PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
REPORT
PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 3 1st, 1940
WITH APPENDICES
PRINTED BY
AUTHORITY OP THE LEGISLATIVE -4.SSEMBLY.
VICTORIA, B.C. :
Printed by Charles F. Banfield, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty.
1941. To His Honour E. W. Hamber,
Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of British Columbia.
May it please Your Honour :
I beg to submit herewith the Report of the Provincial Fisheries Department for the year
ended December 31st, 1940, with Appendices.
GEORGE SHARRATT PEARSON,
Commissioner of Fisheries.
Provincial Fisheries Department,
Commissioner of Fisheries' Office,
Victoria, British Columbia. Honourable George S. Pearson,
Commissioner of Fisheries, Victoria, B.C.
Sir,—I have the honour to submit herewith the Annual Report of the Provincial Fisheries
Department for the year ended December 31st, 1940, together with Appendices.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
GEO. J. ALEXANDER,
Assistant Commissioner. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
REPORT OF THE PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT FOR 1940.
Page.
Value of Canadian Fisheries and the Standing of the Provinces in 1939 7
Value of British Columbia's Fisheries in 1940 8
Capital, Equipment, and Employees 8
The Canned-salmon Pack for British Columbia for 1940 9
British Columbia's Canned-salmon Pack by Districts 9
Review of British Columbia's Salmon-canning Industry, 1940 15
Other Canneries (Pilchard, Herring, and Shell-fish) 16
Mild-cured Salmon 16
Dry-salt Salmon 16
Dry-salt Herring 17
Pickled Herring 17
Halibut Production 17
Fish Oil and Meal 18
Condition of British Columbia's Salmon-spawning Grounds 19
Contributions to the Life-history of the Sockeye Salmon (Digest) (No. 26) 19
Pilchard and Herring Investigations 20
The Clam Investigation 22
International Fisheries Commission, 1940 23
International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission, 1940 25
APPENDICES.
Contributions to the Life-history of the Sockeye Salmon. (No. 26.) By Wilbert A.
Clemens, Ph.D., Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver,
B.C 26
Tagging British Columbia Pilchards (Sardinops cserulea (Girard)): Insertions and
Recoveries for 1940-41. By John Lawson Hart, Ph.D., Pacific Biological Station,
Nanaimo, B.C 43
Tagging of Herring (Clupea pallasii) in British Columbia: Insertions and Recoveries
during 1940-41. By John Lawson Hart, Ph.D.; Albert L. Tester, Ph.D.; and J. L.
McHugh, M.A., Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C 47
The Edible Molluscs of British Columbia. By D. B. Quayle, Pacific Biological Station,
Nanaimo, B.C 75
Report on Investigations of the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission
for the Year 1940 88
Report on Inspection of Salmon-spawning Grounds, 1940. By Major J. A. Motherwell,
Chief Supervisor of Fisheries 93
Annual Report of the British Columbia Salt-fish Board, 1940-41 Season 100
Statistical Tables . 103 REPORT OF THE
PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT FOR 1940.
VALUE OF CANADIAN FISHERIES AND THE STANDING OF THE
PROVINCES, 1939.
The value of the fisheries products of Canada for the year 1939 totalled $40,072,976.
During that year British Columbia produced fisheries products to the value of $17,698,980, or
44 per cent, of Canada's total.
British Columbia in 1939 led all the Provinces in the Dominion in respect to the production of fisheries wealth. Her output exceeded that of Nova Scotia, the second in rank, by
$8,945,432.
The market value of the fisheries products of British Columbia in 1939 was $973,770
less than in the previous year. There was a decrease in the value of salmon amounting to
$1,496,473.
The capital invested in the fisheries of British Columbia in 1939 was $22,477,626, or 56
per cent, of the total capital employed in fisheries in all of Canada. Of the total invested in
the fisheries of British Columbia in 1939, $8,154,350 was employed in catching and handling
the catches and $14,323,276 invested in canneries, fish-packing establishments, and fish-
reduction plants.
The number of persons engaged in British Columbia fisheries in 1939 was 15,880, or
19 per cent, of Canada's total fishery-workers. Of those engaged in British Columbia, 9,609
were employed in catching and handling the catches and 6,271 in packing, curing, and in
fish-reduction plants. The total number engaged in the fisheries in British Columbia in 1939
was 537 less than in the preceding year.
The following statement gives in the order of their rank the value of the fishery products
of the Provinces of Canada for the years 1935 to 1939, inclusive:—
Province.
1935.
1936.
1937.
1938.
1939.
$15,169,529
7,852,899
3,949,615
2,852,007
1,947,259
1,258,335
899,685
252,059
225,741
20,725
$17,231,534
8,90-5,268
4,390,735
3,208,422
2,108,404
1,667,371
953,029
367,025
309,882
13,385
$16,155,439
9.229.834
4,447,688
3,615,666
1,892,036
1,796,012
870,299
527,199
433,354
8.767
$18,672,750
8,804,231
3,996,064
3,353,775
1,957,279
1,811,124
930,874
468,646
492,943
5,290
$17,698,980
8,753,648
5,082,393
Ontario.....
3,007,315
2,010,953
1,655 273
950,,412
Saskatchewan— — ....
478,511
430,724
4,867
Totals..
$34,427,854
$39,165,055
$38,976,294
$40,492,976
$40,072,976
SPECIES AND VALUE OF FISH CAUGHT IN BRITISH COLUMBIA.
The total marketed value of each of the principal species of fish taken in British Columbia
for the years 1935 to 1939, inclusive, is given in the following table:—
Species.
1935.
1936.
1937.
1938.
1939.
$12,099,275
860,349
80,513
580,031
670,328
382,490
61,886
65.862
$13,387,344
943.568
96,311
1,142,397
667.313
418.142
88.422
53,497
$11,907,905
1,094,214
95,842
1,181,466
902.619
318,769
95.371
95,251
$14,491,285
1,041,165
231,220
855,265
867,007
351,324
162,508
71,297
$12,994,812
1,30-5,542
Halibut
193 148
2,198 912
100,693
357,990
50,937
79,419
Carried forward -
$14,800,734
$16,796,994
$15,691,437
$18,071,071
$17,281,453 J 8
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
Species and Value op Fish caught in British Columbia—Continued.
Species.
1935.
1936.
1937.
1938.
1939.
$14,800,734
44,525
30,808
25,492
41,609
3,773
10,409
5,054
9,578
6,936
1,094
3,363
1,110
170
$16,796,994
38,855
37,019
9,827
59,687
34
3,332
13,875
7,633
7,621
2,053
982
3,233
803
69
$15,691,437
52,188
33,201
15,430-
36,199
477
2,339
7,990
3,722
3,523
1,386
923
2,438
337
50
$18,071,071
54,572
37,679
18,985
37,453
6,767
22,286
3,942
6,884
3,013
1,016
2,467
760
62
$17,281,453
61,633
39,826
12,246
59,976
1,340-
5,934
10,693
3,752
Soles _ _
Shrimps . . ..
Oysters..
Flounders-
Smelt
4,388
2,459
441
3,026
1,792
32
Octopus -
Skate
Oolachans-
Whiting
Trout
Grayfish, etc.—
68
34,745
34,906
172,201
5,664
1,933
1,274
38,776
26,740
220.251
12,431
4,327
2,310
68,073
42,807
184,074
3,076
105,453
Oil -
23,744
22,924
105,360
1,671
31,175
44,072
36,322
1,465
Miscellaneous-
77,515
10,417
40,198
Totals -
$15,169,529
$17,231,534
$16,155,439
$18,672,750
$17,698,980
VALUE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA'S FISHERIES SHOWS AN INCREASE IN 1940.*
The value of the fisheries production of British Columbia in 1940 records an advance
of $4,000,000 over the value shown in the preceding year. The totals for the two years are:
1940, $21,710,167 and 1939, $17,698,989. The 1940 value is the highest shown for any year
since 1930. The salmon-fishery of British Columbia, which is the most important fishery in
the Dominion, had a production value of $13,757,091, an increase over the preceding year
of $762,279 or 6 per cent. The canned salmon was valued at $11,427,923, and the salmon
marketed for consumption fresh at $2,056,020. Herring, second on the list of British
Columbia's chief commercial fishes, had a value of $4,426,390, an increase of $2,227,478 or
101 per cent.; canned herring and oil and meal are the principal products of this fishery.
Third on the list is halibut, with a value of $1,570,998; the greater part of the catch of
halibut is marketed for consumption fresh.
The total quantity of fish of all kinds, including shell-fish, taken by British Columbia
fishermen during the year was 5,906,896 cwt., with a value at the point of landing of
$9,067,279, compared with 4,172,224 cwt. and a landed value of $7,890,854 in 1939. The
increase in the total catcli is due chiefly to the larger amount of herring taken.
CAPITAL, EQUIPMENT, AND EMPLOYEES.
Capital.—-The amount of capital invested in the fisheries of British Columbia in 1940
was $24,661,022, apportioned as follows: In the vessels, boats, nets, piers, and wharves, etc.,
used in the primary operations of catching and landing the fish, $9,182,425; and in fish
canning and curing, $15,478,597. The total value in the preceding year was $22,480,127, of
which $8,156,851 is credited to the primary operations and $14,323,276 to the fish canning and
curing.
Employees.—The number of fishermen employed during the fishing season was 10,444
and the number of persons engaged in work in the fish-processing plants, 7,449, or a total
of 17,893 compared with a total of 15,880 in 1939.
* Note.—The above figures are taken from the advance report on British Columbia Fisheries, Dominion Department of Statistics, Department of Trade and Commerce. BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 9
THE CANNED-SALMON PACK FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA FOR 1940.
The total pack of all species of salmon canned in British Columbia in 1940 amounted to
1,467,216 cases. This was 71,847 cases less than in 1939 and was also 150,435 cases less than
the five-year average, 1936-40. The pack in 1940 was the smallest since 1933 when 1,265,049
cases were canned, but was 43,984 cases greater than the average annual pack of all varieties
for the previous ten years. In this ten-year average, however, the year 1931 is included, in
which year, due to the depression, the industry curtailed its operations to such an extent that
only 685,104 cases of salmon were canned. If the pack for 1931 is excluded, the total pack
of all varieties of salmon canned in British Columbia in 1940 was 38,031 cases less than the
average for the past nine years. \
In 1940 the canned-salmon pack consisted of 366,402 cases of sockeye, 17,740 cases of
springs, 1,207 cases of steelheads, 224,522* cases of cohoes, 213,904 cases of pinks, and 643,441
cases of chums.
Examination of these pack figures by species shows that the total sockeye-pack for 1940,
amounting to 366,402 cases, was 96,515 cases greater than in 1939 and, for the year in question, was 28,321 cases above the ten-year average annual pack of this species.
The spring-salmon pack in 1940, amounting to 17,740 cases, was 1,642 cases higher than
in the previous year but was 9,306 cases below the average for the previous ten-year period.
In considering the figures for this species it should be pointed out that the figures are not truly
indicative of the quantity available in any given year, as the amount canned is conditioned by
the requirements of the fresh, frozen, and mild-cure trade.
While steelhead trout are not salmon, nevertheless a few are caught incidental to salmon-
fishing and these are canned; therefore, the figures are given here. In 1940 there were
canned 1,207 cases of steelheads, compared with 796 cases of this species in 1939 and 1,036
cases in 1938.
The 1940 pack of canned-cohoe salmon, amounting to 224,522 cases, was 20,575 cases less
than were packed in 1939 and 2,266 cases less than the five-year average annual pack of this
species. The five-year average, however, includes 1938, in which year the record pack of
301,081 cases was made. If a ten-year average is taken the pack is found to be 20,410 cases
above the average for this species. As pointed out in the foot-note, the figures given for the
1940 cohoe-pack include 23,277 cases of bluebacks and 20,489 cases of cohoe imported from
Alaska.
The pack of pink salmon in British Columbia in 1940 was most disappointing in that the
213,904 cases canned represents the smallest pack of this species of salmon canned in British
Columbia in comparatively recent years. It is compared with 620,595 cases canned in the
previous year, and is 268,593 cases less than the pack for the previous five years and 218,805
cases less than the average annual pack for the previous ten years. In other words, the pink-
pack in 1940 amounted to less than half the average pack for this species for the years 1931
to 1940, inclusive. The reader is referred to the next section for a closer analysis of these
figures.
The canned pack of chum salmon, amounting to 643,441 cases, was the largest pack of
canned chums put up in British Columbia in comparatively recent years. This figure is compared with 386,590 cases packed in 1939 and with 523,419 cases, the previous five-year average,
and is 223,814 eases greater than the average for the previous ten years.
BRITISH COLUMBIA'S CANNED-SALMON PACK BY DISTRICTS.
Fraser River System.
Sockeye Salmon.—The total pack of sockeye salmon on the Fraser River in 1940 amounted
to 158,363 cases. Of this amount 99,009 cases were canned in British Columbia and 59,354
cases were canned in the State of Washington. The percentages are 62% and 37% respectively. It will be noted that the Canadian fishermen again caught the greater portion of the
* Note.—Included in this figure are 23,277 cases of bluebacks and 20,489 cases of cohoes imported from Alaska. J 10 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
Fraser River sockeye.
convenience.
1929
The percentages for the past twelve years are tabulated below for
American. Canadian.
Per Cent. Per Cent.
64 0 Sfi n
1930
. 78.0
22 0
1931
68.0
32.0
1932
55.0
45.0
1933
71.0
29.0
1934
.. . 72.0
28.0
1935
. 47.0
53.0
1936
25.0
75.0
1937
. 38.0
62.0
1938
. 42.0
58.0
1939
_. 44.5
55.5
1940
37.5
62.5
The Canadian pack of Fraser River sockeye in 1940, amounting to 99,009 cases, was
85,845 cases below the pack produced in British Columbia in the cycle-year 1936, but was
33,240 cases greater than the corresponding pack in the cycle-year 1932. The total pack of
Fraser River sockeye, Canadian and American, in 1940, however, was 85,996 cases below the
total canned in 1936, the cycle-year, but was 11,406 cases greater than in the cycle-year 1932.
The total Fraser River pack in 1940 was also 8,536 cases greater than the average for the five
cycle-years 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, and 1940.
When considering the production figures for • a river system, the pack figures must be
considered in conjunction with the escapement to the spawning-beds. In the Appendix to this
report there is published " Spawning Report, British Columbia, 1940," which is furnished by
Major J. A. Motherwell, Chief Supervisor of Fisheries for British Columbia for the Federal
Department of Fisheries. The reader is referred to this report for a detailed description of
the conditions obtaining on the various spawning-beds. Generally speaking, it would appear
that the principal spawning-beds of the Fraser River system were satisfactorily taken care of,
while an improvement is noted in the numbers spawning in the Prince George area and a
satisfactory increase is credited to the number of spawners frequenting the Quesnel-Bowron
River area. An outstanding feature of the sockeye run to the Fraser River system in 1940
was the excellent showing on the Chilko River spawning-beds. It was estimated that in the
cycle-year 1936 some 74,000 sockeye spawned in this system, while in 1940 it is estimated that
close to 350,000 sockeye spawned in this area. In the Pemberton area a decrease in the
number of spawners is noted, as is also the case in the Anderson-Seton Lake system. A
normal seeding was observed in the Hope area while, generally speaking, the spawning on the
lower reaches of the Fraser River watershed were reasonably satisfactory.
Spring Salmon.—There were 4,504 cases of spring salmon packed by Canadian canners
on the Fraser River in 1940, compared with 5,993 cases in 1939 and 4,308 cases in 1938. The
1940 pack was 2,573 cases less than the average pack for this variety in the previous five
years. In the case of Springs, however, the canned-salmon pack figures are not necessarily
an indication of the size of the run, as spring salmon find an outlet in many other markets.
Generally speaking, the reports from the Fraser River spawning-beds frequented by spring
salmon indicate that the run was satisfactory, except in the case of the Harrison Lake area.
Cohoe Salmon.—The cohoe-salmon pack on the Fraser River amounted to 13,028 cases,
which figure is 1,784 cases greater than was the pack in the cycle-year 1937. The pack in
1940, however, was 1,150 cases less than the average for the previous five cycle-years and was
5,706 cases below the average annual pack of this species for the previous five years. In
connection with the escapement of this variety to the spawning-grounds, it would appear that
the number of cohoes reaching the spawning-beds was unsatisfactory.
Pink Salmon.—There was no run of pink salmon to the Fraser River in 1940. This
species frequents the Fraser River only in the odd-numbered years.
Chum Salmon.—There were canned on the Fraser River in 1940, 35,665 cases of chum
salmon. This was 5,515 cases greater than the pack for the year previous and 4,100 cases
greater than in the cycle-year 1936. The pack of chums on the Fraser River for the year in
question exceeds the five-year average annual pack for this species by 258 cases. BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 11
In comparing the chum-salmon pack on the Fraser River for 1940 with those packs of
previous years, the figures alone do not tell a complete story. Heretofore, considerable
numbers of chum salmon have found an outlet in the dry-salt trade. No salting took place
in 1939 and 1940. Consideration must also be given to the fact that, owing to the war and
the demand thus created for cheap canned food, the salmon-canners expended every effort to
put up as large a pack of chum salmon as possible. The quantity of chum salmon frozen in
1940 was as great, if not greater, than is usual for this variety. When these circumstances
are considered the pack of canned chums in 1940 does not appear as favourable as at first
sight. In most cases the spawning-beds are considered to be reasonably well seeded by this
variety, although in some cases the seeding is reported to be only fair.
Skeena River.
The total pack of all varieties of salmon canned on the Skeena River in 1940 amounted to
195,355 cases, which was 10,249 cases less than the total pack for this river in the year
previous. The 1940 pack was composed of 116,507 cases of sockeye, 6,118 cases of springs,
133 cases of steelheads, 20,614 cases of cohoe, 47,301 cases of pinks, and 4,682 cases of chums.
Sockeye Salmon.—The Skeena River sockeye-salmon pack in 1940, amounting to 116,507
cases, is compared with 68,485 cases in 1939 and was 45,164 cases greater than the average
pack for the previous five-year period. This was also the largest pack for the four-year cycle
since 1924, when 144,747 cases were canned. This river system in recent years has been
passing through a period of comparatively low production of sockeye. The increase in the
size of the pack in 1939 was noted in this Department's report. It is encouraging to note a
continued increase in 1940. This, taken in conjunction with encouraging reports from the
spawning-grounds, would seem to indicate that the measures taken a few years ago by the
Federal Department of Fisheries are producing the desired effect.
Spring Salmon.—Spring salmon are canned on the Skeena River only incidental to the
canning of other varieties. In 1940 there were 6,118 cases of this variety canned, compared
with 4,857 cases in 1939, 4,318 cases in 1938, and 4,401 cases in 1937. As in other districts,
the pack of spring salmon on the Skeena River is not indicative of the run.
Cohoe Salmon.—There were 20,614 cases of cohoe canned on the Skeena River in 1940.
