How Oregon Fisheries Service
Keeps Up the Supply of Big Fish by Taking
Eggs From Female Salmon and
Developing Them Into Sturdy Specimens
t
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th cvmtral salmon hatrtivrv at
Bobbt11! baa laid tha foundation
for a vraattr salmon InJujtrr than
rar la Oregon within tha oast trw
yaara. Not only ta tha flan supply
holdlns; Its own under tha nrw llnv of
preparation but thr la ery assur
aaca that from year to yaar tbare will
ba a marked Incraas In tha supply,
particularly to tha Columbia River and
Sla numerous tributaries.
It Is wall understood that . but for
la work of tha fisheries trrrtae of
tha stata tha salmon Industry would
Jobs; sine hare passed out of exist
ence or at least would have ceased
to be 6f any especial Importance.
Nature la totally unable to keep up
the supply unaided In view of the
heavy drafts made on the annual sup
ply. Comparatively few salmon are
able to rat by the myriad devices for
their capture that line the lower and
upper sechee of the Columbia Rtver.
Than. too. nature la exceedina-Ty
wasteful In her processes of propagat
Ins; salmon. For while each female
Will deposit several thousand not
more than t per cent them ever de
velop Into yountf fry on the natural
pawning beds. Furthermore only a
very small per cent of the youna- fry
ever (row to be mature fish.
To eliminate, so far as possible, the
wastefulness of lavish nature la the
aim of the hatchery service and the
greatest stride la that direction "ye l
Idea. As Introduced a year aro by ex
made la found In the central hatchery
Master Fish Warden II. C McAllister
and developed since then by R. E. Clan
ton, present head of the department.
Tha scheme here la to hatch the
ecjrs and retain the youns; fish until
they are stronc and durable. Thus
they can make their way to salt water
In comparative safety- I'nder the old
plan of liberating--young fry at the
varloua eyeing; stations, most of the
supply went Into the paunches of
(lolly vardens and other predatory flh.
At tha present time approxlniaCel
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l.ISO.OO') salmon enter the Columbia
Klver every year. That Is about the
averaae fur the past Ova years. This
Is a very small per cent of the young-
fry liberated annually. And Inasmuch
as It has been pretty clearly estab
llshed that the mature fish return to
tha stream from which they came, the
deduction Is apparent that the majority
were destroyed.
Improving on Nalurr.
Many years ago It was discovered
that nature's wasteful hatching
methods could be remedied. Hence the
establishment of hatching stations. At
these stations, located near natural
spawning grounds along small streams.
the females were caught In nets, traps
or flshways and the ova taken from
them. These eggs were freely fertilised
with milt taken from live males and
the eggs were then transferred to
hatching troughs and carefully
nurtured Into young fry. It was the
practice to liberate the fry while they
were but a few days old and while
still laden with, yolk sacs which pro
vided them with food until they were
old enough to forage for themselves.
That process has for years kept the
salmon Industry going. But It was
ascertained that the percentage of ma
ture Oh. resulting was comparatively
small.. The cause was not hard to de
termine. The schools of young fry
naturally were attracting ' perfect
shoals, of "cannibal" flsh and the fry
waa meeting the fate that previously
had been that of the unhatched eggs.
Now nature Is being Improved on In
two ways. The waste of eggs Is being
eliminated and also the waste of
young fry. When a young salmon1 la
several months old he U able to avoid
the avaricious dolly varden and other
fresh water cannibals.
Instead of hatching the eggs at the
smaller stations the new system Is to
ship them to the central hatchery at
Bonneville. Tha eggs are taken In the
old way along the smaller salmon
streams and are developed at the "eye
let" stations to Uie hatcMog point be- ,
NATURE IN
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fore going to Bonneville. At the Cen
tral station the young fry are hatched
and transferred to retaining ponds
where they are fed and cared for until
big enough to take care of themselves
In that eternal strUTKle for survival
of the fittest in fishdom.
Millions of Fish on Hand.
Fourteen million young fry are now
In the retaining ponds of the central
hatchery and all of these will be lib
erated during this year as rapidly as
they reach a proper stxe. These flsh
have been hatched from eggs taken
In the Wallowa. Clackamas. McKenxle
and Salmon rivers. There are several
hundred thousand blueback salmon
from Alaskan -waters, in addition.
Supervising the huge task of prop
erly feeding and caring for these mil
lions of flsh Is one of the best fisheries
experts on the Pacific Coast. E. C.
Greenman. who has been In the state and
Government service alternately for the
past IS years. Remarkable results are
being obtained by Superintendent
Greenman In demonstrating how small
a per cent of loss need be met with.
The dally loss reports at the Bonne
ville hatchery run from 6 to 25 flsh
per day, which Is a record In Itself
considering the fact that there are
14.000,000 Inhabitants of the hatchery.
