WHAT IS THE MATTER
WITH FAILURE OF
Return of marked blueback sal
mon now being’ received at Astoria
salmon canneries are giving- one of
the most impressive demonstra
tions of the efficacy of artifical
salmon propagation in the history
of scientific investigation into the
commercial fisheries of Oregon.
Two hundred of these marked
bluebacks have already been re
covered this year.
The return of marked salmon
now coming to the canneries is
believed to be proportionately
larger than from any other mark
ing experiment ever undertaken in
Oregon. This is believed to be due
to the new practice in fish propa
gation of holding the young salmon
until they are about 18 months old
before they are released into the
streams.
Hatchene s Value Proved
The high return of marked fish
gives indubitiable proof that the
salmon run can, and is being, sus
tained by the operation of the
salmon hatcheries.
The marked blueback salmon now
being received at the canneries
were liberated from the state hatch
ery at Enterprise, Ore., in the spring
of 1924.
The fish were hatched from eggs
taken at Afognak, Alaska, in the
fall of 1922. The eggs were eyed
in Alaska and shipped to Enterprise,
where they were hatched, the fish
being held until the spring of 1924,
when 100,000 of the young salmon
were marked by the removal of
the adipose and left ventral fins.
Three million sockeyes were released
at Enterprise at this time, of which
100,000 were marked.
Many Markecf Fish Taken
Practically all lower Columbia
river canneries have received some
marked bluebacks, occasional marked
fish being taken from the time
the first bluebacks appeared, while
the number has been increasing
materially with the development
of the run.
One Astoria cannery received
362 pounds of blueback salmon
Tuesday. The lish average about
six pounds apiece. Out of approx
imately GO bluebacks received at
the cannery that day, 11 were
marked fish. Thus one blueback
out of every 5.5 of this species
received at the cannery was a mark
ed one, artifically propagated,
marked and released from the
Enterprise hatchery in 1924.
The most unusual report of
marked tsalmfyy returned .comes
from a cannery (above Astoria
where, of 26 bluebacks received
yesterday, 14 were marked from
the Enterprise hatchery.
At another plant a count of the
bluebacks received Wednesday
showed that one-third were marked
fish.
At still another cannery out of
a delivery of nine bluebacks this
morning five were marked.
Fish Expert Here
Harlan B. Holmes, U. S. bureau
of fisheries expert attached to the
Oregon fisheries for scientific study
of the salmon through marking and
microscopic examination of the
scales, was in Astoria this week
collecting the scans and scales
from marked salmon and distribut
ing the rewards offered by the state
fish commission.
Henry Saski, fish butcher at the
Sanborn Cutting company cannery
alone received $19 in rewards for
the delivery of the marks from
19 bluebacks.
Return Per Centage Large
An extraordinary feature of the
present experiment is the large
proportion of marked fish now be
ing received. Of the 3,000,000 sock
eyes released at Enterprise in 1924
the marked fish numbered 100,000.
Thus one fish out of every 30 was
marked. The per centage of marked
fish among those returning to the
river, however, is much greater, it
having been shown that at one
cannery one out of every 5.5 blue
backs received were marked.
E. I. Ballagh, master fish warden,
declared today that he had never
heard of such a large return of
marked salmon in a single experi
ment, particularly so early in the
season.
To Cover All Rewards
The state fish commission has
$1,000 set aside in its budgets for
the payment of rewards on marked
salmon but with $200 already paid
out it appears certain that the
$1,000 will not be sufficient. Mr.
Ballagh is taking the matter up
with the commission and is con
fident that the commissioners will
appropriate sufficient funds to
cover the rewards for all marked
salmon returned
Plot laKen in ixiiinets
The bluebacfcs being caught on
the river at present are largely
taken in seines and traps. As the
fish are small, the standard gillnets
will not catch them and it is neces
sary to use special blueback nets
to take any quantiay of these sal
mon in gillnets. As the run of blue
backs is only just developing, no
blueback gillnets have yet been
put in the water. If the number of
salmon increases further, however,
a considerable number of fishermen
will specialize in the taking of these
little fish, which bring 13.5 cents
a pound, the same as the Chinooks.
Thus the canneries operating
seines fend traps are receiving
more marked bluebacks at present
than those companies deriving
their fish principally from gillnets
and trolls.
Experiment Interests
The exceptional heavy return of
marked bluebacks this season is
regarded with keenest interest by
fish propagationists and those in
terests in the perpetuation of the
salmon run.
It gives irrefutable p*oof of the
substanial benefit from hatchery
operation. While it is yet impos
sible to say what proportion of the
marked fish will return, it appears
certain that it will be much larger
than in the average fishmarking
experiment.
Proves Value of Ho/ding
Fish culturists hold that this is
due directly to the fact that the
fish were held until they were 18
months old before 'being released
thus giving them a greater op
portunity for survival.
This practice of holding the fish
until they are a year and a half
old is being generally adopted by
both the state fish and game com
missions at their hatcheries.
The improvement work now be
ing done at the Klashanine hatch
ery is designed to make possible
more extensive application of this
principle of fish culture. The big