This was 8,584 cases less than were packed in 1939 and 8,093 cases below the average for the
previous five-year period. In addition to the 20,614 cases of cohoe canned on the Skeena River
from Skeena River fish in 1940, there were also canned in Skeena River canneries 19,360 cases
of this variety which were imported from Alaska. The escapement of cohoe to the spawning-
beds was reported as light.
Pink Salmon.—The pack of pink salmon on the Skeena River in 1940, amounting to 47,301
cases, was the smallest pack of this species since 1931, when the pack amounted to 44,807 cases.
It will be remembered, however, that in 1931 the small pack was probably caused by curtailment of operations due to economic conditions prevailing at that time. The 1940 pack was
22,309 cases less than was packed on this river in 1938, the cycle-year, and was also 31,244
cases less than the average for the previous five cycle-years. Notwithstanding the small pack,
reports from the spawning-beds indicate that, in that portion of the river system which is
frequented by pink salmon in the even-numbered years, the escapement was " abundant and
the seeding better than in the brood-year of 1938."
Chum Salmon.—The Skeena River is not a heavy producer of chum salmon. The pack of
4,682 cases of this variety in 1940, however, was considerably below the quantities of this
species usually packed on the Skeena River and was the smallest pack of chums since 1931.
The pack is compared with 7,773 cases for 1939, 16,758 cases for 1938, 10,811 cases for 1937,
and 15,297 cases in 1936. The escapement was also disappointing.
Nass River.
The total pack of all species of salmon caught on the Nass River in 1940 amounted to
60,441 cases, which was 4,495 cases greater than the amount packed in the year previous,
when 55,946 cases of all varieties were caught. The 1940 pack consisted of 13,809 cases of
sockeye, 1,716 cases of springs, 117 cases of steelheads, 10,060 cases of cohoe, 29,278 cases of
pinks, and 5,461 cases of chums.
Sockeye Salmon.—The pack of sockeye salmon caught on the Nass in 1940, amounting to
13,809 cases, was 10,548 cases less than in 1939 and was also 7,342 cases less than the average J 12 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
pack for the previous five years. The 1940 pack was the smallest pack of sockeye on the Nass
River since 1935. Due to the complicated nature of the age-groups comprising the runs of
sockeye to the Nass River system, it is difficult to compare the pack in any given year with
the pack of the cycle-year. One cannot help commenting, however, that the 1940 pack was
5,322 cases less than the average for the previous five four-year cycles. Reports from the
spawning-areas of the Nass River which were examined indicate that the seeding of the
principal spawning-grounds of Meziaden Lake was light to medium, although it is reported
considerable quantities escaped the commercial-fishing gear.
Spring Salmon.—The spring-salmon pack on the Nass River is never large and the pack
of 1,716 cases in 1940 was no exception, although slightly larger than the two immediately
preceding years. The spring-salmon pack on the Nass River simply represents those few
spring salmon caught incidental to fishing for other species.
Cohoe Salmon.—There were caught on the Nass River in 1940, 10,060 cases of cohoe
salmon. This was 2,007 cases more than the pack of the cycle-year 1937 and 8,064 cases
greater than the quantity taken in the year previous and was equal to the average annual
pack for the previous five years. A good escapement of cohoe to the spawning-beds was
reported for 1940.
Pink Salmon.—The pack of pink salmon on the Nass River in 1940, amounting to 29,278
cases, was disappointing. The packs in the preceding cycle-years were such that a very much
larger pack was expected in 1940. The 1938 pack of 61,477 cases was 32,199 cases or more
than twice the pack of 1940, while in the cycle-year 1936 the pack of pinks amounted to 75,887
cases. The 1940 pink-salmon pack on the Nass River was 29,278 eases, or less than half the
average pack for the previous five cycle-years. While reports from certain parts of the
spawning-grounds indicate that the seeding was good, in other areas the seeding was reported
as being light. Altogether, the pink-salmon run to the Nass River in 1940 cannot be considered as satisfactory.
Chum Salmon.—The Nass River is not a large chum-salmon producer, although the 5,461
cases of this species packed in 1940 was definitely below what might be reasonably expected.
The average annual pack for the previous five years amounted to 10,914 cases. In connection
with this species, seeding was reported as light.
Rivers Inlet.
In 1940 there were caught in Rivers Inlet a total of 88,665 cases of all species of salmon.
This total pack was composed of 63,469 cases of sockeye, 1,226 cases of springs, 55 cases of
steelheads, 11,561 cases of cohoe, 3,329 cases of pinks, and 9,025 cases of chums.
Sockeye Salmon.—The sockeye-salmon run to Rivers Inlet in 1940, which produced a pack
of 63,469 cases, may be considered by some as unsatisfactory, due to the small pack and heavy
escapement in 1936, the four-year cycle-year. It will be recalled that a strike of fishermen in
1936 extensively curtailed fishing in this inlet, which permitted a heavy escapement. In the
same year, however, a heavy freshet, the heaviest in many years, occurred and there can be
little doubt now that a part of the spawning of 1936 was destroyed. The 1940 pack of 63,469
cases is compared with the packs in the previous four four-year cycles: 1936, 46,351 cases;
1932, 69,732 cases; 1928, 60,044 cases; and 1924, 94,891 cases. While the commercial catch
was probably smaller than anticipated, nevertheless the escapement was reported to have been
excellent. Although the seeding was probably not as heavy as in 1936, it was reported as
decidedly satisfactory.
Spring Salmon.—Spring salmon are never packed in large numbers in Rivers Inlet, the
catch being entirely incidental to fishing for other varieties. The pack in 1940, amounting to
1,226 cases, is compared with 745 cases in 1939, 1,209 cases in 1938, and 917 cases in 1937.
Cohoe Salmon.—The pack of cohoes on Rivers Inlet in 1940, amounting to 11,561 cases,
was considerably above the average for this variety and 5,549 cases greater than the pack
of cohoes in Rivers Inlet in the cycle-year 1937. The escapement of this variety to the
spawning-beds was considered only fairly satisfactory.
Pink Salmon.—Pink salmon are never a large factor in the total Rivers Inlet pack, but
are canned each year in varying amounts. In 1939 the pack of pinks in Rivers Inlet was
considerably below the packs of recent past years and was the lowest since 1934. The 1940
pack is compared with 9,063 cases in 1938, the cycle-year, and 6,432 cases in 1936. The 1940 BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 13
pack is also compared with 7,691 cases, the average for the previous five-year period. The
remarks in respect to the escapement of cohoes in the above paragraph also apply to pinks
and chums.
Chum Salmon.—The pack of chums in 1940, amounting to 9,025 cases, was slightly less
than four years ago when 11,505 cases of this species were packed. The 1940 figure is compared with 5,462 cases of chums in 1939, 7,759 cases in 1938, and 9,415 cases in 1937.
Smith Inlet.
Smith Inlet, like the adjacent Rivers Inlet, is primarily a sockeye area and, while some
seining is done in this inlet for fall fish, the bulk of the pack is caught and canned during the
sockeye-fishing season. In 1940 the total pack of all varieties caught in Smith Inlet amounted
to 33,998 cases, made up as follows: Sockeye, 25,947 cases; springs, 142 cases; cohoes, 1,102
cases; pinks, 755 cases; chums, 6,015 cases; steelheads, 37 cases.
Sockeye Salmon.—The sockeye-salmon pack in 1940, consisting of 25,947 cases, was considerably in excess of the pack in the four-year cycle, 1936, but was less than the five-year
cycle pack of 1935, the packs for these two years being 12,788 cases and 31,648 cases respectively. The 1940 pack also exceeded the pack of 1939 by 8,114 cases and was 2,803 cases
greater than the average for the previous five-year period. A perusal of the report on the
spawning-grounds indicates that this inlet, like the spawning-grounds of Rivers Inlet, was
exceptionally well seeded and it was also noted that the fish were extra large.
Spring Salmon.—Spring salmon are not specifically fished for in Smith Inlet, the catch
being incidental to the sockeye-fishery. In 1940, 142 cases were canned. This figure is compared with 215 cases in 1939 and 68 cases in 1938.
Cohoe Salmon.—This species, like spring salmon, are never a large factor in the output of
Smith Inlet. The cohoe-pack in 1940, amounting to 1,102 cases, compares with the packs of
recent past years as follows: 1939, 3,880 cases; 1938, 1,058 cases; 1937, 241 cases; 1936,310
cases. The escapement of cohoe salmon to the spawning-beds of Rivers Inlet in 1940 is
reported as being disappointing.
Pink Salmon.—There were 755 cases of pink salmon canned in Smith Inlet in 1940, which
were caught incidental to the sockeye-fishery. This is less than in 1939 when 3,978 cases were
canned and also less than in 1938 when 1,761 cases were canned. As previously stated, while
this is not a pink-salmon area, the seeding of the spawning-beds was considered as good.
Chum Salmon.—Some seining for chum salmon is conducted in Smith Inlet in the fall of
the year. The pack of 1940, amounting to 6,015 eases, was 3,244 cases greater than 1939, but
was 413 cases above the average annual pack of this species for the previous five-year period.
Queen Charlotte Islands.
Salmon-seining in the Queen Charlotte Islands is confined almost exclusively to pink and
chum salmon. Other varieties canned in this district are caught incidental to the pink- and
chum-salmon fisheries. Chum salmon are fished each year, while spring salmon only put in
an appearance in the Queen Charlotte Islands every alternate year, the runs coinciding with
the even-numbered years. The total pack of all varieties of salmon canned in the Queen
Charlotte Islands in 1940 amounted to 218,852 cases, of which 164,911 cases were chum salmon
and 44,966 cases pink salmon. The balance of the pack consisted of 8,897 cases of cohoes,
62 cases of springs, and 16 cases of sockeye.
Pink Salmon.—The pack of pink salmon in the Queen Charlotte Islands in 1940, amounting to 44,966 cases, was, from the canners' standpoint, disappointing. This figure is compared
with 57,952 cases packed in 1938, the immediately preceding cycle-year, while the pack in
1936 amounted to 89,355 cases. It will be recalled that the pink-salmon pack in 1932
amounted to only 2,415 cases, while in 1934 the pack increased to 53,398 cases. Notwithstanding the small pack in 1940, the seeding in certain of the spawning-beds was reported as
unsatisfactory, although in the Yakoun River area the seeding was considered as generally
satisfactory.
Chum Salmon.—In 1940 the Queen Charlotte Islands produced a pack of chum salmon
amounting to 164,911 cases, which was considerably above the packs of this species produced
in this district in recent past years. The pack in 1939 amounted to 45,519 cases, while in 1938
the pack of chum salmon for Queen Charlotte Islands was 40,882 cases. In 1937, 72,689 cases
were packed. The 1940 pack was 86,250 cases above the average annual pack for the previous J 14 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
five years. Reports from the chum spawning-beds indicate that the supply at Naden Harbour
was exceptionally good, while a failure occurred in the Masset Inlet area. The balance of the
chum-salmon streams of the Queen Charlotte Islands are reported to have been satisfactorily
seeded.
Cohoe Salmon.—There were packed in the Queen Charlotte Islands in 1940, 8,897 cases of
cohoe, compared with 3,020 cases in 1939 and 16,616 cases in 1938. The pack in 1937, the
cycle-year, amounted to 4,631 cases. The 1940 pack was 1,720 cases less than the average
annual pack for this species for the previous five-year period.
In addition to the above there were 16 cases of sockeye and 62 cases of springs canned in
this district in 1940.
Central Area.
The Central area includes all the salmon-fishing areas from Cape Calvert to the Skeena
River, except Rivers Inlet. The total pack of all varieties of salmon canned in this area in
1940 amounted to 274,232 cases and consisted of 32,042 cases of sockeye, 1,518 cases of springs,
506 cases of steelheads, 49,886 cases of cohoes, 54,478 cases of pinks, and 135,802 cases of
chums. In 1939 there was a total of 301,513 cases of salmon canned in this area.
Sockeye Salmon.—The principal fishing-grounds in the Central area for sockeye salmon
are Fitzhugh Sound, Burke and Dean Channels. In addition to these areas some sockeye are
taken in the vicinity of Banks Island and Principe Channel, while some sockeye are also
caught in Gardner Canal. The sockeye-pack in the Central area in 1940 of 32,042 cases was
5,884 cases greater than in the year previous, but was 4,136 cases less than were canned in
this area in 1938. The 1940 pack, however, was 1,667 cases greater than the average annual
pack of sockeye in this area for the previous five-year period.
Spring Salmon.—Spring salmon are canned in this area, but the fish entering the canneries are caught incidental to fishing for other species. The spring-salmon pack in 1940,
amounting to 1,518 cases, is compared with 655 cases in 1939, 540 cases in 1938, and 1,641
cases in 1937.
Cohoe Salmon.—There were 49,886 cases of cohoes canned in 1940, which were 5,460 cases
greater than the pack of this species in the previous year. The 1940 pack was 6,830 cases less
than the exceptionally large pack of cohoes put up in this district in 1938, but was 5,514 cases
greater than the average annual pack canned in this district for the previous five years.
Generally speaking, the escapement to the spawning-beds, according to the report of the Chief
Supervisor of Fisheries of the Federal Government, may be considered as fairly satisfactory.
Pink Salmon.—The pink-salmon pack in the Central area in 1940, amounting to 54,478
cases, was considered a failure when compared with 130,842 cases in 1938, the cycle-year, and
246,378 cases in 1936. The 1940 fishing season was considered the wettest season this district
has experienced for a great number of years which, no doubt, had some adverse effect on the
catch, but whether the wet season can be blamed in toto for the exceedingly small pack is
problematical. The 1940 pack of pink salmon for this area was considerably smaller than
the pack of this species for the year previous, when 150,498 cases were canned. The cycle to
which 1939 belongs is considered the small cycle for this area. The 1940 pack was 45,429
cases below, or less than half, the five-year average annual pack for the small cycle.
Chum Salmon.—The pack of chum salmon, amounting to 135,802 cases, was considerably
greater than the pack of four years ago when 99,592 cases of this species were canned, and is
also greater by 25,330 cases than the average annual pack for the previous five-year period.
The pack of chums in 1940 reflects to some extent the great effort on the part of the canners
to put up as much of the cheaper fish as possible owing to war-time demand.
Vancouver Island.
The total canned-salmon pack credited to Vancouver Island for 1940 was 419,579 cases
and consisted of 15,177 cases of sockeye, 2,454 cases of springs, 214 cases of steelheads, 88,885
cases of cohoes (with which are included 23,277 cases of bluebacks), 33,785 cases of pinks, and
279,064 cases of chums.
Sockeye Salmon.—In 1940 the sockeye-pack credited to Vancouver Island, amounting to
15,177 cases, is compared with the year previous in which 16,259 cases were canned. The 1940
pack was 17,519 cases less than the pack credited to Vancouver Island in 1936, the cycle-year.
The small pack of 1940 was also 8,327 cases less than the average annual pack for the previous BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 15
five years. The reader is referred to the " Spawning Report, 1940," which is included in the
Appendix to this report, for a detailed account of the spawning conditions in the various
salmon-streams in the Vancouver Island area. Generally speaking, and with the exception
of the Alberni area, the sockeye-seeding was reasonably satisfactory. In the latter area,
however, the seeding was reported as being very disappointing.
Spring Salmon.—Vancouver Island was credited with a pack of 2,454 cases of spring
salmon in 1940, compared with 2,889 cases in the year previous and 4,254 cases in 1938. The
catch of spring salmon in the waters adjacent to Vancouver Island is taken principally by
trolling-gear and this output finds a market in the fresh- and frozen-fish trade. The canned-
pack of this species reported in this column represents principally those spring salmon caught
incidental to fishing for other species.
Cohoe Salmon.—There were 88,885 cases of cohoes packed from fish caught in the Vancouver Island district in 1940. This figure includes 23,277 cases of bluebacks. The cohoe-
pack in 1940 is compared with the 1939 pack of 123,388 cases, with which figure is combined
48,209 cases of bluebacks caught in the Vancouver Island district in that year. In 1938 the
pack amounted to 89,471 cases, 27,417 cases of these being bluebacks.
Pink Salmon.—The pink-salmon pack credited to Vancouver Island in 1940 amounted to
33,785 cases. This was one of the smallest packs of this species since 1932 and was 36,323
cases less than were packed in 1938, the cycle-year. It was, however, 20,985 cases greater
than the average for the previous five cycle-years.
Chum Salmon.—The pack of chum salmon credited to Vancouver Island, amounting to
279,064 cases, was 66,115 cases greater than were packed in the previous year and the largest
pack since the cycle-year 1936, in which year there were 347,951 cases canned. The 1940 pack
was 16,978 cases less than the average annual pack of this species for the previous five years.
In considering the chum-salmon pack for Vancouver Island, one is reminded that, previous to
1939, considerable numbers of chum salmon caught in the waters off Vancouver Island found
a market in the salt-fish trade. There were no salmon-salteries operated in 1939 or in 1940.
The lack of this outlet is, no doubt, reflected in the canned-salmon figures. Another factor
which would, no doubt, increase the chum-salmon pack figures credited to this district for
1940 was the increased demand for low-priced canned fish, which increased demand was
largely occasioned by the hostilities in Europe.
In all cases where not specifically mentioned, the reader is referred to Major Motherwell's
report on the condition of the salmon spawning-grounds for detailed information in respect
to escapements.
REVIEW OF BRITISH COLUMBIA'S SALMON-CANNING INDUSTRY, 1940.
In 1940 there were thirty-eight salmon-canneries licensed to operate in the Province of
British Columbia. This was three more than were operated in 1939. The operating canneries
were situated in the various districts, as follows:—
Queen Charlotte Islands 3
Nass River 2
Skeena River 7
Central area . 4
Rivers Inlet 4
Johnstone Strait 4
Fraser River and Lower Mainland 10
West Coast of Vancouver Island 4
From the above it will be noted that there was one more cannery operated in the Queen
Charlotte Islands in 1940 than operated in that district in 1939, also there was one more
cannery operated on the Skeena River in 1940 than in the previous year. Johnstone Strait
also had one more operating cannery in 1940 than in 1939. The fact that 1940 was a pink-
salmon year in the Queen Charlotte Islands no doubt accounts for the extra cannery operating
in that district. The one extra cannery in the Skeena River District in 1940 is accounted for
by the establishment of a new salmon-cannery at Prince Rupert, while the fourth cannery to
operate in Johnstone Strait in 1940, over the three in the previous year, is accounted for by
the reopening of the Alert Bay Cannery. It will be noted also that there were no salmon-
canning operations conducted in Smith Inlet in 1940. The three canneries which formerly J 16 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
canned salmon in this area were again operated as net-camps and the fish transported to other
canneries, principally to Rivers Inlet. It would seem that Smith Inlet, in 1939, passed out of
the picture as the location for active salmon-canneries, at least for the present. The year
1940, being an even-numbered year, coincides with the run of pink salmon to the Queen
Charlotte Islands and, as mentioned in a previous paragraph, this, no doubt, accounts for the
extra salmon-canning activity in these islands in 1940.
OTHER CANNERIES (PILCHARD, HERRING, AND SHELL-FISH).
