FISH HATCHERIES
British Columbia Fish Commission, 1922. Reports and Recommendations.
There are twelve government hat
cheries in British Columbia from
which are distributed one hundred
milion salmon of various kinds an
nually. Six serve the Fraser river,
two at Skeena, one Rivers Inlet,
one Anderson Lake, Vancouver Is
land and one Cowichan Lake, Van
couver Island. The annual costs for
operating these establishments runs
to between $130,000 and $140,000.
In an endeavor to find out some
definite proof as to whether such a
a large expenditure of public money
was of such commercial value to
the salmon fishing industry, as to
justfy its continuance, we devoted
much time and consideration to this
question.
Many allegations were made to
us by those interested in artificial
propagation with a view to showing
that the percentage of artificially
produced fish reaching maturity is
greater than by natural propagation,
and that therefore artificial propaga
tion must be of value in maintain
ing supplies.
Apart from the fact that the
number of fish handled artificially
is infinitesimal compared with what
nature deals with, we are told by
Dr. McLean Fraser, the scientist in
charge of the biological station at
Departure Bay, who must be ac
cepted as something of an authority.
‘'That he did not think those who
said a greater percentage reached
maturity from artificial hatching
that (this must be an error, ‘than
must have been the word intended.
I*. G.) the natural process, had any
basis for it. They do not know.
Such statements are continually be
ing made, but we do not know.”
A memorandum prepared evident
ly by those directly interested in the
continued operation of hatcheries
has been placed in the hands of the
commission in which an effort is
made to show what benefits the in
dustry has derived from hatcheries
It begins with the statement t<
the effect that in spite of the fae
of increased fishing on the Skeena
the pack of the sock-eye in th<
five-year period of 1918-1922 wa;
larger than the pack in the five
jear period of 1913-1917, and thai
»vere it not for artificial propaga
tion there would be no possibility
of the runs being maintained. Ii
goes on to show that in Rivers In
let there was in the five-year perioc
1908-12 a pack of 482,000 cases, ii
the 1913-17 period, 388,000 cases
and in the 1917-21 period, 342,00C
cases, and concluded that the figures
show there has been a depletion
which would have been greater were
u nui ior me operations oi me one
hatchery serving the inlet Curious
ly enough the pack of the three five
year period are given for Rivers In
let, but in the case of the Skeena
those by two periods only are given,
If the compilers of the memoran
dum had given the pack of the
Skeena for the period 1908-12, as in
the case of the Rivers Inlet, it would
have been seen that there has been
depletion there also rather than an
increase. Taking three five-year
five-year periods for the Skeena th?
figures are in round numbers 1908
' 2, 636,000 cases; 1913-17, 423,000
cases; 1918-22, 538,000 cases.
On the Skeena there is a weekly
closed season of 48 hours all
through the season during which nc
nets are allowed in the water, and
salmon have utmost freedom to as
cend the river for spawning purpos
es. Yet the memorandum referred
to ignores this great means of re
plenishing the stock of fish, and as
suredly asserts that hut for artificial
propogation the runs could not have
been maintained against the great
amount of fishing now going on.
We have examined this statement
closely and compared the possibil
ities of natural and artificial propo
) gation and this is what we find.
- From 1903 to 1908 there were three
, and a half to four and a half mil
J iion of sockeye fry annually placed
i in the Skeena from the hatcheries.
From 1908 to 1912 and after, there
; were ten to twelve millions of fry
placed in the Skeena river annually.
" Yet in each of the two five-year per
iods from 1913 to 1922 the sockeye
pack of the Skeena fell far below
that of the preceding five-year per
iod which had very few artificially
hatched fish to rely on.
Tables are given to show, at the
i end of the memorandum, that the
number of parent fish taken for
hatchery use is so small as to have
no effect in depleting the runs to the
natural spawning beds. That same
argment can surely be used with
equal force to show that the spawn
taken from a very insignificant num
ber of fish secured for artificial use
i* ot little value in restocking a river
like the Skeena.
Table A, of the memorandum
shows that approximately 14,000
parent fish are taken yearly from
the Skeena for the hatcheries, and
these have practically reached the
spawning grounds when taken
A comparison of this small num
ber of parent fish for hatchery use
with the enormous number allowed
to pass up river for natural spawn
ing during the weekly closed season
shows that the artificial output is
comparatively less than the proverb
ial drop in the bucket.
Figures taken by the local fishery
officers give the average catch per
boat per night on the river as sixty
soekeve during the whole 1922 sea
son. There were one thousand boats
fishing. Consequently, with opera
tions stopped for two nights each
week, no less than 120,000 fish on
the average make their way up riv
er every week end. As corroboration