Plans to Restore Sockeye Run By
New flethod
Sockeye runs equal to the re
cord figures of the past may
again be seen in the Fraser Riv
er, according to Alexander S.
Miller, of Smithers, who has been
associated with the fishing in
dustry for nearly thirty years in
Alaska, and during that time
has brought about the replen
ishing of a number of streams
that were threatened with deple
tion. Mr. Miller is not only con
vinced that the runs on the Fra
ser can be brought back to their
old volume, but also that these
great runs can be repeated and
maintain in perpetuity. In a re
cent newspaper interview he
stated he had come to Vancouv
er, B. C., for the purpose of lay
ing before those interested in
the future of this great indus
try, and before members of the
government, his ideas and sug
gestions, in the hope that they
will be of value to the country.
»t**#**^t* ++++++
I)R. S. H. SUSSMAN
Dentist
Highest Grade Dentistry at
Reasonable Prices
712 Joshua Green Bldg
►!» <hh & Pike - Seattle,, Wasl
:
Electric Laundry
Phone If 6
GENERAL LAUNDRY
WORK
F. H. Bold, Prop.
Sanitary Market
CHAS. A. GREENAA
MEAT MARKET
GENERAL MERCHANDISE
• Petersburg, - - Alaska
SITKA CAMP
ALASKA NATIVE
BROTHERHOOD
Meets 8 P. M. Mondays
President: Secretary
Mark Jacobs A. Hope
Salmon Studies in Alaska
As a result of his studies of
salmon, extending over more
than a quarter of a century in
Alaska waters, Mr. Miller claims
that the sockeye salmon, con
trary to accepted theory, oper
ates on a 7 and 8 year cycle and
not on a four year cycle. He al
so discovered that the cycle of
the humpback is six years, and
not as popularly supposed, on a
cycle of two years, although the
large runs come on the cycles
which are credited with being
the return of the fish to its na
tive waters, contrary to actual
fact.
‘“My discoveries resulted from
my damming of the little stream
operating into Nakat Inlet. Alas
ka, in 1883,” he explained. “This
stream had a normal sockoye
run of about 10,000 salmon. I
built a fence across and no fish
could get up. The next year I
once more prevented the fish
coming up, and then on the third
year the Indians began to com
plain and the chief told me that
I must let some salmon up. In
order to placate him I employed
him with a scoop net to lift
some sockeye over the fence so
they could make their way into
the little lake where they spawn
ed. He counted the fish and
they numbered 1600. The next
year I once more employed the
chief to lift an equal number of
sockeyes over the fence. All
other fish were stopped.
Results
“Now, the results of this sys
tem were most surprising. I ex
pected that the fourth year af
ter my having first stopped the
fish would see the end of the
runs. This was not so, for they
came in as large numbers as be
fore. It was not until the sev
enth and eighth years that there
was a falling off, corresponding
to the blocking of the stream
That there was not a total ces
sation of the fish first suggest
ed to me that nature in order
to provide for the restocking of
a stream blocked by an obstruc
number of fisli, a small percent
age, come back on a cycle of sev
en years, but the bulk come on
the eighth year cycle.
“In any event, tne eighth and
ninth years, corresponding to
the cycle where I had stopped
the fish without letting any
through to the lake, were very
poor ones, but there were enough
to employ the Indian to lift the
usual number over. Then came
the eighth year from the season
when the chief had lifted the
1600 over the fence. Instead of
the normal number of 10,000
that had been a good year in the
past, there were 35,000. The
hum backs continued to come for
six years, but at the end of that
time they fell off entirely and
did not come back, for none had
been lifted over the fence. The
surprising thing and the con
vincing argument was, however,
in the fact that the stream con
tinued to produce 35,000 sock
eyes, corresponding to the work
of the chief in his annual task
of lifting the fish over the
fence.”
Other Streams
. . Mr. Miller tried the experiment
with other streams in Southeast
Alaska in succeeding years with
similar results, until finally the
fisheries commission stopped
him fencing the small streams.
But in every instance where he
was permitted to carry out his
ideas the results were similar to
those at Nakat Inlet; the num
ber of sockeyes in the stream,
from the eighth year, multiplied
300 per cent.
He explains that any spawn
ing lake can only accommodate
so many fish, that the grounds
where the fish lay their eggs is
limited, and that the sockeyes
are the first to deposit their
spawn. The other species of
salmon follow, and they in
spawning, destroy millions of
sockeye eggs. Then, too. salmon
trout and other species of fresh
water fish prey on the eggs and
fry, destroying countless num
Continued on Page 12