Pilchard.—The pilchard-canneries located on the west coast of Vancouver Island have
shown a tendency to increased production in recent past years. Unfortunately, in 1939 the
long haul from the fishing-grounds to the canneries made it most difficult to secure a sufficient
quantity of pilchards of canning quality and, as a result, only 7,300 cases were canned. In
1940 the pack of canned pilchards amounted to 73,164 cases. This figure includes an experimental pack of young pilchards which were put up by one cannery in the form of sardines.
These " sardines " were packed from the run of young pilchards which appeared off the
British Columbia coast in 1940 for the first time.
There were four canneries licensed to can pilchards in British Columbia in 1940.
Herring.—Previous to 1939 herring were canned in British Columbia to some extent but
the pack was never large, owing to the limited market. In 1939, due largely to orders arising
on account of hostilities in Europe, the canning of herring assumed the proportions of a major
industry and in that year there were canned 418,021 cases. In 1940 the military authorities,
both in Britain and Canada, came forward with large orders for canned herring and, as a
result, sixteen herring-canneries were licensed to operate. According to the returns made to
the Provincial Fisheries Department, these sixteen canneries produced a pack of 640,252 cases
during the herring-fishing season, which season includes the months of January, February,
and March of 1941. The large increase in the canned-herring pack is due directly to the
increased demand for a cheap highly protein food, which demand is created by the war. There
is, however, the possibility that, provided the canners maintain quality and put forth the
necessary effort, a good portion of this new business could be retained after the cessation of
hostilities.
Canned Sardines.—Early in 1940 there appeared in the inshore waters along the coast of
British Columbia large quantities of young pilchards. These young fish have not been known
in these waters heretofore and, owing to the large numbers and the fact that they made their
appearance in nearly every district along the coast, a great deal of speculation has occurred
as to where they came from, also whether we might expect them to remain and mature. In
the meantime, at least one of the British Columbia canneries conducted an experiment and put
up a small pack of these fish in %-lb. ovals. These were offered to the trade as Pacific sardines and were of two varieties, namely, in tomato sauce and in oil. It is understood that the
experimental pack was favourably received. If young pilchards continue to appear in our
local waters, there is no doubt but what other canneries will endeavour to exploit these schools
of young fish and possibly build up a trade in canned sardines.
Shell-fish.—Shell-fish, namely, clams and oysters, are canned to some extent in British
Columbia. The operation, however, is never large, although in some years the production is
considerably higher than in others. In 1940 the five plants licensed to operate produced
11,482 cases of clams, 285 cases of oysters, 3,700 cases of crabs, and 285 cases of abalone.
Tuna-fish.—In 1939 there was a very small experimental pack of tuna-fish canned in
British Columbia. In 1940, however, no cannery made returns showing that any of this
species was canned.
MILD-CURED SALMON.
In 1940 four plants were licensed to mild-cure salmon in the Province, compared with six
plants in the year previous. The total pack of mild-cured salmon in 1940 amounted to only
767 tierces, compared with 2,594 tierces in the year previous.
DRY-SALT SALMON.
In each year previous to 1939, there have been varying amounts of chum salmon dry-
salted for shipment to Japan. In some years the production of dry-salt salmon has reached
fairly large proportions and in recent past years this industry has been controlled and BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 17
regulated by the British Columbia Salt-fish Board, which Board is a scheme set up under the
"Natural Products Marketing (British Columbia) Act." Chum salmon, normally, are fished
in quantity in the fall of the year. There is, however, a considerable pack of canned chum
salmon put up during the summer and the early autumn months. Due largely to the increased
demand occasioned by the war for inexpensive protein foods, such as canned chum salmon, the
Provincial Government declined to issue salmon dry-saltery licences in 1939. For similar
reasons the issuance of licences covering salmon dry-salteries was again refused by the Provincial Government in 1940. There were, therefore, no salt salmon produced in the year
under review, the total catch being diverted to canning and freezing.
DRY-SALT HERRING.
The production of dry-salt herring in 1940 was again regulated by the British Columbia
Salt-fish Board under the " Natural Products Marketing (British Columbia) Act." The total
production of this commodity is exported to the Orient, particularly to Japan, and from there
quantities are re-exported to Manchukuo and China. Continued unsettled conditions in the
Orient, particularly in China, which previously was the only market for this commodity,
together with the exchange restrictions placed on the export of currency by the Japanese
Imperial Government, have caused some reduction each year in the quantity of salt-herring
marketed. In past years British Columbia has exported to the Orient as much as 60,000 tons
of dry-salt herring in a single year. The business has gradually diminished and in 1940 only
two salteries were licensed to operate. These two salteries produced a pack of 5,039 tons
compared with 7,596 tons in the year previous.
For particulars of the marketing of the 1940 pack of dry-salt herring, the reader is
referred to the report of the British Columbia Salt-fish Board which is published in the
Appendix to this report.
PICKLED HERRING.
Owing to the outbreak of hostilities in Europe, certain markets in the United States which
obtained their supplies of pickled herring from European countries suddenly found themselves
without a source of supply and, as a result, some pickled herring was produced in British
Columbia during the 1939-40 season. The quantity produced, however, was small, and that
pack may be considered as of an experimental nature. The experiment, however, was
apparently a success, for in the 1940-41 season the Provincial Fisheries Department licensed
five pickled-herring plants to operate in British Columbia. These five plants produced 5,500
barrels of pickled herring, or the equivalent of 890 tons. These fish are put up in barrels in
a special vinegar pickle and the entire product is shipped to United States markets, where the
contents are repacked into other containers for final distribution to the consumer.
While this branch of the fishery is still small, the market is a fairly large one and British
Columbia packers would do well to investigate the possibilities, with a view to not only
extending this market during war-time but with the idea of retaining it when peace is
X6St.0I*6Cl
HALIBUT PRODUCTION.
The total halibut-landings on the Pacific Coast of North America are regulated by the
International Fisheries Commission. On this account there is very little fluctuation in the
amount landed from year to year. For the purpose of regulation, the coast is divided into
four areas. The principal areas, from the standpoint of production, are Areas Nos. 2 and 3,
the waters off the coast of Washington and British Columbia corresponding with Area No. 2
and the waters off the coast of Alaska corresponding with Area No. 3.
In 1940 the catch-limits set by the International Fisheries Commission were: For Area
No. 2, 22,700,000 lb. and for Area No. 3, 25,300,000 lb.—a total of 48,000,000 lb. These catch-
limits were the same as those prevailing in 1939. In addition to the 48,000,000 lb. permitted,
as mentioned above, the International Fisheries Commission issues permits which allow
vessels to land halibut caught incidental to fishing for other species in an area closed to
halibut-fishing while halibut-fishing is permitted in another area. The regulations of the
International Fisheries Commission permit the landing of halibut caught in Area No. 1
so long as Area No. 2 is open to fishing, and halibut caught in Area No. 4 may be landed so
long as Area No. 3 is open to fishing. Catch-limits, however, are set only in Areas Nos. 2
and 3. The production from Areas Nos. 1 and 4 is comparatively small.
2 J 18 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
The total landings of all vessels in 1940 amounted to 53,240,495 lb., which is 2,503,246 lb.
more than the total landings of all vessels in 1939. The 53,240,495 lb. landed in 1940
includes 769,103 lb. landed from Area No. 1. Of the balance, 25,492,835 lb. were caught in
Area No. 2 and 26,978,557 lb. were caught in Area No. 3. The total halibut-landings at Canadian ports by all vessels, Canadian and American, amounted to 23,885,119 lb., and of this total
12,885,211 lb. were caught in Area No. 2 while 10,999,908 lb. were caught in Area No. 3. The
Canadian fleet caught and landed in Canadian ports, 11,097,288 lb. from Area No. 2 and
1,577,091 lb. from Area No. 3, making a total of 12,674,379 lb. landed by Canadian vessels in
Canadian ports. This is 696,348 lb. less than the Canadian catch landed in Canadian ports in
1939. In addition to the above, Canadian vessels landed 5,223 lb. of halibut in American ports.
The unweighted average price for Canadian halibut in Prince Rupert in 1940 was 8.4
cents per lb., compared with 6.2 cents per pound in 1939. Attention is directed to the fact
that these prices are based on the unweighted average prices for all Canadian landings at
Prince Rupert and should be used with distinct caution. They are quoted principally as
indicating the trend.
Halibut-livers in 1940 were again in demand by pharmaceutical houses as a valuable
source of concentrated vitamins. The livers, which were formerly thrown away, are now
producing a considerable sum to the fishermen which, in 1940, amounted to $467,216 to the
halibut fishermen of the Pacific. This amount is $22,469 greater than was shared from this
commodity in the year previous.
The above figures are compiled from information supplied by the International Fisheries
Commission, which are hereby gratefully acknowledged.
FISH OIL AND MEAL.
The production of fish-oil and edible fish-meal from various species of British Columbia
fish has become an important branch of the fishing industry of the Province. Pilchard and
herring are the principal species used for the production of oil and meal, but considerable
quantities of these products are also produced from dogfish and cannery waste. Contrary to
general belief, British Columbia's reduction plants produce fish-oil and an edible meal, not a
fertilizer, as this product is erroneously referred to. The oil is used in numerous manufacturing processes, principally in the making of soaps, paints, linoleum, etc. There is also a
continually growing outlet for certain grades of fish-oil for the feeding of poultry and other
live stock due to the high vitamin content of the oil. In recent years, particularly since the
outbreak of the war in Europe, a number of plants have been established in British Columbia
specializing in the production of medicinal fish-oil from fish-livers. This oil is supplying the
needs of Canada for a high vitamin content oil which formerly was imported, to a large extent,
from northern European countries. Plants are now established in British Columbia which
specialize in the refining and blending of British Columbia produced oils and are capable of
supplying feeding or medicinal oils of guaranteed vitamin content.
Pilchard Reduction.—The pilchard-fishery of British Columbia is conducted principally
off the west coast of Vancouver Island. At the commencement of this fishery in 1925-26,
pilchards were taken mostly in the inlets, but latterly, with improved types of fishing vessels
and gear, the fishing has proceeded farther to sea and now practically all British Columbia
pilchards are caught well offshore. Fishing for pilchards generally commences about the first
week in July and continues until the first fall storms, usually early in September.
The production of pilchards in British Columbia in 1940 was decidedly not up to
expectations. The fish did not appear off the coast of Vancouver Island in their usual
numbers, which necessitated the fleet proceeding well down off the coast of Washington for
their catches. Six plants were licensed to operate on the west coast, which was one more than
operated in 1939. These six plants produced 4,853 tons of meal and 890,926 imperial gallons
of oil. This production is compared with the year previous, when 900 tons of meal were
produced and 181,473 imperial gallons of oil. In 1938 the production figures were 8,899 tons
of meal and 2,215,823 imperial gallons of oil. It might be mentioned here that the pilchard-
fishery in 1939 was considered virtually a failure.
Herring Reduction.—The reduction of herring in British Columbia is now an important
branch of our winter fishery. Herring are caught from October through to March and, while
heretofore the fishery was conducted largely on the west coast and south-east coast of Van- BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 19
couver Island and in the vicinity of Prince Rupert, in recent years the fishery has been
extended to practically the whole of the British Columbia coast. In 1940 there were fifteen
herring-reduction plants licensed to operate, which were two more than in the year previous.
These fifteen plants produced 10,886 tons of meal and 923,137 imperial gallons of oil. These
figures are compared with the production in 1939, which amounted to 22,870 tons of meal and
1,677,736 imperial gallons of oil.
Whale Reduction.—Only one company conducts whaling operations in British Columbia.
This company operated one of its whaling-stations in 1940, namely, Rose Harbour. A total
of 220 whales were killed and these produced 181 tons of meal, 434 tons of fertilizer, and
361,820 imperial gallons of oil.
Miscellaneous Reduction.—As mentioned in a previous paragraph, considerable quantities
of meal and oil are produced from cannery waste, dogfish, and other sources. This production
is lumped together under " miscellaneous." In 1940 the eleven plants licensed produced 4,061
tons of meal and 378,957 imperial gallons of oil.
In addition to this meal and oil produced from cannery waste and dogfish, etc., four
reduction plants operated for a short season on anchovies, producing 937 tons of meal and
36,899 imperial gallons of oil.
CONDITION OF BRITISH COLUMBIA'S SPAWNING-GROUNDS.
Owing to this Department having discontinued making inspections of the various salmon-
spawning areas in the Province, we are indebted to Major J. A. Motherwell, Chief Supervisor
of Fisheries, and the officers of his Department who conducted the investigations, for furnishing us with a copy of his Department's report. His courtesy in supplying us with this report
is gratefully acknowledged.
Major Motherwell's report on the condition of British Columbia's salmon-spawning
grounds will be found in full in the Appendix to this report.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LIFE-HISTORY OF THE SOCKEYE SALMON (DIGEST).
(No. 26.)
In the Appendix to this report we publish paper No. 26 in the series " Contributions to the
Life-history of the Sockeye Salmon." This paper is again the work of Dr. W. A. Clemens,
formerly Director of the Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C., and now head of the
Department of Zoology at the University of British Columbia.
In paper No. 26 the author points out that in 1940 the packs of sockeye on Rivers Inlet
and the Nass River were below the average, while the pack on the Skeena River was well
above the average for the previous thirty-three years.
In connection with the escapement to the spawning-beds, it is pointed out that the escapements to Rivers Inlet and Skeena River were reported as large, while the escapement to the
Nass River was medium to light. Attention is also directed to reports that, in all three
systems, the sockeye run was early and that considerable numbers of fish had proceeded
through the fishing areas before the commencement of the fishing season. Dr. Clemens
remarks on the exceptionally large size of the sockeye in the samples taken from all three
areas on which reports are made.
Commenting specifically on the particular river systems, Dr. Clemens points out, as
Rivers Inlet Sockeye Run, 1940.
The pack of 63,469 cases of sockeye salmon on Rivers Inlet in 1940 was considered a
medium-sized pack as it fell between the figures of 60,000 and 100,000 cases. The bulk of the
run was composed of four-year-old fish and was the product of the spawning of 1936. It is
suggested that the severe freshet in the fall of that year in all probability had an adverse
effect on the numbers of fish returning in 1940 and, while the Rivers Inlet run was composed
of four- and five-year-old fish, it is still thought possible that considerable numbers of five-
year-old fish may appear in 1941. Although the 1936 spawning has already produced a considerable return of four-year-old fish, it is difficult to foretell what the return may be in 1941.
The sockeye appearing in the Rivers Inlet samples were, generally speaking, very much
larger than usual. Certain age-groups were close to the average for the past twenty-five
years, while other age-groups were over 1 lb. larger than the average for that age-group. Skeena River Sockeye Run, 1940.
The pack of sockeye salmon on the Skeena River, amounting to 116,507 cases, was the
highest since 1930 and was considered good. Dr. Clemens points out that the 1940 run was
comprised of 80 per cent, four-year-old fish, and as the spawning of 1936 has already produced such a large run of four-year-old fish it cannot be expected to produce a very large
number of five-year-old fish in 1941. It would seem, therefore, that the size of the run in 1941
will depend largely upon the success of the production from the 1937 spawning and the number
of fish maturing at four years of age.
On the Skeena River, as at Rivers Inlet, Dr. Clemens notes that the average length and
weight of the samples were considerably above the average for recent past years and, in
certain age-groups, established new high records. It is noted that the increase in the weight
for some of the age-groups was as much as 1% lb.
Nass River Sockeye Run, 1940.
On the Nass River the run produced a pack of 13,809 cases of sockeye salmon, which pack
was not large, although it is pointed out that the escapement was described as good. It is
suggested that the run of 1941 will be derived from the spawnings of 1936 and 1937 and, as
this brood-year produced a considerable percentage of four-year-old fish, there is a possibility
of a good return of five-year-old fish, as it is pointed out that the runs of sockeye to the Nass
River are largely comprised of five-year-old fish.
The average length and weight of both sexes in the various age-groups comprising the
Nass River sockeye run, as in the case of Rivers Inlet and the Skeena River, are shown to be
considerably above the average for the past twenty-eight years and establish new high records.
Dr. Clemens remarks: " . . . The data of all three river systems agree in demonstrating
that the sockeye proceeding to them in 1940 were exceptionally large. Undoubtedly food and
water temperatures are the factors involved."
PILCHARD AND HERRING INVESTIGATIONS.
The joint agreement between the Fisheries Research Board of Canada and the Provincial
Fisheries Department for carrying out an investigation of pilchard and herring fisheries was
continued during 1940. In this investigation most of the emphasis has been laid on herring
programmes, which have included numerous methods of attacking the problems connected with
the supply of herring for the British Columbia fishery. The pilchard sampling and tagging
programmes have, however, been maintained and new studies dealing with immature pilchards
have been initiated. The work has been under the direction of Dr. J. L. Hart and Dr. A. L.
Tester, and has been carried out by them and their associates, Dr. R. V. Boughton and Mr.
J. L. McHugh.
Pilchards.
The pilchard-fishery was more successful than in 1939, but the catch was only some 60 or
70 per cent, of what might be regarded as a satisfactory season. The catch per boat for the
season was rather less than 1,200 tons, which may be compared with approximately 200 tons
in 1939 and approximately 2,100 tons in 1938.
The report on the pilchard-tagging programme is given in the Appendix. In it are presented data on the insertion of some 2,600 tags in connection with the British Columbia fishery.
From these and other tags used at other times and places eighty-six were recovered, of which
thirty-nine had been inserted in California. The inter-relationship of the California and
Canadian fisheries becomes increasingly evident.
Pilchard sampling was continued and it was found that the decline in average length of
the fish taken by the fishery was continued into 1940, the average lengths being 236.7 millimetres for males and 241.9 millimetres for females. There was definite evidence of gradation in length with latitude on the fishing-grounds, fish captured in more northerly areas
averaging several millimetres longer than those caught farther south.
A start has been made in collecting and organizing data for a history of the pilchard-
fishery in relation to the biology of the fish supplying the catch.
As far as circumstances permitted, a study was made of the young pilchards which were
found abundantly in British Columbia waters during the summer of 1940. General growth-
studies indicate that between the time of first appearance in May and the close of the growing BRITISH COLUMBIA. . J 21
season in November the weight of these young pilchards increased by about 200 per cent. One
thousand of the young fish were tagged on the east coast of Vancouver Island.
Herring.
The British Columbia herring-fishery has continued to expand and has assumed increasing
economic importance, particularly in relation to the need for canned fish-food and other fishery
products created by the present war-time emergency. In 1939-40, the total catch was the
largest in the history of the fishery and amounted to over 150,000 tons, of which 31 per cent,
was taken on old-established fishing-grounds on the east and west coasts of Vancouver Island,
13 per cent, from newly exploited areas in the vicinity of Discovery Passage and Queen Charlotte Sound, and the remaining 56 per cent, from recently established fishing-grounds along
the central and northern coast-lines and on the east coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands. As
usual, most of the catch was reduced to oil and meal, but there was a noteworthy increase in
the quantity canned (413,659 cases).