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v uiiv ma central fiaicnery laea is auu
new In the) state. Its practicability and
value has been full yestabllahed. It Is
certain that the percentage of eggs ma
tured has been Increased from S to from
0 to TO per cent, t per cent representmg
the best nature Is able to do. Then, In
stead of a million and a quarter of sal
mon In the Columbia on an average good
year. Master Fish "Warden Clanton Is
confident of being able ultimately to
bring about an annual run of 10,000.000 or
thereabout. That, of course, will mean
millions of dollars more to the state In
revenue from the great salmon Industry.
So tremendous has been the promise
TIIE SUNDAY OREGONTANV PORTLAND, JULY 30, 1911.
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of the central hatchery Idea that an
other station similar to that at Bonne
ville wllf shortly be constructed add' put
Into commission near Astoria. - Here
eggs. from Coast "eyeing" stations will
be reedved and the young fry developed.
Wlthli the next few years the bulk of
the eggs taken each year by the fisheries
service will be handled In the improved
way.
In a comparatively short while the
actual returns will begin developing. For
HATCHING
0
New Central Hatchery System
Promises Greater Industry Than Ever Before
in Course of Next Few Years.
Work of Egg-Taking and Fish-Feeding
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the next three years there will be no
appreciable increase in the salmon sup
ply, at least no increase is anticipated.
On the fourth year, .however, .sheries
experts are agreed that heavier runs will
occur, especially in the Columbia River.
This is accounted for in the fact that
salmon, after being liberated, make their
way to salt water and disappear for
from three to four years .The present
system being new, the increased runs
-Lttendant upon the lowered mortality ,
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of young fry obviously will not occur
until from three to four years hence.
With more fish in the streams the an
nual egg take of the fisheries service will
also be increased and it will be possible
to develop an even greater output. Thus
ft will become possible to gradually de
velop the salmon supply of the state
and to maintain it so that salmon will
be available In plenty from year to
year.
There are a dozen hatchery stations
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already in operation along the various
streams of Oregon where salmon go ta
spawn. From early in the Spring until
late in the Fall the crews at these sta
tions are kept fishing. They get such
mature salmon as have escaped the
myriad snares of commercial fishermen
or that have gone upstream during ths
closed eeason provided by state law.
Propagating the Chinook. ,
On most of the streams there are two
varieties, steelheads and chlnook. Sev
eral streams are productive of the small
blueback salmon. The chinook is tha
great commercial fish and its propaga
tion is fhe principal aim of the fisheries
service. One big female chlnook will
yield 2000, 3000 or even more good eggs,
and out of 2000 chlnook eggs it is not
unusual to hatch from 1400 to 1600. As
has been demonstrated by Mr. Green
man at the central hatchery, there is
nothing impossible about developing 95
per cent . of the young fry after they
have been properly hatched.
Every phase of the hatchery work re
quires skilled workmanship, and the men
who operate the various stations, under
Mr. Clanton, have been following the
game for years, most of them having
begun in the United States fisheries serv
ice. The hatcheryman's business has
been evolved into a sort of exact science
and the competent hatcheryman must
know all about food fish and their
habits, as well as knowing just how to
take fish, strip them of the eggs, hatch
the young fry and nurture them until
ready to release.
Of recent discovery in the way of food
for growing fish, is a sort of mud eel,
existing by millions in the Willamette .
River. Heretofore frozen smelt have
been kept in tons for feeding purposes, .
and this was a heavy item of expense. 1
Several tons of eels have been put up
and are now in use at Bonneville, where
Superintendent Greenman finds that they
are quite as satisfactory as the smelts,
provided other food is given occasion
ally. An interesting Investigation is short
ly to be made by Mr. Clanton Into the
habits of young salmon in making their
way to salt water. It has never been
satisfactorily explained Just at whal
season and age the flsh go to the sea
although light on this 'subject would be
of the greatest value. Some authorities
Insist that the young salmon disappears
Into the oCean In the Spring while less
than a year old. Others insist that the
Fali. of the year is the going out
period. In an effort to solve this
mystery, Mr. Clanton purposes. In co
operation with Government experts, to
liberate a quantity of five-inch speci
mens at Bonneville and follow their
course through the medium of. dlpnets.
It will be considerable of an undertak
ing but once the truth is known the
liberation of young flsh can be timed
accordingly.
Cannerymen are watching with deep
est interest the new. propagation meth
ods, and while many were skeptical at
first they now agree that a new era is
ahead in the salmon industry of Oregon.
The cannerymen recently showed their
faith in the new system by contributing
$1500 for the' construction of a new re
taining pond which Mr. Clanton could
not complete at Bonnervllle on account
of a shortage In the fisheries fund.
Since then the state has added $5000 for
the completion of retaining ponds and
buildings at Bonneville, besides provid
ing for the new receiving station near
Astoria. At the Astoria hatchery, as at
Bonneville, the young fish will be held
until from five and one-half to six inches
long before being liberated.
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