“The history of the Fraser River
od, 1894-1900—a period before
depletion was manifest in the
small years—produced an aver
age pack of 342,597 cases.
Commercial fishing for sock
eye began in a small way in Ca
nadian waters in 1876, with a
pack of less than 10,000 cases.
Fishing was confined to the
channels of the Fraser River up
to 1890 and gill-nets alone were
employed. Gill-net fishing was
extended to the discoloured salt
waters off the mouths of the
river in 1890. Up to that year
only the Canadian fleet was en
gaged, the market was limited
and the catch in any one sea
son did not produce a pack in
excess of 183,000 cases.
“Traps Leading Factor”
Commercial fishing for soek
eye began in the State of Wash
ington waters of the system in
1891, with the installation of
traps in the vicinity of Point
Roberts. Proving most effect
ive, the number of traps em
ployed increased rapidly and
became the leading factor in
1897. Purse seines came into
use in American waters in 1S01
and have since that year been
extensively used Since 1901,
with one or two minor excep
tions, the yearly catch in Am
erican waters of the system has
been in excess of 60 per cent of
the total catch.
“Glory Destroyed”
Production in the system in
the big years of each four-year
cycle reached its height in 1913
with a total pack of 2,392,895
cases, containing the edible por
tion of over 25,000,000 individu
al sockeye. In 1917, the big
year following the record high
Tool Hall—Cigars and Tobaccos
Furnished Rooms
L. A. Olsen, Proprietor
Wrangell,
Alaska
pack of 1913, the pack fell to
559,702 cases, a drop of close
to 77 per cent. Since 1917 the
packs in the big years of each
four-year cycle have not ex
ceeded 148,000 cases and can no
longer be distinguished by their
size from the packs of the three
small years. There has been
no periodicity in abundance
since 1917. The glory of the
Fraser has been destroyed.
The catches in the small years
of each cycle up to the period
of 1898, 1899 and 1900 display
no evidence of depletion. In
each of those small years the
pack averaged 648,912 cases.
From then on the packs in the
small years rapidly declined. In
each of the last eight years the
total pack in any one year has
not exceeded 159,000 cases and
in one year—1923—it fell to 79,
057 cases. The pack in the last
eight years has averaged but
123,372 cases. Furthermore the
bulk of the pack in recent years
has consisted of late running
fish,—runs that were not drawn
upon prior to- 1914.
The factors that so speedily
destroyed the sockeye run to
the Fraser River System are
easily determined. In 1901 the
Fisheries Department of the B.
C. Government inaugerated a
system of inspecting the entire
spawning areas of the Fraser
River. An annual inspection
has been made and reports pub
lished, these reports have call
ed attention to the significant
fact that the greater propor
tion of the vast spawning beds
of the Fraser basin were but
lightly seeded in each of the
small years since 1909.
“Causes of Small Years”
Dr. Gilbert, in one of his
classic “Contributions to the
Life History of the Sockeye Sal
mon,” published in the Reports
of the British Columbia Fish
eries Department, states that—
sockeye shows unmistakably
that the three small years of
each cycle were over-fished
early in the industry. During the
early years, when fishing was
confined to the region about the
mouths of the river and drift
nets alone were employed, no
evidence exists of overfishing.
The last cycle in which these
conditions obtained was 1894
1886. During each of the small
years of that cycle there were
packed approximately 350,000
cases on the Fraser River and
about 60,000 cases in Puget
Sound. During each of those
years, therefore, about five mil
lion sockeye were taken from
the spawning run * * * Appar
ently, however, a third of a mil
lion cases a year could be safe
ly taken, for the following cycle
shows no decrease. * * * During
the following period of four
years (1897-1900) the TRAPS
IN PUGET SOUND BECAME AN
IMPORTANT MATTER. While
the B. C. Pack showed little or
no reduction, it was now met by
a pack on Puget Sound which
nearly equalled it. The total
catches during the three off
years of that cycle nearly doubl
ed those of the preceding cycle
and exacted an average toll of
about 10,000,000 fish from the
spawning run of 1897-1900. The
total pack of the three small
years of that cycle was over 2,“
000,000 cases.”
“The result was quickly ap
parent. * * * The small years
. of the following cycle showed
such a marked decline as to in
dicate that we had far over
stepped the line of safety. It was
then during the cycle of 1897
1900 that the first serious dam
age was done to the sockeye run
of the Fraser. By doubling the
pack of the three small years,
not only was the surplus fully
taken but the necessary spawn
ing reserve was seriously en
croached on—with the result