During the 1939-40 season the system of Pilot House Record Books was continued. This
provides for the collection of daily catch statistics whereby the availability of herring to the
fishermen may be calculated as the catch per seine per day's active fishing. Comparison of
the apparent abundance of herring in the respective areas with previous years, as indicated
by availability figures during the fishing season, shows that on the south-east coast of Vancouver Island herring were less abundant and individual sets were smaller; on the west coast
of Vancouver Island, while still very poor, the fishing improved slightly; in the Central area
fishing was good but the availability was less than in the previous season; in Prince Rupert
Harbour, fishing was relatively very good. Excellent catches were made in the vicinity of
Discovery Passage in late January and early February, while in the fall and winter the prospecting of the Queen Charlotte Sound waters yielded good results. For the Queen Charlotte
Islands area, summer fishing on the east and west coasts resulted in low catches, but from
December to March east coast fishing was fairly successful.
With the enthusiastic co-operation of the Dominion Department of Fisheries and its field
officers, the very informative surveys of herring-spawning grounds were continued in 1940.
From estimates of the intensities of egg-deposition and the extent of the grounds spawning
intensity indices have been calculated. These show that in most general districts spawning
in 1940 was somewhat heavier than in 1939. A much greater spawning acreage in the Strait
of Georgia presumably indicates why this region is more productive than the west coast of
Vancouver Island. Most of the reports agree that mortality of the eggs was lower than usual
on Strait of Georgia spawning-grounds because of favourable weather conditions and a
reduced number of feeding birds. As usual, the feeding of birds caused a high mortality on
the west coast of Vancouver Island and also on some spawning-grounds in the Central area.
February storms were also destructive on the west coast of Vancouver Island. According to
the reports, frost during the spawning season in the Central and probably also the Northern
area did not constitute the usual hazard in 1940.
During the 1939-40 fishing season a total of 137 samples of herring were collected and
examined in order to determine age composition, size, and growth rate—knowledge which is
essential to a clear understanding of the trend of the fishery. Some 14,000 fish were thus
studied. The general findings from these data are:—
South-east Coast of Vancouver Island.—An unusual abundance of IL-year fish (in their
second year) as in 1938-39 and a greater average length for each age-class characterized the
fish sampled in 1939-40. The presence of II.'s may represent an unusually early addition of
recruits to the fishery or the presence of an unusually abundant year-class. The fish taken
at Nanoose Bay were of greater average length and age than those taken on more southerly
grounds.
West Coast of Vancouver Island.—-There was considerable variation in age composition
between areas. In Barkley Sound and Quatsino Sound, III.'s predominated; in Nootka
Sound and Kyuquot Sound, II.'s predominated. There appears to have been a decrease in the
relative abundance of fish of age IV. and older and a great increase in the relative abundance
of fish of age II. during the past two seasons. Other evidence indicates that fish of age II.
were only relatively and not actually of great abundance. Both II.'s and III.'s of 1939-40
were of exceptionally large size for their age. J 22 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
Queen Charlotte Sound and Adjacent Waters.—The fish of this newly exploited region
were found to be very small and slow growing. Fish of age VII. at Belleisle Sound were
smaller than fish of age III. on the south-east coast of Vancouver Island. An exceptionally
large percentage of older age-groups occurred, as would be expected in the case of a virgin
population.
Central and Northern Areas.—Great variation occurred between localities, both in size
and age composition. Fish of age VI. were the predominating group at Laredo Inlet, Prince
Rupert Harbour, and Scudder Point; fish of age V. predominated at Inskip Channel; fish of
age III. constituted the predominating group at Kwakshua Passage, Skaat Harbour, and
Sewell Inlet-Lagoon Bay area; and fish of age II. predominated at Klemtu Passage.
To ascertain the general effect of a decline of both size and age-classes as a result of
severe commercial exploitation, the fecundity of herring was investigated with particular
reference to the correlation of number of eggs to size and age. A definite tendency for the
average egg-count per fish to increase with size was found. The egg-count for a given length
varied, however, in different areas and this variation was attributed to differences in the
" condition " of the fish. Seasonal changes in egg weight were also studied.
A study of the vertebral number of young herring on the south-east coast of Vancouver
Island has been completed. Among the results arising from this study is the discovery that
fish from individual spawnings may have radically different mean vertebral counts. This
has an important bearing on the interpretation of the results of variation of mean vertebral
number in the adults. Another study, dealing with abnormal vertebrae, has been presented
for publication.
Racial work on herring supplying the commercial fisheries has been continued and an
account of the results of an extensive analysis of vertebral number in relation to the question
of intermingling of the runs on the west coast of Vancouver Island is being prepared. Vertebral and other data strongly indicate the essential isolation of the runs supplying the fishing-
grounds of the Central, Northern, and Queen Charlotte Island areas.
The herring-tagging investigation upon which a full report is presented in the Appendix
has been continued actively and has been instrumental in increasing knowledge concerning the
habits of herring. The results of former years, indicating the definite segregation of the
herring populations of major fishing areas, and the partial segregation of herring on fishing-
grounds within major fishing areas have been confirmed, but it would appear that intermingling during the 1940-41 season was somewhat less restricted than in the earlier years of
the investigation. The considerable dependence of the fishery in the Discovery Passage
fishing-grounds upon fish which spawned during the previous year in the Strait of Georgia
is again demonstrated. The one year's tagging results present strong evidence for believing
in the practical independence of the fishing-grounds of the Queen Charlotte Sound area from
those of other major areas.
THE CLAM INVESTIGATION.
In order to ascertain the conditions prevailing on some of the clam-beaches of British
Columbia, particularly those which have been exploited commercially for some considerable
length of time, an investigation has been undertaken by the Fisheries Research Board and
financed jointly by that Board and the Provincial Fisheries Department. In the Appendix
to the report for 1939 there appeared a preliminary report on the investigation by Mr. Quayle,
who is in charge of the scientific work. While the investigation is primarily for the purpose
of obtaining information on the clams of the Province, it is broad enough to include shell-fish
generally.
In order that the general public may know something of the molluscs of the Province, Mr.
Quayle describes the various edible species found in British Columbia in a paper which will be
found in the Appendix to this report, entitled " The Edible Molluscs of British Columbia."
Mr. Quayle points out that, while nearly all the molluscs found on the coast of British
Columbia are edible, nevertheless many are small in size or difficult to obtain. He next
describes the various species, referring particularly to those species which are used as food.
Various diagrams are used for identifying the forms described. INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES COMMISSION, 1940.
Under authority of the treaty of January, 1937, between Canada and the United States,
the International Fisheries Commission continued the regulation of the Pacific halibut-fishery
and carried on the scientific investigations of the life-history of the halibut and of the halibut-
fishery, which are indispensable to rational regulation.
The representation of the United States on the Commission was changed during the year.
Mr. Frank T. Bell, who had been a member of the Commission since 1933, resigned. Mr.
Charles E. Jackson, Acting Commissioner of the United States Bureau of Fisheries, was
appointed as his successor. The members of the Commission at the end of the year were:
Mr. L. W. Patmore (chairman) and Mr. A. J. Whitmore, for Canada; Mr. Edward W. Allen
(secretary) and Mr. Charles E. Jackson, for the United States.
Hearings were held in late November and early December at Seattle, Vancouver, Prince
Rupert, Ketchikan, Petersburg, and Juneau to ascertain the present views of the halibut fleets
upon the provisions of a draft treaty which was prepared in 1938 at their urgent request and
which was designed to give legal support to their voluntary system of control of the rate of
halibut-landings. At these hearings, the scientific findings of the Commission were also
explained and matters relating to regulation were discussed.
A meeting of the Commission was held at Vancouver in September. During and immediately following the hearings, other meetings were held at Prince Rupert and on board the
United States Fisheries Service vessel " Brant," which was generously placed at the service
of the Commission for the trip to Northern British Columbia and Alaska. At the September
meeting the resignation of Dr. W. F. Thompson, who had been Director of Investigations
from the formation of the Commission, was accepted and Mr. H. A. Dunlop, Assistant
Director, was appointed to succeed him.
Regulations governing halibut-fishing in 1940 were in most respects similar to those of
1939. The catch-limits- of 22,700,000 lb. for Area 2 and 25,300,000 lb. for Area 3 were
retained. A few changes were made to facilitate enforcement. Clearance for fishing was
limited to a single regulatory area during any one trip. Provision was made for the examination of all records dealing with the landing, purchase, and sale of halibut. The possession of
halibut weighing less than 5 lb. was prohibited. At the request of the fishing fleet, the method
of closure of Area 3 was made the same as for Area 2, namely, by the announcement of a last
date of fishing only.
The 1940 fishing season was opened for all areas on April 1 as in the previous year. The
catch-limit for Area 2 was attained and Areas 1 and 2 were closed to halibut-fishing at midnight of July 13th, sixteen days earlier than in 1939. The Area 3 catch-limit was reached
and Areas 3 and 4 were closed at midnight of September 26th, thirty-two days earlier than
the previous year. Permits for the retention of halibut caught incidentally during fishing
for other species in Areas 1 and 2 after closure to halibut-fishing became invalid at midnight
of September 30th.
The earlier attainment of the catch-limits in Areas 2 and 3 and the consequent earlier
closure of the areas were the result of several factors which increased the rate of landings.
In Area 2 these were an increase in the number of boats fishing, an increase in the size of
trip permitted under the fishermen's own agreement for the control of the rate of landing of
the catch, and the restriction of fishing to a single area per trip which reduced the incorrect
reporting of the area of origin of catches. The principal factors contributing to the shorter
Area 3 season were the change in the method of closure of that area which was made at the
request of the fishermen and the landing of a greater proportion of the trips at ports close
to the fishing-grounds, which reduced the length of many trips and increased their frequency.
The landings of halibut reported during the year amounted to 53,239,270 lb. Of this
amount, 768,878 lb. were reported from Area 1, to the south of Willapa Harbour, Washington;
25,492,835 lb. from Area 2, between Willapa Harbour and Cape Spencer, Alaska; and
26,978,557 lb. from Area 3, between Cape Spencer and the Aleutian Islands. No fishing was
done in Area 4, which is in the Bering Sea region. The Area 2 landings included 300,554 lb.
taken under permit while fishing for other species after the closure of that area to halibut-
fishing.
The Canadian halibut fleet was augmented by a number of small boats during the year.
However, this additional fishing capacity was more than offset by the temporary removal of J 24 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
several large vessels from the fishery to engage in naval patrol duties. As a result, Canadian
vessels took 43 per cent, of the Area 2 catch and 6 per cent, of the Area 3 catch as compared
to 45 per cent, and 10 per cent, respectively in 1939.
Scientific investigations of the Commission were continued where necessary for the fulfilment of the purposes of the treaty. They included the collection and analysis of current
biological and statistical data, by which the success of past regulation is determined and on
which future regulations must be based. The collection of biological data at sea made vessel
operations necessary.
Study of the changes taking place in the stocks of adult halibut as a result of regulation
was continued by means of measurements of the fish in the commercial catches. More than
81,000 halibut from representative trips were measured at Seattle. Of these, 35,700 were
from banks off the coast of British Columbia in Area 2 and 45,700 were from western banks
in Area 3. Materials for the study of age composition were taken simultaneously. The
measurements showed that fish of spawning size were abundant in Area 3 but not in Area 2.
Analysis of the measurements from Area 2 failed for the third consecutive year to show any
significant increase in the average size of the fish or in the proportion of larger sizes which
contain the spawning females that determine the production of young fish.
Vessel operations for the tagging of mature halibut and for the collection of biological
materials and data for the study of the spawning stocks in the northern part of Area 2 were
conducted during the spawning season in the winters of 1939-40 and 1940-41. Between
December, 1939, and February, 1940, 875 halibut were tagged near Cape St. James and 428
off the coast of south-eastern Alaska. An additional 497 were tagged in the latter region in
November and December, 1940. The fishing which was carried on for tagging purposes
proved that spawning halibut were still relatively scarce in Area 2. Even on the spawning-
grounds a high proportion of the fish were found to be immature.
The condition of the stocks of halibut, as indicated by the catch per unit of fishing effort,
showed some improvement during the year. The average catch per skate in Area 3, which
was approximately 116 lb. in both 1938 and 1939, increased to 121 lb. in 1940. In Area 2 the
catch per skate increased from 60 lb. in 1939 to 64 lb. in 1940 but failed to reach the 1938
average of 69 lb. The catch per unit of fishing effort in Areas 2 and 3 were 84 and 89 per
cent, greater respectively in 1940 than in 1930, when the abundance of halibut reached the
lowest point in the history of the fishery.
The quantitative determination of the production of spawn, the most practical and direct
way of determining changes in the spawning stock as soon as they occur, was continued in
Area 2. The operations of the halibut vessel " Eagle " which were begun in December, 1939,
were continued until the middle of February, 1940, in the vicinity of Cape St. James, British
Columbia. During that time, 389 net-hauls were made at 140 different stations to determine
the abundance and distribution of eggs and larva?. Hydrographic samples were taken at
seventeen stations to ascertain the conditions prevailing where the eggs and larva? were found.
Similar operations were again undertaken in December, 1940.
Analysis of the catches of eggs and larvse during the 1939-40 spawning season and comparison of the results with those of previous years were carried out by approved methods.
The production of eggs was 44 per cent, greater than in 1938-39, but 11 per cent, and 38 per
cent, less than in 1937-38 and 1936-37 respectively. The cessation of the sharp decline in
spawning which occurred in Area 2 during the 1937-38 and 1938-39 seasons and the partial
recovery during 1939-40 are encouraging in view of the very limited amount of spawning in
that region. However, because of short-time fluctuations that occur in the production of
spawn by marine fishes, decision as to the present trend of abundance of the spawning stock
must await subsequent observations of the success of spawning.
The investigations of the Commission continued to measure and explain the changes
taking place in the stocks of halibut. They showed that the condition of the stock in Area 3
was good and was still improving, but that improvement had virtually ceased in the Area 2
stock, which is still in a critical condition. They indicated that catches in excess of the
Area 2 catch-limit, which have arisen from various circumstances and have interfered with
recovery there, must be eliminated to make certain the maintenance of the improvements
already made and to make possible the further improvements, necessary to put the Area 2
stock in a sound condition. BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 25
THE INTERNATIONAL PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES COMMISSION, 1940.
Under the treaty between Canada and the United States, known generally as the
" Sockeye Treaty," there was set up in 1937 the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission, which Commission is charged with investigating the various problems connected with
the sockeye-salmon runs to the Fraser River. The scientific work of this Commission is under
the direction of Dr. W. F. Thompson, who formerly directed the scientific work of the International Fisheries Commission dealing with the halibut-fishery of the Pacific. We have
prevailed upon Dr. Thompson to briefly review the scientific work in connection with the
International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission covering the year 1940. Dr. Thompson's
report will be found in the Appendix to this report. J 26 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
APPENDICES.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LIFE-HISTORY OF THE SOCKEYE SALMON.
(No. 26.)
By W. A. Clemens, Department of Zoology, The University of
British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.
INTRODUCTION.
The pack of sockeye salmon on Rivers Inlet in 1940 was of medium size, amounting to
63,469 cases. This is somewhat below the average of the past thirty-three years, namely
83,399 cases. On the Skeena River the pack was 116,507 cases and well exceeds the average
of 91,102 cases for the past thirty-three years. The Nass River pack of 13,809 cases was low
as compared with the twenty-eight-year average of 22,122 cases.
The escapements to Rivers Inlet and the Skeena River were reported as large and that to
the Nass River as possibly medium to light.
Observers in all three districts reported that the sockeye appeared in the rivers early and
that considerable numbers of fish passed to the fishing areas before the commencement of
fishing. This was apparently confirmed by the reports of very early arrivals of fish in the
spawning areas.
Observers also remarked on the large size of the fish in all three river systems and the
data presented later in this report show that the sockeye were exceptionally large.
DESIGNATION OF AGE-GROUPS.
Two outstanding features in the life-history of the fish have been selected in designating
the age-groups—namely, the age at maturity and the year of its life in which the fish
migrated from fresh water. These are expressed symbolically by two numbers, one in large
type, which indicates the age of maturity, and the other in small type, placed to the right and
below, which signifies the year of life in which the fish left the fresh water. The age-groups
-which are met most commonly are:—
S__, 4-.—the " sea-types " or fish which migrate in their first year and mature at the
ages of three and four years respectively.
32—" the grilse," usually males, which migrate in their second year and mature at
the age of three.
42, 5,—fish which migrate in their second year and mature at the ages of four and
five respectively.
5g, 63—fish which migrate in their third year and mature at the ages of five and
six respectively.
64, 74—fish which migrate in their fourth year and mature at the ages of six and
seven respectively.
1. THE RIVERS INLET SOCKEYE RUN OF 1940.
(1.) General Characteristics.
The pack of sockeye salmon at Rivers Inlet in 1940 amounted to 63,469 cases. On the
basis of a classification suggested some years ago wherein a pack of less than 60,000 cases may
be considered small, a pack of 60,000 to 100,000 medium, and a pack of over 100,000 cases
large, the pack of 1940 falls in the medium class.
The bulk of the run was composed of four-year-old fish which were the product of the
spawning of 1936. In this year there was a pack of only 46,351 cases but a very large escapement. This situation was the result of a strike of fishermen at the height of the fishing
season and under ordinary circumstances might have resulted in an exceptional return in
1940. However, a severe freshet occurred during the autumn of 1936 and fishery officers
expressed the belief that considerable damage had been done to the spawning-beds. The two
factors, large escapement and freshet damage, would tend to counterbalance one another and probably did so in that the 1940 pack, which was composed largely of four-year-old fish, was
seemingly small in relation to the very large escapement in 1936. It is still possible that
considerable numbers of five-year-old fish may appear in 1941.
The return in 1941 will be the result of the spawnings in 1936 and 1937. In the former
year the pack was 46,351 cases and the escapement was very large. The fishermen's strike
and the autumn freshet have been mentioned previously. The 1936 spawning has already
produced a considerable return of four-year-old fish in 1940 and may or may not produce a
considerable return of five-year-old fish in 1941. It is impossible to foretell what the return
may be.
In 1937, the pack was 84,832 cases and the escapement was reported as satisfactory.
There would seem to be no reason why there should not be a good return of four-year-old fish.
(2.) Age-groups.
The material for this year's study was obtained from 1,109 individuals taken in twenty-
four random samplings from July 1st to July 30th. The 42 age-group predominates with 763
individuals forming 69 per cent. The 52 age-group is represented by 309 individuals or 28 per
cent., the 53 by 33 or 3 per cent., and the 63 by 3 fish (Table I.). In addition there is one
individual of the 32 age-group. As pointed out previously, the run is composed predominantly of four-year-old fish produced from the spawnings of 1936 in spite of possible adverse
effects by severe freshets.
(3.) Lengths and Weights.
The average length of the males of the 42 age-group is slightly below the average of the
past twenty-eight years and slightly above any previous record.
The average weights parallel the average lengths. In the 42 age-group the average
weights of both males and females are close to the averages of the past twenty-five years.
