Francis Lake, about 11 miles
from the hatchery. The following coho fry have been planted in
Falls Creek, previously referred to: 1893, 66,000; 1894, 50,000; 1896,
135,000; 1899, 60,000. The rest of the hatchery output has been
_planted’ in the home lake and feeders. The fry are transported as
soon after hatching as the weather permits and before the ege sac is
absorbed, as they then require fewer changes of water. Coal-oil cans
are used for transportation cans; a screw-top mouthpiece, 14-inch
opening, is soldered to the top of the can and the fry are poured
in through a funnel having a large opening. A 5-gallon can will
hold 30,000 redfish fry, or about 15,000 coho fry, and two such cans
placed in the original case make a load for one man carried on the back
with pack straps, and if the weather is cold, wrapped in blankets.

The following data, representing the output from this hatchery from
July, 1892, to September, 1900, was furnished by Mr. Callbreath:

REDFISH.
Number adults passed | Number of fry planted
over dam. | Total num- and locality.
Year. ber of try
* Stee a| ae hatched. | Hatchery Other
Males. Females. ieee Tales
Lie te Sea ce SAO OC SEE OOo eee eet : 13, 000 | (7) 600, 000 6001000} een. So. occas
RAD Serre eee ee eine clateia cist stereo ciciareiaieiele moje sis 13,010 | (7) 1838000) |) 888; 000) esse e licens
A OA ee elieeinere ante aeinnd wo ck cece’ 2, 438 2,016 | 4,928,000 | 3,928,000 | %1, 000, 000
ODS cee ates secon et Setar Bee cee eya 2,799 2,497 | 4,960,000 | 2,960,000 | 42,000, 000
MSGR m aeaehsee serehaeno ae ce ves alnmis Bere bee ors 1,617 2,008 | 3,888,000 | 2,780,000 | #1, 100, 000
ESO Toe mice etctaiaiclolaie’s\«. o-atavaleiole's dina sb aralclon™ siete 1,817 | 1, 572 2, 000, 000 2s OOK COUR eats Seno
ELS OS erate otinraial care va oyere eelejeiet ews & sores 's 1, 189 | S21 S00 000.5|, Ll S001000)| 2522-2. ane
ASI OR SEA ea ne an ee ote fclots SRomisio diss 6,sieiaaiste 1, 058 igo eek ocoy OOO Al See O00 esa sree eee
10, $18 | 10,089 | 21, 441, 000 17,341,000 | 4,100, 000
SUT US a er i SaooL 1,863 | Nonestripped; fish allowed toseek
natural spawning beds.
COHOES.
| Number adults passed | Number of fry planted
over dam. Total num- and locality.
Year. = aes MDeLOn Any. |= ————
Ree SAP hatehed. Pas eo Pe Tat Falls
Males. | Females. Home lake. Grecia
LSE SER Bo SEY 1 ec ee Ua |S eee seme eaten SI
ICH S RES oS COR acl Ona aE Aer Odeo COEE Eres 17,151 (2) 416, 000 | 390, 000 66, 000
LS Ore re cretetecicreis eatemtels alate iara.ctateictatata (ieee a dicieyet 256 230 363, 000 313, 000 50, 000
SD Derereiata Bale emaiajo ete ce meee Oe leia cwiecieswisiess 134 204 515, 000 OIE UN Boceeace sone
SOU Reta cise aaa onute cosuk oo Raee nen och acs 374 338 510, 000 375, 000 135, 000
eS Odeo ree eter ate cia iaterstotn are social nie rere Slate e ale vere 590 500 526, 000 | DZb OOO) |s sataa areateare
ROS Serer eieicte arent ete toe taro wial ede ora cto bursts eich e.e's S 158 | 142 250, 000 200) OOOR ease sate
Bh Seer teee tain a pr cieds en Deis Mee ON ae | 991 | 963 950, 000 850, 000 | 60, 000
2,503 | 2,377 | 3,530,000 | 3,219, 000 311, 000
UND Bes etree ser saiene nares! ais aye sysenia's weer oleys «== | 526 | 482 | None stripped; fish allowed to seek
natural spawning beds.
1 Both sexes; not included in total. 2Not known. %To Burnett Lake. 4To Francis Lake.

In this record it should be remembered that the number of fish
passed over the dam is not the number stripped. The number
recovered for spawning purposes varies so much that no percentage

26 SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA.

can be stated, and what becomes of those not stripped is a mystery to
the hatchery people. For instance, in 1899 there were passed over the
dam, between July 16 and October 26, 1,175 female and ‘1,058 male
redfish, making a total of 2,233; and from, August 29 to November 14,
963 female and 991 male cohoes, making a total of 1,954; of this num-
ber 1,367 redfish and 1,231 cohoes were recovered; this includes not
only all spawned fish, but all found dead along the shores after diligent
and repeated search.

The following experience at the hatchery may be of interest and
worthy of record: On September 23, 1898, about 20 spawners were |
allowed to enter one of the hatchery ponds and spawn. On April 13,
1899, nearly seven months later, these spawning beds were turned
over and a number of the young fish found with the egg sac not yet
absorbed. The same run of fish stripped and hatched in the troughs
had the egg sacs absorbed two months prior to that time. It is the
opinion at the hatcher y that the young go to sea in from ten to fifteen
months after they are hatched, though some remain in the lake until
they are from 20 to 24 months old.

Mr. Callbreath is positive that his fish will return, but he now
believes the time has not yet arrived for the first output to mature. |
It is earnestly hoped he may realize all he anticipates, for the zeal and
enthusiasm which he displays should meet with ample reward. In the
meantime he is carrying on a very interesting experiment; if his fish
return he will have demonstrated that salmon do return to the parent
stream, he will have thrown much light on the age of fish, and he will
have proved that a stream running a few fish can be made to yield
abnormally. If this is demonstrated a law should be passed permitting
the leasing of small streams for hatchery purposes and recognizing
ownership in fish thus hatched. This would mean a great deal to south-

eastern Alaska, as it would draw settlers who could make a very good
living by operating a hatchery and cultivating the little patches of land
that are favorably located.

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