The average weights of the 59 age-group are over a pound greater than the twenty-five-year
averages and in the case of the males much above any previous record (Tables IV. and V.).
The data concerning the distribution of lengths and weights are given in Tables II.
and III.
(4.) Distribution of the Sexes.
• The total number of males in the samplings is 579 and of females 530, percentages of 52
and 48 respectively. There is no significant deviation from the average percentages for the
twenty-six years of record, which are 50 and 50 respectively. In the 42 age-group the males
predominate with a percentage of 63 while in the 52 age-group the females predominate with
a percentage of 77, which is somewhat above the average of 65 (Table VI.). J 28
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
Table I.—Rivers Inlet Sockeyes, Percentages of Age-groups in Runs of
Successive Years and Packs.
Year.
Percentage op Individuals.
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
(87,874 cases).-.
(64,652 cases)—.
(89,027 cases)....
(126,921 cases).
(88,763 cases )_..
(112,884 cases)..
(61,745 cases)-..
(89,890 cases)-
(130,350 cases)..
(44,936 cases)....
(61,195 cases)—.
(53,401 cases)—.
(56,258 cases)....
(121,254 cases).
(46,300 cases)—.
(60,700 cases) ...
(107,174 eases)..
(94,891 cases) —
(159,554 cases).
(65,581 cases)—.
(64,461 cases).-.
(60,044 cases)....
(70,260 cases)-
(119,170 cases).
(76,428 cases)-.
(69,732 cases)....
(83,507 cases) —
(76,923 cases) —
(135,038 cases)..
(46,351 cases)....
(84,832 cases)-
(87,942 cases) ...
(54,143 cases) —
(63,469 cases) —
21
80
35
13
26
39
57
46
5
49
81
74
43
23
59
81
55
77
49
53
67
44
77
57
53
60
27
67
79
20
65
87
74
61
43
54
95
51
18
24
54
77
38
16
40
18
48
44
27
55
20
41
46
37
70
32
28 BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 29
Table II.—Rivers Inlet Sockeyes, 19UO, grouped by Age, Sex, and Length,
and by their Early History.
Number of
Individuals.
Length in Inches.
4
2
5
o
5
3
63
Total.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
18% -- -
19
1
2
9
■ 30
38
67
53
60
58
62
42
36
11
7
3
6
3
1
1
3
18
30
46
50
33
34
24
15
5
8
1
4
1
1
1
3
2
6
4
2
10
7
11
9
4
2
3
4
2
1
1
1
8
17
20
18
30
29
37
25
21
14
7
3
7
1
1
5
2
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
5
2
4
1
1
1
2
19% -
10
20
20 % —
34
57
21
21%
102
101
22 - -
22% -
113
98
23
23% -
108
91
24
24% -- -
25
74
42
52
25%
37
26
1
58
26% -
1
37
27
27%
33
24
28 —
11
28%
5
29 --
10
29%
4
30 -
30%
2
1
31
31 % -
1
Totals
489
274
72
237
17
16
----- 1 s
1,108
22.0
22.5
26.7
25.6
22.7
22.8
1 25.7 J 30
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
Table III.—Rivers Inlet Sockeyes, 19'40, grouped by Age, Sex, and Weight,
and by their Early History.
Table IV.—Rivers Inlet Sockeyes, Average Lengths in Inches of the U__ and 5Q
Groups, 1912 to 19U0.
Number of
Individuals.
Weight in Pounds.
4
2
£
2
h
63
Total.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
2%
8
65
117
89
68
65
47
20
8
2
14
60
69
56
47
19
4
3
1
1
3
3
6
4
8
4
4
6
8
11
7
5
2
1
4
3
18
26
33
28
33
28
28
21
11
1
3
2
1
4
4
5
—
2
1
3
8
3% -
3
82
4 —
4% -
3 1
3
1
182
166
5
135
5% -
1
2
2
1
1
138
6
6%
105
63
7
50
7% -
41
8
34
8%
9
34
29
9%
22
10—
10%
8
8
11
11%
2
1
Totals -
489
274
72
237
17
16
3
1,108
Ave. weights
4.7
4.8
8.2
7.3
5.1
5.3
7.3
4
2
5
2
Year.
M.
F.
M.
F.
1912 -
23.2
22.9
23.0
22.9
22.9
22.5
22.3
22.4
22.9
22.5
22.4
22.3
22.2
22.8
22.1
22.3
22.6
22.7
21.9
22.4
22.1
22.4
22.4
21.0
22.0
23.1
22.0
22.8
23.0
22.8
22.8
22.8
22.3
22.5
22.3
22.6
22.4
22.3
22.3
22.2
22.9
22.4
22.8
22.2
22.6
22.0
22.4
22.0
22.2
22.4
20.9
21.9
22.8
21.9
25.8
25.9
25.9
26.0
25.8
25.0
24.9
24.8
26.0
25.2
24.6
24.6
24.9
25.5
25.1
24.6
26.1
25.2
26.0
25.2
25.2
25.5
25.6
25.8
24.6
24.5
26.6
25.3
24.6
1913 .
25.2
1914 .. .
25.2
1915 . _
25.1
1816 - - -
25.0
1917
24.4
1918 ...
24.5
1919 .
24.4
1920 -
25.0
1921
24.2
1922 . _
24.2
1923
24.1
1924
24.3
1925 .—
24.8
1926 -
24.6
1927
24.2
1928
25.2
1929 .
25.3
1930
25.2
1931 -
24.8
1932
24.6
1933
24.7
1934 .
25.0
1935 - —
25.1
1936 _
1937
23.4
24.0
1938
25.5
1939
24.5
22.5
22.4
25.4
24.7
1940 _ ..
22.0
22.5
26.7
25.6 BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 31
Table V.—Rivers Inlet Sockeyes, Average Weights in Pounds of the 42 and 52
Groups, 1914 to 1940.
4
o
5
2
Year.
M.
F.
M.
F.
5.4
5.3
5.5
5.0
4.9
4.9
5.2
6.0
5.0
4.9
4.6
5.2
5.3
4.8
5.0
4.9
4.5
4.7
4.8
4.9
4.5
4.9
4.6
4.7
4.4
5.2
5.1
5.0
4.9
5.1
4.8
4.9
5.9
4.8
4.8
4.4
5.2
5.8
5.0
4.8
4.8
4.6
4.7
4.6
4.6
4.3
4.1
4.4
4.5
4.2
7.3
7.3
7.6
6.6
6.7
6.3
6.9
7.4
6.5
6.6
6.9
6.9
7.3
7.5
6.6
7.5
6.7
6.5
7.3
7.3
6.9
7.9
6.1
7.1
6.5
6.8
1915 ■
6.6
1916
6.7
6.2
1918 -
6.7
5.9
1921
6.0
7.0
5.9
6.1
1925
6.2
1926 . -
6.3
1927 —
7.6
6.7
1929 -
6.7
1930 -
6.9
1931 —
6.4
1932 —
6.5
1933 .
6.6
1934 —
6.7
1935
6.1
1936 .,
1937
6.7
5.8
1938
1939
6.4
5.9
4.9
4.8
7.0
6.4
1940
4.7
4.8
8.2
7.3
Table VI.—Rivers Inlet Sockeyes, Percentages of Males and Females of the
4„ and 50 Age-groups, 1915 to 1940.
Year.
42
5
2
Per Cent.
Total
Males.
Per Cent.
Total
M.
F.
M.
F.
Females.
1915 -
1916
65
63
79
77
74
63
66
71
74
66
63
68
63
57
56
59
54
56
55
63
43
61
49
56
64
35
37
21
23
26
37
34
29
26
34
37
32
37
43
44
41
46
44
45
37
57
39
51
44
36
43
39
49
41
48
40
38
31
31
34
32
36
30
36
37
33
28
32
27
39
20
28
32
37
23
67
61
51
59
52
60
62
69
69
66
68
64
70
64
63
67
72
68
73
61
80
72
68
63
77
45
49
48
66
58
49
51
61
62
50
41
51
62
50
53
47
47
47
42
49
53
32
48 •
37
50
52
55
61
1917
62
1918 - -. .-,
1919 .... _
34
42
1920 - _
51
1921 —
49
1922
39
1923.
38
1924
50
1925
59
1926
49
1927
38
1928
50
1929
47
1930— - -. - — -
53
1931 -
53
1932
1933 -
58
1934
1935- —
1936 — —
68
1937-
1938 —
63
1939- -
50
48
1940 -
Average-
63
37
35
65
50
60 2. THE SKEENA RIVER SOCKEYE RUN OF 1940.
(1.) General Characteristics.
The pack of sockeye salmon on the Skeena River in 1940 amounted to 116,507 cases, which
was the highest since 1930, when 132,372 cases were taken. The escapements to the two main
spawning areas, Babine and Lakelse, were large. It would appear, therefore, that the return
to the Skeena River in 1940 was a very good one.
It is interesting to note that the run of 1940 was comprised of 80 per cent, four-year-old
fish. In the brood-year, 1936, the pack was 81,973 cases and the escapement was reported as
" comparatively large."
The run of 1941 will be the production of the brood-years 1936 and 1937. Since, as
pointed out above, the 1936 spawning has already produced a large number of four-year-old
fish, it cannot be expected to produce a very large number of five-year-old fish in 1941. The
run of 1937 provided a pack of 42,491 cases and the escapement was very good. It would
seem that the size of the run in 1941 will depend largely upon success of the production from
the 1937 spawning and the percentage of the fish maturing at four years of age.
(2.) Age-groups.
The length, weight, and sex data and scale collections were obtained from 2,248 fish in
forty random samplings from July 2nd to August 16th. The 42 age-group is represented by
1,805 individuals or 80 per cent. This is the highest percentage of four-year-old fish on
record, the previous high being 70 per cent, in 1922. The other age-classes occur as follows:
52, 326 individuals or 15 per cent.; 53, 91 individuals or 4 per cent.; 6g, 23 individuals or
1 per cent.; 32, 3 individuals. These three age-groups together comprise but 20 per cent.
of the sampling (Table VII.).
(3.) Lengths and Weights.
The average lengths of the males and females of the 42 and 53 age-groups are very
slightly above the averages of the past twenty-eight years. The average lengths of both sexes
of the 52 and 63 age-groups are, however, an inch or more above those of the past years and
in each case are the highest on record.
Likewise, the average weights of the 42 and 53 age-groups are approximately equal to the
averages of the past twenty-six years, while those of the 52 and 63 age-groups are very much
above the averages of the past years and establish new high records. In the cases of the
males of both these groups, the increase in weight is 1.4 lb. (Tables X. and XL).
The condition on the Skeena River thus closely parallels that on Rivers Inlet.
The distribution of lengths and weights are given in Tables VIII. and IX.
(4.) Distribution of the Sexes.
The total number of males in the sampling is 862 and of females 1,386, percentages of 38
and 62 respectively. Females predominate in the 42, 52, and 53 age-groups with percentages
of 62, 61, and 57 respectively. The 63 age-group are represented by 15 males and 8 females
and the 3,, by 2 males and 1 female (Table XII.).
While the representation of females in 1940 is high, it is not exceptionally so. During
the past eight years a considerable excess of females has occurred. In the early years of
record the sex ratios were approximately equal and the change in recent years is believed to
be related to changes in the size of the mesh of the gill-nets. BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 33
Table VII.—Skeena River Sockeyes, Percentages of Age-groups in Runs of
Successive Years and Packs.
Year.
Percentage of Individuals.
1907 (10-8,413 cases)-
1908 (139,846 cases)„
1909 (87,901 cases) ...
1910 (187,246 cases )-
1911 (131,066 cases)_
1912 (92,498 cases)...
1913 (52,927 cases)....
1914 (130,166 cases)..
1915 (116,553 cases)-
1916 (60,923 cases) ...
1917 (65,760 cases)....
1918 (123,322 cases)-
1919 (184,945 cases)..
1920 (90,869 cases) ...
1921 (41,018 cases) —
1922 (96,277 cases) —
1923 (131,731 cases)..
1924 (144,747 cases)..
1925 (77,784 cases)....
1926 (82,360 cases)....
1927 (83,996 cases) —
1928 (34,559 cases) —
1929 (78,017 cases)....
1930 (132,372 cases)..
1931 (93,023 cases)....
1932 (59,916 cases)....
1933 (30,506 cases)-..
1934 (54,558 cases) —
1935 (52,879 cases)....
1936 (81,973 cases)....
1937 (42,491 cases)....
1938 (47,257 cases) _.
1939 (68,485 cases) —
1940 (116,507 cases).
57
50
25
36
34
57
51
27
15
69
70
56
23
51
62
62
51
62
39
40
44
57
68
49
67
45
64
50
80
43
50
75
64
38
29
34
60
71
22
16
29
69
45
26
28
-39
30
62
80
37
36
34
31
20
40
15
35
15
13
6
12
28
7
5
7
18
11
11
16
11
r* 4
18
5
6
4
8
3
2
7
1
1
3
1
3
2
1
2
12
2
1
2
2
4
6
4
1 J 34
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
Table VIII.—Skeena River Sockeyes, 1940, grouped by Age, Sex, and Length,
and by their Early History.
Number of
Individuals.
Length in Inches.
4
2
5
2
5
3
6
3
Total.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
20
1
11
10
24
32
48
58
76
106
107
104
66
42
13
4
1
1
3
5
33
95
156
240
217
175
99
57
16
3
2
i
2
1
2
4
6
13
12
11
24
9
12
6
3
2
8
11
22
28
36
46
28
20
15
2
2
2
2
6
4
4
7
6
1
5
1
1
1
2
6
13
6
10
5
4
3
1
1
2
1
1
5
2
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
2
2
20%
14
21...
21% —
15
58
22 „
22%
23 .
131
215
320
23%...
24
313
308
24% -
25
25%
244
205
130
26
111
26%
62
27 -
27%— -
38
43
28
28%
11
17
29 -
29%
6
1
30
30%
31
31% -
1
Totals -
703
1,102
103
223
39
52
15
8
2,245
24.0
23.3
27.0
25.7
24.3
23.8
27.0
26.1
Table IX.-
-Skeena River Sockeyes, 1940, grouped by Age, Sex, and Weight,
and by their Early History.
Number of
Individuals.
Weight in Pounds.
4
2
5
2
5
3
6
3
Total.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
3
3%
4
3
17
51
77
104
115
148
88
65
26
6
3
10
112
264
320
216
129
33
14
4
1
3
6
6
13
5
19
15
19
5
8
2
1
4
7
26
30
29
37
41
23
18
6
2
8
8
6
5
5
3
3
1
5
11
13
9
7
5
1
1
2
3
3
2
1
2
1
1
2
1
1
2
2
3
27
168
4% _
365
5
455
5%
374
6 _..
326
6%
169
7
7% -.
8
136
85
53
8%
37
9
25
9 %
9
10—
8
10%
3
11
1
11%
12
12%
1
Totals
703
1,102
103
223
39
52
15
8
2,245
Ave. weights
5.6
5.1
8.2
6.9
5.7
5.2
8.2
6.8 BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 35
Table X.—Skeena River Sockeyes, Average Lengths in Inches of Principal
Age-groups, 1912 to 1940.
Year.
4
2
5
2
5
3
6
3
■
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
1912
24.6
23.5
24.2
24.2
23.9
23.6
24.1
24.3
23.8
23.8
23.6
23.7
24.1
23.6
23.8
23.9
23.3
22.9
23.1
23.5
23.4
23.2
23.8
23.1
23.8
23.5
23.3
24.1
23.5
22.9
23.4
23.5
23.6
23.2
23.3
23.4
23.2
23.1
23.2
23.1
23.3
22.8
23.4
23.3
22.8
22.7
22.7
23.1
22.7
22.8
23.2
22.9
23.2
22.9
22.5
23.9
26.4
25.5
26.2
25.9
26.2
25.5
25.9
25.7
26.2
25.2
25.3
25.6
26.2
25.6
25.6
25.7
25.3
25.5
24.7
25.7
25.2
26.1
26.3
26.3
26.0
26.2
25.3
26.1
25.2
24.7
25.1
25.0
25.0
24.7
25.0
24.8
25.3
24.2
24.4
24.5
25.2
24.7
24.8
24.8
24.7
24.7
23.9
24.8
24.4
25.2
25.2
25.2
25.2
25.1
24.4
25.4
....
24.5
24.1
23.9
23.9
24.3
24.1
24.2
23.8
23.9
24.7
24.1
24.6
24.1
23.5
23.8
23.5
23.8
24.1
24.3
25.2
23.6
24.4
24.9
23.6
24.8
23.4
23.8
23.8
23.4
23.4
23.4
23.4
23.3
23.2
23.6
23.3
23.8
23.5
22.8
22.8
22.4
23.1
22.8
23.4
24.1
22.8
23.5
24.1
23.1
24.1
25.6
26.2
25.4
25.2
25.8
26.2
24.9
24.6
25.6
25.8
25.8
26.0
25.2
25.6
25.5
24.6
25.8
25.4
26.4
26.0
26.2
26.3
26.9
25.6
26.3
1913
1914
1915 ..
24.4
1916
24.8
1917
25.0
1918 —
24.7
1919
1920 -
1921
1922 ..
24.7
25.1
24.2
24.1
1923
24.4
1924 —
1925
1926
24.8
24.8
25.0
1927
24.9
1928
24.7
1929 — -
24.3
1930
23.2
1931
24.7
1932 -
1933 ....
1934 .-.
1935
24.4
25.3
24.9
25.1
1936 -
25.0
1937
25.5
1938
24,3
1939.
25.1
23.7
23.1
25.7
24.8
24.1
23.4
25.7
24 7
1940
24.0
23.3
27.0
25.7
24.3
23.8
27.0
26.1 Table XI.—Skeena River Sockeyes, Average Weights in Pounds of Principal
Age-groups, 1914 to 1940.
Year.
4
2
5
2
5
3
6
3
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
1914
1915 —
1916
1917 -
5.9
5.7
5.4
5.3
5.8
6.1
5.6
5.7
5.4
5.3
5.6
5.1
5.3
5.4
5.0
4.9
5.4
5.4
5.4
4.9
5.7
5.1
5.6
4.9
5.2
4.9
5.3
5.2
5.1
5.0
5.3
5.5
5.1
5.1
5.1
4.9
5.0
4.7
5.1
5.1
4.6
4.7
5.1
5.1
4.9
4.7
5.2
4.9
5.2
4.6
4.6
4.7
7.2
6.8
7.1
6.4
6.9
7.0
7.2
6.4
6.5
6.3
7.0
6.5
6.5
6.5
6.4
6.8
6.7
6.8
6.9
7.1
7.7
7.4
7.3
6.4
6.6
6.3
6.3
6.2
6.3
6.0
6.4
6.2
6.4
5.7
5.7
5.7
6.3
5.8
5.8
5.9
5.8
6.2
6.0
6.3
6.1
6.3
6.6
6.5
6.6
5.8
6.1
5.7
....
5.9
5.8
5.5
5.7
6.1
6.3
5.8
5.5
5.3
5.9
5.5
5.9
5.4
5.0
5.6
5.6
5.5
6.0
5.7
6.7
5.5
6.1
5.7
5.3
5.4
5.2
5.4
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.1
5.1
5.1
4.8
5.1
4.9
5.2
5.0
4.6
4.9
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
5.8
4.7
5.5
5.1
5.0
4.9
6.6
7.1
6.3
6.6
6.9
7.3
6.0
6.2
6.3
6.6
6.9
6.9
6.0
6.5
6.8
6.8
6.9
6.8
7.1
7.7
7.2
7.4
7.0
6.9
6.6
6.0
5.9
5.8
6.1
1919 -
1920
6.3
6.3
1921
1922
5.6
5.7
1923 - -
5.4
1924 -
5.8
1926 -
1926
5.4
6.2
1927 -
5.8
1928
5.8
1929 -
1930 _
5.7
5.8
1931 . -
6.0
1932 - -
5.9
1933
6.3
1934
1935
6.2
6.4
1936
6.2
1937
6.1
1938
6.9
1939
5.5
5.4
5.0
6.8
6.1
5.7
5.1
6.8
5.9
1940
5.6
5.1
8.2
6.9
5.7
5.2
8.2
6.8 BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 37
Table XII.—Skeena River Sockeyes, Percentages of Males and Females of the
42 and 52 Age-groups, 1915 to 1940.
Year.
4
2
5
2
Per Cent.
Total
Males.
Per Cent.
Total
Females.
M.
F.
M.
F.
1915
56
70
66
63
63
41
44
52
60
50
57
40
45
48
50
47
43
47
48
42
41
38
45
40
34
38
44
30
34
37
47
59
56
48
40
50
43
60
55
52
50
53
57
53
52
58
59
62
55
60
66
62
45
43
48
46
46
37
44
41
37
43
42
43
41
45
46
56
39
63
40
33
32
36
39
51
42
39
55
57
52
54
54
63
56
59
63
57
58
57
59
55
54
44
61
37
60
67
68
64
61
49
58
61
49
55
60
57
49
38
45
50
52
45
50
42
44
46
50
53
44
54
45
39
40
39
42
42
37
38
51
1916
45
1917. —-
1918 - - -
1919
40
43
51
1920—- - ,.
1921
62
55
1922
50
1923 _
1924
48
55
1925
50
1926
68
1927
1928
56
54
1929
1930 ,,.
1931
50
47
56
1932
46
1933—
55
1934 ...
61
1935
1936
60
61
1937
58
1938..
1939-
58
63
1940
62
Average
48
52
43
57
46
54
3. THE NASS RIVER SOCKEYE RUN OF 1940.
(1.) General Characteristics.
The run of sockeye to the Nass River in 1940 produced a pack of 13,809 cases and an
escapement which may have been relatively small. Possibly the extent of the return was all
that could be expected in that the pack in 1935 was only 12,712 cases with an escapement
described as " good."
The run of 1941 will be derived from the spawnings of 1936 and 1937. In the former
year the pack was 28,562 cases and the escapement was recorded as exceptionally large.
This brood-year produced a considerable percentage of four-year-old fish and possibly presages
a good return of five-year-old fish. It is this production which is important because the Nass
River sockeye are predominantly five-year-old fish, the 53 age-group contributing an average
of 67 per cent, and the 52 age-group 12 per cent, over the period of the past twenty-nine
years. In 1937 the pack was 17,567 cases and the escapement was reported as " quite good
on the whole." In no year have the four-year-old fish comprised over 35 per cent, of the run
and the average over a period of twenty-nine years has been 16 per cent.
(2.) Age-groups.
The analysis of the run of 1940 is based upon data for 1,306 fish obtained in thirty-five
random samplings from July 1st to August 16th. The 53 age-group has the highest representation with 772 fish or 59 per cent. This percentage is somewhat lower than usual due
to an increase in the numbers of 4„ and 63 fish. The other age-groups occurred as follows:
42, 296 individuals or 23 per cent.; 52, 107 individuals or 8 per cent.; and 63, 131 individuals
or 10 per cent. (Table XIII.).
(3.) Lengths and Weights.
The average lengths of both sexes in all the age-groups are much above the averages of
the past twenty-eight years and establish new high records. The fish of the 42 and 53 age- J 38
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
groups are approximately 1 inch above average while those of the 52 and 63 age-groups are
approximately 2 inches above average.
Similarly the average weights of both sexes in all the age-groups are greatly above the
averages for the past twenty-six years and set new high records throughout. In the cases
of the 42 and 53 age-groups the weights are approximately 1 lb. above average and for the
52 and 63 age-groups the increase is approximately 1% lb.
The data of all three river systems agree in demonstrating that the sockeye proceeding
to them in 1940 were exceptionally large. Undoubtedly food and water temperatures are
the factors involved.
(4.) Proportions of the Sexes.
The total number of males in the samplings is 669 and of females 637, percentages of 51
and 49 respectively. As a rule the number of females exceeds that of the males in the Nass
River population, the average representation over a period of twenty-six years being 53 per
cent. The increases in the number of males in 1940 occur in the 52, 53, and 63 age-classes,
but in no case with particular significance. The females are in the majority in the 42 and 53
age-groups with percentages of 52 and 51 respectively, while the males are in the majority in
the 52 and 63 age-groups with percentages of 60 and 68 respectively.
Table XIII.—Nass River Sockeyes, Percentages of Principal Age-groups
from 1912 to 1940 and Packs.
Year.
Percentage of Individuals.
5o
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
(36,037 cases).
(23,574 cases)-
(31,327 cases)-
(39,349 cases)-
(31,411 cases).
(22,188 cases)-
(21,816 cases) .
(28,259 cases).
(16,740 cases).
(9,364 cases) —
(31,277 cases)..
(17,821 cases).
(33,590 cases).
(18,945 cases).
(15,929 cases).
(12,026 cases)-
(5,540 cases)—
(16,077 cases).
(26,405 cases).
(16,929 cases).
(14,154 cases)..
(9,757 cases) —
(36,242 cases).
(12,712 cases).
(28,562 cases).
(17,667 cases).
(21,462 cases).
(24,357 cases).
(13,809 cases).
15
4
19
9
10
30
7
11
4
23
12
8
30
25
28
10
28
35
13
11
16
22
21
14
23
27
12
41
14
17
15
16
22
14
7
2
12
7
6
9
15
17
4
7
9
10
7
4
4
13
63
71
45
69
66
71
45
65
72
76
91
77
91
67
63
81
61
60
54
67
61
56
74
73
67
68
70
66
59
2
2
10
8
8
4
9
6
6
8
1
6
2
2
13
6
3
6
7
3
4
6
10
6
5
7
10 BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 39
Table XIV.—TVass River Sockeyes, 1940, grouped by Age, Sex, and Length,
and by their Early History.
Length in Inches.
Number of
Individuals.
42
h
53
6
3
Total.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
21%
1
1
1
9
7
20
27
32
23
11
8
1
1
3
9
16
34
28
27
16
13
3
4
1
1
2
6
7
9
10
9
6
5
6
2
1
1
1
1
8
6
6
3
6
4
2
2
3
1
2
3
4
17
37
52
82
61
79
25
9
2
1
1
5
3
7
8
37
46
80
75
85
24
19
7
1
1
3
3
7
7
18
18
12
10
5
4
3
3
6
11
10
9
2
22
22% _..
1
3
23
16
23%
21
24 —
53
24%—
46
25
89
25%
26
116
170
26%
27
169
198
27% .
118
28
181
28% _
29
29%
60
44
28
30
19
30%
31
12
6
31V„
4
Totals
141
155
64
43
375 | 397
89
42
1,306
Average lengths.
25.6
24.6
28.2
26.8
27.2
26.1
29.3
28.1
Table XV.—Nass River Sockeyes, 1940, grouped by Age, Sex, and Weight,
and by their Early History.
Number of
Individuals.
Weight in Pounds.
42
h
5
3
6
3
Total.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
4 —-
2
2
4 %
1
2
1
4
5
3
16
10
29
5%
3
28
2
18
51
6
17
56
6
37
116
6% -
25
31
1
4
18
52
131
7
32
15
3
3
49
116
1
3
222
7% .
34
3
3
14
72
89
2
5
222
8 ..
20
2
10
7
88
52
4
10
193
8%
2
14
5
80
16
9
5
131
9
1
10
10
5
2
41
15
4
13
16
9
7
83
9%
50
10
5
1
4
24
1
35
10%
11 _ - .
4
1
2
11
6
17
7
11%
1
1
2
4
12
1
1
1
2
12%
1
Totals _
139
155
64
43
375
395
89
40
1,300
Average weights
6.9
6.0
8.9
7.8
8.0
7.0
9.5
8.5 | J 40 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
Table XVI.—Nass River Sockeyes, Average Lengths in Inches of Principal
Age-groups, 1912 to 1940.
Year.
42
52 .
h
63
M. F.
1
M.
F.
M. F.
M.
F.
1912
24.6
24.1
24.6
24.0
24.5
23.4
25.0
24.9
24.0
24.3
24.2
24.3
24.7
24.4
24.9
24.9
24.3
24.1
24.5
24.5
24.9
24.6
24.9
24.9
24.9
23.8
24.1
24.9
23.3
23.5
22.7
23.5
23.3
23.2
24.3
24.1
23.4
23.5
23.4
23.7
23.8
23.8
24.1
24.2
23.5
23.5
23.7
23.8
23.9
23.7
24.1
24.0
24.1
23.3
23.5
24.2
26.5
25.6
26.1
25.9
26.4
25.5
25.7
26.2
26.3
25.5
25.6
25.9
26.2
25.9
26.1
25.3
26.0
26.1
26.5
26.5
26.4
27.1
26.9
27.3
26.8
26.0
26.0
26.9
26.1
24.8
26.1
25.2
25.0
24.7
24.7
25.2
25.0
24.3
24.6
25.3
24.9
24.7
25.3
25.2
25.1
25.2
25.4
25.7
25.2
25.8
25.9
25.9
25.8
24.5
24.8
25.8
26.2
26.0
26.3
26.5
26.5
25.3
25.9
26.5
26.7
26.2
25.7
26.2
26.3
25.9
26.1
26.3
25.5
25.9
26.4
26.1
26.6
25.9
26.3
26.5
26.6
25.0
25.2
26.1
25.4
25.2
25.5
25.9
25.6
24.7
25.0
25.8
25.9
25.6
25.0
25.5
25.4
25.0
25.3
25.9
24.6
24.9
25.3
25.3
25.6
25.2
25.4
25.2
25.6
24.2
24.4
25.3
27.0
26.0
26.9
26.6
27.9
26.5
27.2
27.9
27.4
27.9
28.0
27.2
28.0
26.9
27.9
27.6
28.1
27.2
27.9
28.2
28.3
28.4
28.6
28.9
28.3
27.2
26.6
27.9
25.6
1913
26.6
1014
25.6
1915
25.3
1916
26.7
1917
25.5
191R
25.2
1919 .
26.7
19M1
25.9
19!>1
26.2
19?2
25.9
1923 -
26.5
1994
25.4
1925
25.4
lOrtfi
27.0
1927
26.5
192«
26.2
1929
26.2
1930
26.8
1931
27.1
1932
27.1
1933
27.9
1934
27.1
1935 - - -
27.6
1-936
27.1
1<937
26.3
1938 ... - - ...
26.1
1939
26.6
24.5
23.7
26.2
25.1
26.1
25.3 | 27.6
26.3
1940
25.6
24.6
28.2
26.8
27.2
26.1
29.3
28.1
1 BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 41
Table XVII.—Nass River Sockeyes, Average Weights
. Age-groups, 1914 to 1940.
in Pounds of Pr
incipal
- 42
52
h
6
3
M.
F.
1
M. F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
1914
6.2
5.6
6.0
5.3
6.3
6.0
5.6
6.0
5.9
5.8
5.9
5.9
6.0
6.2
5.6
5.7
5.9
6.0
6.3
6.2
6.7
6.1
6.5
5.5
5.9
5.0
5.2
5.3
5.3
5.8
5.5
5.2
5.4
5.4
5.2
5.4
5.4
5.4
5.8
5.0
5.2
5.2
5.5
5.6
5.4
5.9
5.2
5.7
5.2
5.8
7.4
6.9
7.2
6.8
7.2
6.6
7.4
6.9
6.8
6.7
7.2
6.8
6.9
7.1
7.0
7.1
7.3
7.4
7.5
8.1
8.4
7.8
7.8
6.8
7.4
6.5
6.4
6.3
6.2
6.3
5.9
6.3
6.1
6.2
6.1
6.1
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.2
6.6
6.5
6.8
6.6
7.0
7.3
6.5
7.1
6.1
6.3
7.2
7.0
7.2
6.3
7.2
6.7
7.4
6.9
6.8
6.6
6.8
6.7
6.7
6.9
6.2
6.7
7.1
6.8
7.3
7.0
7.6
7.0
7.6
6.2
6.6
6.0
6.5
6.6
6.2
5.8
6.4
6.1
6.7
6.3
6.3
6.0
6.1
6.0
6.0
6.2
5.5
5.9
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.2
6.7
6.1
6.7
5.5
5.8
5.3
7.9
7.2
8.1
7.3
8.3
7.8
7.9
7.7
8.1
7.2
8.0
7.4
7.8
7.8
8.1
7.6
8.2
8.3
8.7
8.4
9.4
8.4
8.7
7.8
7.6
7.1
6.8
1915 ...
1916 _ . .
6.5
6.4
1917
6.4
1918 .
6.7
1919
6.7
1920 _
7.0
1921 ,
1922
6.6
6.6
1923 -
6.8
1924
6.5
1925 —
6.3
1926 - ■■
7.1
1927 - —
7.0
1928 -
6.6
1929 — —
6.8
1930
1931
1932.. —- — —
7.2
7.4
7.5
1933 - - -
7.9
1934
8.1
1935
7.4
1936 -
7.5
1937 — .
7.0
19-38
6.8
1939 -
5.3 ] 5.0
6.8 | 6.1
6.1
5.9 5.4
7.2 6.4
6.9
6.1
8.0
6.9
1940 - -
6.9 6.0
8.9
7.8
8.0
7.0
9.5
8.5 J 42
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
Table XVIII.—Nass River Sockeyes, Percentages of Males and Females of the
4t>, 52, 5S, and 6& Age-groups, 1915 to 1940.
Year.
4
2
5
2
5
3
6
3
Per Cent.
Total
Males.
Per Cent.
Total
Females.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
M.
F.
55
45
49
51
52
48
53
47
52
48
61
39
61
39
50
50'
68
32
56
45
55
45
47
53
46
54
58
42
47
53
52
48
40
60
50
60
70
30
51
49
53
47
48
52
46
64
64
46
48
52
46
54
39
61
40
60
66
34
42
58
40
60
45
55
47
53
54
46
46
54
36
64
32
68
46
64
64
36
44
56
43
57
43
67
47
63
60
40
46
54
55
45
44
56
47
53
67
33
48
52
58
42
52
48
45
55
68
32
49
51
43
57
44
56
44
56
57
43
46
54
39
61
54
46
45
55
61
39
46
54
50
50
48
52
42
68
62
38
46
54
48
52
51
49
44
56
58
42
46
54
49
51
43
57
40
60
63
37
43
57
49
51
53
47
43
57
70
30
47
53
49
51
46
54
45
66
72
28
48
52
49
51
56
44
47
53
76
24
49
51
48
52
51
49
50
50
58
42
50
50
39
61
40
60
39
61
71
29
42
58
42
58
35
65
43
67
60
50
43
57
56
44
43
57
60
50
56
44
51
49
51
49
52
48
40
60
58
42
44
56
51
49
51
49
46
54
61
39
48
52
48
52
60
40
49
51
68
32
51
49
49
51
47
53
45
55
62
38
47
53
1915.
1916..
1917-
1918..
1919.
1920.
1921..
1922.
1923.
1924.
1925 .
1926 .
1927.
1928.
1929.
1930-
1931 -
1932 .
1933.
1934.
1935 .
1936.
1937.
1938.
1939-
1940-
Average- BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 43
TAGGING BRITISH COLUMBIA PILCHARDS (SARDINOPS C MRU LEA
(GIRARD)) : INSERTIONS AND RECOVERIES FOR 1940-41.
By John Lawson Hart, Ph.D., Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C.
INTRODUCTION.
The programme of pilchard-tagging and tag-recovery was continued during 1940. The
fishery, while definitely better than that during the 1939 season, was not very productive and
in consequence opportunities for recovery of tags were correspondingly reduced. The number
of tags put out during the course of the season was only some twenty-six hundred. This
number, roughly equal to that used in the 1939 season, is only about half that of the tags put
out in the seasons 1936-38. The sparse tagging has reduced the number of returns. This
report, the fifth in an annual series, covers the tags put out from Canadian fishing-boats
during 1940 and returns of Canadian tags made during the summer of 1940 and winter of
1940-41, and all recoveries made in Canadian plants during the summer of 1940.
METHODS.
The methods employed in tagging pilchards agree in essentials with those employed in
former years and described in previous reports (Hart, 1937; 1938a). The tagger lived on
the seine-boat. When a set was made tagging operations were carried out from the seine-
boat skiff. Serially numbered nickel-plated iron tags were placed in the body-cavity of the
pilchards by the use of a tagging-gun (Hart and Tester, 1938).
As in former years, recoveries were made by the use of electromagnets placed in the
chute which conducts the dried meal into the grinder (Hart, 1936) and a reward of 50 cents
was paid to the members of the plant crew for each recovery turned in with a record of the
date and the place of capture of the fish being processed at the time the recovery was made.
Occasional recoveries were made of tags which were isolated in crevices in conveyers or
driers. Recoveries made by either method are subject to question on the grounds that the
length of time taken for a tag to pass through a plant cannot be known with certainty.
Furthermore, not all tags are recovered (Hart, 19386).
TAGS APPLIED.
During 1940, 2,590 tags were used. The tagged fish were all released in the waters off
the States of Washington and Oregon. The information concerning tagging is given in
Table I.
Table I-
-Summary of Tagging, giving Reference Numbers, Dates, Numbers of Tags
inserted, Locality of Release, and Serial Numbers of Tags used.
Tagging
Reference
No.
Date.
No.
Tags.
Place Fish released.
Serial Number, including
Tags used (P.).
I.
II.
III.
1940.
July 23
July 29
July 30
Aug. 1
Aug. 1
Aug. 2
Aug. 8
Aug. 8
Aug. 9
497
498
200
300
299
198
100
398
100
15 mi. W. Grays Harbour
10 mi. W. Cape Elizabeth
15 mi. S.W. Cape Elizabeth
17201-17300, 17601-18000.
17501-17600, 18001-18400.
18401-18600.
IV.
4 mi. S.W. Copalis Head
18601-18900.
V.
6 mi. S.W. Copalis Head
18901-19200.
VI.
VII.
8 mi. S.W. Grays Harbour
16 mi. S.W. Columbia Eiver Lt
19201-19400.
19401-19500.
VIII.
IX.
8 mi. W. Cape Falcon —
15 mi. S.W. Tillamook Rock
19501-19800, 19901-20000.
19801-19900. J 44
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
-SO'
Ceep.
<*£'
-40°
Con// c/7^/7
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J 45
RECOVERIES.
During the 1940 season six reduction plants in British Columbia processed some 28,000
tons of pilchards. The British Columbia recoveries listed in Table II. were made from these
fish. Thirty-nine recoveries were made of tags used in California waters, three of tags put
out by the Oregon Fish Commission. No recoveries were made during the unsuccessful
season in Washington and eight returns were made by Oregon plants. One return was made
from California, at San Francisco, of a tag used off the Quillayute River during July, 1938.
It is noticeable that, in general, taggings carried out from Canadian fishing-boats working off
the Washington and Oregon coasts have been relatively unsuccessful in producing returns
from California during the succeeding winter. Whether this is a result of unfavourable
conditions for tagging or is brought about by the movements of the fish cannot be stated at
present.
Table II.—Summary of Tag Recoveries during the 1940 Season in British Columbia and of
Canadian Tags during the 1940—41 Season in California and Oregon, giving the Year of
Tagging and the Political Division making the Recovery.
Washington.
Oregon.
California.
British
Columbia.
Total.
Canadian tags—
1938- -
0
0
0
0
0
8
1
0
o
0
2
33
3
39
1
1939 -
1940
2
41
3
39
86
All of the tagging was done in connection with the fishing during the early part of the
season which was carried on off the Washington and Oregon coasts. A considerable number
of returns from these taggings were made during the later part of the season by several plants
from fish taken off the Vancouver Island coast. These returns appear to be too numerous and
to be made by too many plants all to be regarded as having been held up for several weeks in
the reduction plants and they consequently establish the movements of fish from the southerly
coast of Washington to those fishing-grounds off Vancouver Island frequented during the later
part of the season.
TAGGING OF SMALL PILCHARDS.
The pilchard-tagging recorded in this and previous reports of the series has been confined
to the rather uniformly large fish which comprise the usual commercial catch. During the
autumn of 1940 opportunity was taken to tag a sample of small fish averaging 146 mm.
(5% in.) in body-length which were abundant in the inshore waters of British Columbia at
the time.
The fish for this tagging were caught with a small bait purse-seine and held in the net
while tagging was carried out. The tags used were of the same shape but smaller than those
used for tagging larger fish and had the following dimensions: 13.1 mm. (approx. % in.)
long, 1.3 mm. (%o in.) wide, 0.70 mm. (%r, in.) thick, and 0.25 grams (7Ao(io oz.) in weight.
The method of inserting the tags was similar to that employed in putting the larger tags in
larger fish when a gun is not employed (Hart, 1937).
In all, 1,000 tags were used on September 10th, 1940. The fish were caught, tagged, and
released in Cowichan Bay and the serial numbers of the tags were from K3000-K3999.
The fish were in good condition at the time of tagging and did not appear to be damaged
as a result of handling. However, it is impossible to calculate the extent to which the tagged
fish may have contributed to the heavy mortality among the species observed in the general
vicinity some four months later.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.
The pilchard-tagging programme has continued under the combined sponsorship of the
Fisheries Research Board of Canada and the Department of Fisheries of the Province of J 46
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
British Columbia. The financial aid of both organizations and the encouragement of the
executive officers concerned, Dr. W. A. Clemens and Dr. R. E. Foerster, of the Pacific
Biological Station, and Mr. George J. Alexander, Assistant Commissioner of Fisheries of
British Columbia, is gratefully acknowledged.
Again the work has been forwarded through the co-operation of State fisheries officials
in Washington, Oregon, and California who have attended to the recovery of tags in their
divisions and have freely supplied information on the fishery producing them. The tags used
in tagging small fish were supplied by the California State Fisheries Laboratory.
Acknowledgment is made of the help of the companies who have arranged to install
magnets in reduction plants and of reduction-plant employees who have attended to the
actual recovery of tags.
Many thanks are due to Mr. Lennard Quickenden, who carried out the arduous work of
tagging, and to Captain John Dale and the crew of the " Pacific Queen," from which tagging
operations were conducted.
REFERENCES.
Hart, J. L. Tagging British Columbia pilchards (Sardinops cxrulea (Girard)) : Methods
and preliminary results. Report, B.C. Provincial Fisheries Department, 1936, 49-54,1937.
Hart, J. L. Tagging British Columbia pilchards (Sardinops cxrulea (Girard)) : Insertions
and recoveries for 1937-38. Report, B.C. Provincial Fisheries Department, 1937, 57-63,
1938a.
Hart, J. L. The efficiency of magnets installed in British Columbia reduction plants in
recovering sardine-tags. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Progress Reports Pacific,
No. 38, 16-18, 19386.
Hart, J. L. Tagging British Columbia pilchards (Sardinops cxrulea (Girard)) : Insertions
and recoveries for 1939-40. Report, B.C. Provincial Fisheries Department, 1939, 39-41,
1940.
Hart, J. L., and A. L. Tester. The tagging of herring (Clupea pallasii) in British Columbia:
Apparatus, insertions, and recoveries during 1937-38. Report, B.C. Provincial Fisheries
Department, 1937, 64-90, 1938. BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 47
THE TAGGING OF HERRING (CLUPEA PALLASII) IN BRITISH
COLUMBIA: INSERTIONS AND RECOVERIES DURING 1940-41.
By John Lawson Hart, Ph.D., Albert L. Tester, Ph.D., and J. L. McHugh, M.A.,
Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C.
CONTENTS.
Page.
Introduction „ 47
Tagging 47
Recovery methods 49
Recoveries 54
General considerations 54
Induction detectors 55
Magnets 56
Stability of populations and movements of herring 64
West coast of Vancouver Island 65
East coast of Vancouver Island 68
Discovery Passage 69
Queen Charlotte Sound 70
Central British Columbia 70
Northern British Columbia 71
Queen Charlotte Islands 71
Consideration of recoveries in relation to tagging technique 71
Summary of results 73
Acknowledgments 73
References 73
Detailed list of tags inserted during 1940-41 74
INTRODUCTION.
The fifth year of the herring-tagging programme has been completed and this annual
report on the work covers the results obtained during the past twelve months. The investigation is intended to (1) test the validity of the assumed existence of local populations
deduced as a result of racial studies, (2) determine the extent of herring movements, and
(3) further knowledge generally in regard to the herring which supply the British Columbia
fishery.
The methods used during the past year were the same as those described in the early
papers of the series (Hart and Tester, 1937; 1938; and 1939). They are, however, outlined
in the following paragraphs for the benefit of those who have not ready access to the earlier
aCC0UntS- TAGGING.
The methods employed in tagging were essentially the same as those of previous years.
Herring were captured in beach-seines, small bait purse-seines, or by the use of a large
dip-net. They were held for tagging in a bight of the seine, in slat live-boxes, or in the
bait-tank of the "Whiff" (Hart and Tester, 1939). Smooth nickel-plated serially numbered
magnetic metal tags were inserted in the body-cavities of the fish by the use of a tagging-gun
(Hart and Tester, 1938) or a specially designed knife (Hart and Tester, 1937). The gear
used in catching the fish for tagging and the methods in tagging are indicated in Table I.
During the past season the tagging of herring on the fishing-grounds was again curtailed. The taggings during the spawning season, however, on the west coast of Vancouver
Island and in Central and Northern British Columbia were the most satisfactory in the
experience of the investigation. On the other hand, the tagging in the Discovery Passage
and Queen Charlotte Sound areas was disappointing, the former because of a comparative
failure in herring spawning in the area and the latter because of unfortunate timing of the
tagging trip through the area. J 48
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
Table I.—Summary of the Tagging Data for Taggings producing Returns during the 1940-41
Fishing Season and for Tags inserted during the 1940-41 Fishing Season and the 1941
Spawning Season.
Tagging
Code.
Date.
No. of
Tags
inserted.
Method of
Capture of
Fish.*
Tagging
Method.t
Place of Tagging.
2E
Nov. 18, 25, 1937
700
CS.
G(?>
Rainy Bay, Barkley Sound.
21
Mar. 9, 1938
899
B.S.
G, K'(?)
Calm Creek, Clayoquot Sound.
2K
Mar. 12, 1938- -
995
B.S.
G
Plumper Harbour, Nootka Sound.
2M
Mar. 25, 1938-
1,395
B.S.
G
Bella Bella, Milbanke Sound.
2Q
Mar. 16, 17, 1938
799
s.s.
G, K'
False Narrows, N.W. side.
2S
Apr. 2, 3, 1938
1,196
1,078
s.s.
cs.
G
G
Union Bay, Baynes Sound.
3B
Oct. 11, 1938 -
Swanson Channel.
3F
Jan. 11, 1939
197
cs.
G
Boat Pass, Nootka Sound.
31
Jan. 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 1939-
1,195
cs.
G
Kwakshua Passage, Calvert Island.
3J
Mar. 6, 7,1939-
1,299
cs.
G, K'
Laredo Inlet.
3K
Mar. 2, 5, 1939 -
945
s.s.
G, K°
Departure Bay, near Nanaimo.
3M
Mar. 9,1939
997
s.s.
G, K°
Kuleet Bay, near Ladysmith.
30
Mar. 26, 1939
999
s.s.
G, K-
Pender Harbour (Bargain Harbour).
3P
Mar. 29, 1939
997
s.s.
G, K°
Dodd Narrows, near Boat Harbour.
3R
Mar. 19, 1939
2,192
B.S.
G, K°
Campbell Island, near Brown Narrows.
3S
Mar. 22, 1939-
1,797
899
B.S.
cs.
G, K°
G, K°
Duncan Bay, near Prince Rupert.
3T
Mar. 25, 1939
Butler Cove, near Prince Rupert.
3U
Mar. 7, 1939
1,494
B.S.
G, K'
Toquart Bay, Barkley Sound.
3V
Mar. 19, 1939
1,599
B.S.
G, K'
Off Markdale, Kyuquot Sound.
3W
Mar. 21, 22, 1939
1,491
B.S.
G, K'
Kendrick Arm, Nootka Sound.
3X
Mar. 28, 1939
681
CS.
K'
Matilda Inlet, Clayoquot Sound.
3Y
Mar. 29,1939-
682
897
298
CS.
S.T.
CS.
G. K'
G
G
4A
Oct. 6, 1939
4B
Oct. 8, 1939—
Swanson Channel.
4D
Feb. 15, 1940.
200
CS.
G
Lagoon Bay, Queen Charlotte Islands.
4E
Feb. 17,1940
200
1,200
CS.
B.S.
G
G, K'°
4F
Feb. 27, 1940-
Kuleet Bay, near Ladysmith.
4G
Mar. 3, 1940
1,499
B.S.
G, K'°
4H
Mar. 8,1940
987
1,199
1,799
1,197
B.S.
B.S.
CS.
D.N.
G, K'°
G, K'°
G, K'
G, K'°
41
Mar. 9, 1940 '
Nanoose Bay, at black buoy.
4J
Mar. 4, 5, 1940
4K
Mar. 13, 1940—
4L
Mar. 17, 18,1940
1,797
1,000
999
B.S.
B.S.
B.S.
G, K'°
G, K'°
G, K'°
Cutter Creek, near Minstrel Island.
4M
Mar. 19, 1940
4N
Mar. 21, 1940 -
Bend Island, Clio Channel.
40
Mar. 23, 24,1940 --
500
B.S.
K'
Von Donop Creek, Cortes Island.
4P
Mar. 16, 17, 18, 1940. -
1,150
1,000
1,199
B.S.
B.S.
B.S.
G, K'
K'
K'
4Q
Mar. 18, 1940— -
4R
Mar. 19, 1940
Kendrick Arm, Nootka Sound.
4S
Mar. 20, 1940
996
1,000
B.S.
B.S.
K'
K'
4T
Mar. 21, 1940 -
Sound.
4U
Mar. 24, 1940
1,595
B.S.
K'
Winter Harbour, Quatsino Sound.
4W
Mar. 18, 1940
1,399
B.S.
G, K'
Campbell Island, near Brown Narrows.
4X
Mar. 20, 1940
1,499
800
798
1,397
B.S.
CS.
B.S.
B.S.
G, K'
G, K'
G, K'
K'
Big Bay, near Prince Rupert.
4Y
Mar. 21, 1940
4Z
Mar. 23, 1940
Lake Island, Milbanke Sound.
4AA
Mar. 28, 29, 1940 -
Head of Toquart Bay, Barkley Sound.
4BB
Apr. 5, 1940—
998
997
B.S.
B.S.
G, K'°
G, K'°
Melanie Cove.
4CC
Apr. 7, 1940
Cahnish Bay.
5A
Oct. 23, 1940
200
CS.
K'
Swanson Channel.
5B
Nov. 25, 26, 1940
997
1,000
975
1,000
CS.
B.S.
B.S.
B.S.
G, K'
G,K'
G, K'
G, K'
Satellite Channel and Fulford Harbour.
5C
Mar. 6, 1941 — - '
Gabriola Bluff, near Dodd Narrows.
5D
Mar. 8, 1941
Hammond Bay.
5E
Mar. 10, 1941--
Entrance to Nanoose Bay.
5F
Mar. 11,1941
974
998
200
B.S.
B.P.
D.N.
G
G
K'
Breakwater Island, Gabriola Pass.
5G
Mar. 17, 1941
Bargain Harbour.
5H
Mar. 21, 1941
* C.S.=commercial seine; B.S.=bait-seine; S.S.=shore-seine; S.T.=salmon-traps; D.N.=dip-net.
t G=gun; K'=flsh held with one hand while knife and tag are manipulated with other hand; K°=flsh held by
one man while another manipulates knife and tag; K'°=both types of knife-tagging used. BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 49
Table I.—Summary of the Tagging Data—Continued.
Tagging
Code.
Date.
No. of
Tags
inserted.
Method of
Capture of
Fish.*
Tagging
Method, t
Place of Tagging.
51
Mar. 17, 1941
1,488
1,704
787
1,697
1,197
1,495
1,200
995
1,200
992
1,192
1,989
998
1,193
S.S.
S.S.
S.S.
S.S.
S.S.
S.S.
B.S.
B.S.
B.S.
B.S.
B.S.
B.S.
B.S.
B.S.
G, K'
G, K'
G
G, K'
G, K
G, K'
K'
K'
K'
K'
K'
K'
K'
K'
Campbell Island, near Brown Narrows,
5J
5K
Mar. 20, 1941
Mar. 23; 1941
Duncan Bay, near Prince Rupert.
Jap Inlet, Porcher Island.
5L
Mar. 28, 1941
Laidlaw Island, Laredo Sound.
5M
Mar. 29, 1941
Deer Passage, near Bella Bella.
5N
50
5P
5Q
5U
5V
Mar. 30, 1941
Mar. 4, 1941
Mar. 5, 1941
Mar. 8, 9, 1941
Kwakshua Passage.
Lyall Point, Barkley Sound.
Toquart Bay, Barkley Sound.
Kendrick Arm, Nootka Sound.
Mar. 11, 1941.—.
Mar. 12, 1941
Queens Cove, Esperanza Inlet.
Clanninick Cove, entrance to Kyuquot
5W
5X
Mar. 13, 1941
Mar. 14, 1941
Sound.
Browning Inlet, Quatsino Sound.
Bunsby Islands, entrance to Ououkinsh
5Y
Mar 16, 1941
Inlet.
* CS.=eommercial seine ; B.S.=bait-seine ; S.S.=shore-seine ; S.T.=salmon-traps ; D.N.=dip-net.
f G=gun; K'=rfish held with one hand while knife and tag are manipulated with other hand; K0=rfish held by
one man while another manipulates knife and tag; K'°=both types of knife-tagging used.
The data for tagging are presented in Table I. and Table IX. Table I. summarizes the
essential facts concerning all taggings for which returns were made during the 1940-41
fishing season and for all new ones made then and in the subsequent spawning period.
Tagging localities, along with fishing-grounds, reduction-plant sites, etc., are indicated on
the accompanying maps. Table IX. gives the identification numbers and letters for all the
tags used during the 1940-41 season with the reference code and date and locality of tagging.
The information for the taggings of previous years has been published in the previous reports
and is not repeated here. A recapitulation of all the tagging operations carried out to date
is presented in the following tabulation:—
Locality.
1939-40. I 1940-41.
Fall and Winter.
Strait of Juan de Fuca
South-east coast of Vancouver Island.
West coast of Vancouver Island - —
Central British Columbia -
Northern British Columbia
Queen Charlotte Islands - —
1,500
7,090
1,199
4,086
2,798
Spring.
Strait of Georgia (including Puget Sound and north to Nodales
Channel) - - -
Queen Charlotte Sound and south to Nodales Channel—
West coast of Vancouver Island- - -
Central British Columbia— - - -
Northern British Columbia - —
Totals
1,898
5,692
5,279
6,684
1,395
1,454
2,525
1,094
2,494
755
6,587
5,947
3,489
2,696
897
495
1,799
400
9,077
3,796
8,437
2,497
2,299
16,180
21,441
27,041
29,697
1,197
4,947
200
9,759
5,877
2,491
24,471
RECOVERY METHODS.
The two methods of tag-recovery employed in previous years were used during the
1940-41 season. Reconditioned induction detectors were operated at Ucluelet and at Nootka,
giving service as satisfactory as may be expected under field conditions. These pieces of
equipment, which depend upon the electrical impulse produced by a tag in passing through
an energized coil to initiate reactions which by-pass the tagged fish from a chute in the
unloading mechanism of the plant, are described in detail in earlier reports (Hart and
Tester, 1937; 1938; 1939). J 50 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
£r^/?iss-^>s?^*?
core
trrsek BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 51
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
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REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
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J 53
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
A/orfhem ^/?eer As in former years, most of the recoveries have been made by the use of magnets placed
in the meal-chutes of reduction plants (Hart, 1937). Reduction-plant employees examine the
magnets for the tags and are paid a reward for each one recovered and sent in with the
requisite data on date of recovery and origin of the fish being processed at the time the
recovery was made. Certain minor changes which appeared advisable have been made in the
magnet equipment and its accessories, but none of these materially affect either the principles
or the efficiency of recovery. As has been the case in previous years, numerous tags at some
plants have been recovered from crevices in the machinery, in traps designed to stop tramp
metal, or from special types of grinders, and at another plant a large number of tags were
picked up from time to time from the drier between runs. All such returns have been
regarded as having been made by magnets. The reduction plants from which recoveries
have been received are listed in Table III. and at the bottom of the columns is the total
number of recoveries made by each.
RECOVERIES.
General Considerations.
The ideal arrangement for tagging herring on the spawning-grounds is one in which it is
possible to tag large and equal proportions of each spawning in such a way that the tagged
fish are distributed randomly or uniformly among the fish contributing to each spawning.
For an ideal recovery programme the fishery supplying the returns should exploit each group
of fish in the area under consideration to an equal extent and all the tags from the herring
taken should be recovered with certainty as to their points of origin. In practice these conditions are far from being met and the effects of the shortcomings are here briefly considered.
Practical considerations make it impossible to tag fish in such a way as to make sure
that each spawning is completely and randomly represented. This would necessitate continuing tagging over the whole of each spawning-ground during the duration of the spawning.
It is, accordingly, conceivable that the part of the spawning school which contained the tags
might behave differently from, and so might not be representative of, the population as
a whole. Such an hypothesis seems somewhat fantastic and it is not believed that situations
of the kind often arise. However, it will be demonstrated later that an approximation to
the condition does arise, since two spawnings tagged in the same fishing area had entirely
different histories as regards the subsequent recoveries of the tags used on them. Further
evidence for lack of uniformity in subsequent behaviour among the fish tagged at a single
spawning is cited in the section on tagging technique.
Under conditions met within practice it is almost impossible to maintain an equal
intensity of tagging in all fishing areas. This was well illustrated during the past season
when the unfortunate coincidence of a lull in the spawning with the tagging trip to Queen
Charlotte Sound led to a very deficient tagging in that area. Restrictions on financial
resources have in all years prevented adequate tagging on the spawning-grounds of the
Queen Charlotte Islands. It might be pointed out here that even with very considerable
financial resources the ideal condition would be difficult of attainment as the staff conducting
tagging operations would have but poor criteria with which to fix the numbers of tags to be
used in each spawning or in each fishing area.
Tests have shown that the efficiencies of reduction plants in returning tags differ considerably between each other. This produces differences in the proportions of tags caught
to tags recovered for different fishing-grounds when (as is always the case) each reduction
plant fails to operate on equal proportions of the catch from different fishing-grounds
throughout the Province. This point is well illustrated by an area served by one reduction
plant in which the arrangement of the plant was such that efficient recovery could not be
obtained. It is impossible to be sure in this case whether unique recoveries should be
regarded as strays or whether each one represents a considerable number of tagged fish
caught. To this source of difficulty is related the complications which have arisen for the
tagging-work with the growth of herring-canning. It is obvious from an examination of
the canning method that all of the tags in the fish will not join the offal and pass through
the reduction plant and over the magnet. For this reason, when it is necessary to consider
the amounts of reduced and canned fish together in calculating the number of tags returned
per ton of fish, the rather arbitrary convention has been established of dividing cannery ton- BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 55
nages by two. It will be seen then that a fishing-ground from which a large part of the
catch is canned (or especially, if a large part of the catch is salted) will produce fewer tags
in proportion to those actually present in the catch than will an area having most or all of its
catch passing directly through reduction plants.
Lack of uniformity in the intensity of exploitation is another source of unrandomness
in tag-recovery which cannot be avoided in the study of a commercial fishery. The difficulties
of this kind can well be illustrated by the situation during the 1940-41 season in which the
commercial fishery in Central and Northern British Columbia was so small (about a quarter
of that of the previous year) that the opportunity for recovering tags from the fishing-
grounds in those areas was correspondingly reduced. This would apply equally to tags
which were put out in the spawning-grounds of these areas or to tagged fish which had
moved in from other major areas.
There is a wide range in the certainty with which the fishing-ground producing a tag-
can be fixed. In the case of recoveries made by the induction detectors the degree of certainty is practically perfect. So, too, in the case of certain recoveries made by magnets.
In each season of the investigation there have been plants which operated in such a way as
to provide absolute certainty concerning the sources of at least some of the tags recovered
by it. However, as far as the life-history of the herring is concerned the locations of the
induction detectors or the location of the plants producing positive returns are matters of
chance, so that the number of positive returns from a particular fishing-ground is not particularly related to the migrations of fish to or from the area. During the past season
ninety-two tags were ascribed with certainty to Barkley Sound fishing-grounds, whereas only
four recoveries were ascribed with certainty to the Queen Charlotte Sound area. This does
not mean that more tags were recovered in Barkley Sound than in the Queen Charlotte Sound
area. It is merely a reflection of the opportunity for the positive identification of the origin
of the tags.
The foregoing qualifications on the tagging method have been kept in mind in applying
the results of the interpretations which follow to conclusions concerning the movements of fish.
Induction Detectors.
One hundred and eight fish were recovered by induction detectors. All of them were
fish which had been tagged for six months or more. The recoveries are summarized in
Table II., from which it can be seen that all of the tags were from west coast of Vancouver
Island taggings and that all were recovered from west coast fishing-grounds. Induction
detectors were not operated upon fish from other areas. A discussion of the interchange of
fish between the areas of the west coast of Vancouver Island as indicated by the induction
detectors is deferred to be included with the discussion of the magnet recoveries.
Table II.—Tags recovered by Induction Detectors during 1940—41.
Code.
Place and Month of Tagging.
Place op Capture.
£•4
3 a
is n
re o
2 B
;zo3
Total.
3U
4AA
4P
4Q
3F
3W
4R
4S
3V
4T
4U
Barkley Sound, March, 1939
Barkley Sound, March, 1940
Clayoquot Sound, March, 1940-
Sydney Inlet, March, 1940
Nootka Sound, January, 1939...
Nootka Sound, March, 1939—
Nootka Sound, March, 1940—
Esperanza Inlet, March, 1940-
Kyuquot Sound, March, 1939—
Kyuquot Sound, March, 1940...
Quatsino Sound, March, 1940 ...
2
4
1
6
19
11
2
19
7
5
1
6
22
17
2
27
7
108 J 56 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
Magnets.
In spite of the reduced tonnages of herring processed and the growth of herring-canning,
the recovery of tags by magnets has been the most satisfactory since the inception of the
investigation. Six hundred and seventy-six decipherable tags were recovered and all of
these had been tagged for six months or more.
A summary of these recoveries by tagging and by plants making recovery is given in
Table III. It is obvious that such a table, although illuminating, does not provide the best
information available in regard to the sources of the individual tags recovered. To obtain
a better understanding of the fishing-grounds from which the tags are derived the returns
are considered in association with the fish being processed at the time of recovery and the
fish which preceded them in the operations of the plant.
The difficulties in making use of magnet recoveries have been dealt with in previous
reports. They are briefly: not all of the tags are recovered, since a certain proportion slide
over the magnet without being drawn to it. Of the tags which are recovered not all (and
some times not any) reach the magnets during operations on the load of fish with which they
enter the plant and recoveries two weeks after the tags enter the plants are relatively
common. Tests made on the different reduction plants have defined but not removed the
difficulty from these sources (Hart and Tester, 1940). The results of the tests have been
kept in mind in preparing the comments on the returns from the various taggings which
follow.
Barkley Sound (2E) : One return almost certainly from Barkley Sound, although the east
coast of Vancouver Island is an alternative possibility.
Clayoquot Sound (21) : Two recoveries, one reported from Barkley Sound and the other
from Sydney Inlet. Both of these localities are probably correct, but Kyuquot and Nootka
Sounds and east coast of Vancouver Island areas are possible alternatives for the Sydney
Inlet return.
Nootka Sound (2K) : One recovery reported, probably correctly, from Barkley Sound.
Bella Bella (2M) : One recovery probably from Laredo Inlet, although a variety of other
fishing-grounds in Central British Columbia and Queen Charlotte Sound are possible sources
of the tagged fish.
False Narrows (2Q) : One recovery probably from the east coast of Vancouver Island as
reported. The areas about Alert Bay and Discovery Passage are possible but improbable
sources.
Baynes Sound (2S) : One recovery probably from the east coast of Vancouver Island as
reported. The Alert Bay and Discovery Passage areas are possible sources.
Swanson Channel (3B) : One recovery reported from Barkley Sound. This is probably
correct, although localities on the east coast of Vancouver Island are possible sources of
the tag.
Nootka Sound (3F) : One recovery made by induction detector among fish caught in
Nootka Sound.
Kwakshua Passage (31) : One tag recovered. The report that this tag was recovered at
Laredo Inlet is probably correct. However, other areas in Central British Columbia—including Smith Inlet, Bella Bella, and Kwakshua Passage—and even the Queen Charlotte Sound
area are possible places of origin of the tag.
Laredo Inlet (3J) : Two tags were recovered and reported from Laredo Inlet, probably
correctly. The same alternatives exist as for the 31 tags in the preceding paragraph.
Departure Bay (3K) : Three tags recovered. All recorded from the east coast of Vancouver Island, probably correctly. Alternative localities of origin are Barkley Sound for two
and Queen Charlotte Sound area for the other.
Kuleet Bay (3M) : Four recoveries. Three reported, probably correctly, from the east
coast of Vancouver Island. One of the three had Barkley Sound as a possible locality of
origin. The remaining tag was reported from Barkley Sound, evidently correctly.
Bargain Harbour (30) : Three returns, two recorded from east coast of Vancouver Island
fishing-grounds and one from Barkley Sound. The Barkley Sound report is correct and the
other reported areas of recovery are probably correct, but Barkley Sound is an alternative to
both of the east coast recoveries. BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 57
Dodd Narrows (3P) : Two recoveries. One recorded from Barkley Sound and one from
the east coast of Vancouver Island. Both of the returns are probably correct. Considering
the condition of the tag and the efficiency of the plant in returning tags it is possible that the
Barkley Sound tag is a hold-over from the previous season's east coast fish. For the east
coast recovery the Queen Charlotte Sound area is an alternative.
Campbell Island (3R) : Ten recoveries, five reported from Kwakshua Passage and five
reported from Laredo Inlet, all probably correctly. All of the Kwakshua Passage returns
had as alternative possibilities other fishing-grounds in Central British Columbia—including
Kwatna Inlet, Drainey Inlet, and Klemtu Passage—and such areas in the Queen Charlotte
Sound area as Seymour Inlet. Four of the Laredo Inlet returns had as alternative possible
sources the localities mentioned above in addition to Smith Inlet and other fishing-grounds in
Central British Columbia. The remaining Laredo return had a variety of localities in
Northern British Columbia, including the Queen Charlotte Islands, as possible alternatives.
Duncan Bay (3S) : Three recoveries. Two reported from Union Bay and the Portland
Canal and one from Burnaby Strait, Queen Charlotte Islands. All of these reports are
probably correct, although other localities in Northern British Columbia—such as Pearl Harbour and Wark Canal—and even the vicinity of Butedale are possible points of origin for the
tags recorded from the mainland.
Butler Cove (3T) : One recovery reported from Union Bay. The record is no doubt
correct.
Toquart Bay (3U) : Thirty-nine recoveries. Thirty-three of the recoveries were recorded
as coming from Barkley Sound fish. Fourteen of these records are certainly correct and the
rest are probably all or nearly all so. However, fourteen could have originated from east
coast fish and five from Nootka or Kyuquot fish. Ten of the fourteen tags which could have
originated from east coast fish had additional alternative probable origins as follows: Nootka
Sound, one; Nootka and Kyuquot Sounds and Sydney Inlet, seven; Queen Charlotte Sound
area, two. Of the six remaining tags one was recorded from " Barkley and Nootka Sounds "
and the remaining five were recorded from east coast of Vancouver Island localities, all under
circumstances which make origin from Barkley Sound equally probable.
Nine recoveries were made with induction detectors. Of these eight were made from
Barkley Sound fish and one from Kyuquot Sound fish.
Kyuquot Sound (3V) : Eleven recoveries reported from the following fishing areas:
Barkley Sound, three; Sydney Inlet, three; Nootka Sound, two; Kyuquot Sound, three. Of
the Barkley Sound returns two are evidently correct and the other is probably so with east
coast of Vancouver Island and Queen Charlotte Sound areas as possibilities. The Sydney
Inlet returns are probably correct but may have been brought to the reduction plants with
herring from Nootka-Esperanza, Kyuquot, or Discovery Passage fishing-grounds. One of the
two returns from Nootka Sound is obviously correct, the other is probably so but may have
originated in fish taken at Kyuquot Sound or the Discovery Passage area. The following
alternative sources are evident for the three returns recorded as coming from Kyuquot Sound:
Nootka Sound; Nootka and Barkley Sounds; Clayoquot, Nootka, and Barkley Sounds; and
the east coast of Vancouver Island.
Two 3V tags were recovered by the induction detectors from fish caught in Nootka Sound.
Nootka Sound (3W) : Four recoveries were reported from the following localities:
Barkley Sound, one; Nootka Sound, one; Kyuquot Sound, two. Any of these records may be
correct and the Barkley Sound one is certainly so. However, the tag reported from Nootka
Sound may have come from Kyuquot Sound and the Kyuquot Sound recoveries may actually
have come from fish taken in Nootka Sound in one case and the Nootka Sound-Esperanza
Inlet area, the Sydney Inlet-Clayoquot Sound area, or Discovery Passage in the other.
Six 3W tags were recovered by induction detectors, all from fish taken in Nootka Sound.
Matilda Inlet (3X) : Five recoveries; two from Barkley Sound, and one each from
Sydney Inlet, Nootka Sound, and Kyuquot Sound. The Barkley Sound reports are no doubt
correct and the other recoveries may be correctly reported. However, the following possible
alternatives exist: For Sydney Inlet, Nootka Sound-Esperanza Inlet area, and Kyuquot
Sound; for Nootka Sound, Kyuquot and Barkley Sounds; for Kyuquot Sound, Nootka Sound-
Esperanza Inlet area, and Sydney Inlet.
Sydney Inlet (3Y) : One recovery correctly reported from Barkley Sound. J 58 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
Sooke (4A) : Three recoveries; two reported from the east coast of Vancouver Island and
one from Nootka Sound. All of these reports are probably correct, but the following alternatives are present: One of the east coast returns might have come from Barkley Sound fish
and the other might have come from the Discovery Passage area or the Queen Charlotte
Sound area. The tag recorded from Nootka Sound might have originated from Barkley
Sound or Kyuquot Sound fish.
Swanson Channel (4B) : Two returns, both reported from Barkley Sound under conditions which render east coast of Vancouver Island localities as equally probable.
Lagoon Bay (4D) : One recovery from the Queen Charlotte Islands.
Skaat Harbour (4E) : Two recoveries. One was a partly defaced tag which belonged
either to this or the preceding (4D) tagging. The recoveries were made from Queen Charlotte Island fishing-grounds.
Kuleet Bay (4F) : Five recoveries. One recorded from Deepwater Bay, three from the
east coast of Vancouver Island, and one from Barkley Sound. Although any of these records
may be correct the following alternatives exist: For Deepwater Bay, Queen Charlotte Sound
area, and Klemtu Passage; for east coast of Vancouver Island (1) for two of the recoveries
the Discovery Passage area (quite probable) and Queen Charlotte Sound, (2) for the remaining east coast of Vancouver Island recovery, Barkley Sound and the Discovery Passage area;
for Barkley Sound, east coast of Vancouver Island.
Ganges Harbour (4G) : One recovery reported from Barkley Sound. The tagged fish
came either from that fishing-ground or from one on the east coast of Vancouver Island.
Lantzville (4H) : One recovery recorded from the east coast of Vancouver Island area.
This is in all probability correct. However, the Discovery Passage and Queen Charlotte
Sound areas are also possible.
Nanoose (41): Ten recoveries reported as follows: Queen Charlotte Sound or Okisollo
Channel, one; Kingcome Inlet, one; Deepwater Bay, two; Barkley Sound, one; Kwakshua
Passage, one; east coast of Vancouver Island, four. The recovery from " Queen Charlotte
Sound or Okisollo Channel " probably originated at one of those localities, although Quatsino
Sound is a possible source. The Kingcome Inlet return may be correct. However, other parts
of the Queen Charlotte Sound area and Klemtu are possible sources and Nanoose Bay is rather
a probable one. The Discovery Passage returns are probably correct, but Queen Charlotte
Sound and Klemtu are alternatives. There is no reason to doubt the authenticity of the
Barkley Sound return. The tag reported as coming from Kwakshua Passage may have come
from other parts of the Central British Columbia area or from the Queen Charlotte Sound
areas. Of the four tags recovered from the east coast of Vancouver Island two might have
come from the Discovery Passage area or Queen Charlotte Sound and two might have come
from Barkley Sound. It is believed, however, that all four of these tags are correctly
reported.
Laredo Inlet (4J) : Ten recoveries. Eight are from Central British Columbia at Laredo
Inlet or Meyers Pass. These reports are doubtless correct, but six of the returns had other
areas in Central British Columbia and Queen Charlotte Sound as possible alternatives and
the remaining two had these possibilities and Discovery Passage fishing areas in addition.
One tag was returned from Nootka Sound fish and concerning it there is no reasonable
possibility of error. One return was recorded from Burnaby Pass, Queen Charlotte Islands.
This tag may be correctly reported or it may have entered the plant with fish from Central
British Columbia or Northern British Columbia.
Deep Bay (4K) : Eleven tags were returned and reported as follows: Queen Charlotte
Sound and Okisollo Channel, one; Okisollo Channel, one; Knight Inlet and Belleisle Sound,
one; Deepwater Bay, five; east coast of Vancouver Island, three. Of the first three tags
listed any might have come from other localities in the Queen Charlotte Sound area and two
had Quatsino Sound as a possible alternative. The five reports from Deepwater Bay are
probably all correct, but four of these have Klemtu Passage and Queen Charlotte Sound as
possible alternative sources. Of the three returns from the east coast of Vancouver Island
two had possible alternatives in Deepwater Bay (quite probable in one case) and the Queen
Charlotte Sound area, and the other had Barkley Sound and Deepwater Bay as possible
sources.
Cutter Creek (4L) : One hundred and fifty recoveries. All of these but four were
reported as coming from fishing-grounds in Queen Charlotte Sound area or that area BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 59
and an alternative such as Okisollo Channel or Union Bay. Most of the recoveries came from
Knight Inlet and Bones Bay, although such alternatives as Central British Columbia and the
Discovery Passage area are possible. It is believed that all of the Queen Charlotte Sound
reports are correct as to major recovery area, even if some of the actual fishing-grounds may
be reported incorrectly. Of the tags recorded from outside the Queen Charlotte Sound area
the two from Deepwater Bay had Bones Bay, Simoom Sound, and Klemtu Passage as possible
alternatives; one recorded from Aaltanhash Inlet had the localities just mentioned and
Knight Inlet as possible alternatives; and the one reported from Kwakshua Passage had
Queen Charlotte Sound and Kwatna Inlet as possible alternatives as well as Seymour Inlet
and Drainey Inlet.
Shoal Harbour (4M) : Fifty-five recoveries. All but four of these were recorded from
Queen Charlotte Sound fishing-grounds or one of them and an alternative such as Okisollo
Channel or Deepwater Bay. Most of the recoveries came from Retreat Passage (19) or
"Mackenzie Sound or Retreat Passage" (10). It is probable that all of the reports of tag
returns from the Queen Charlotte Sound area are correct although the actual fishing-grounds
may not be correctly reported. However, alternative sources for many of the tags exist in
Central British Columbia and the Discovery Passage area. Of the four tags not recorded
from the area three were reported from Okisollo Channel and one from Deepwater Bay.
All of these have the Queen Charlotte Sound area as a reasonable alternative.
Bend Island (4N) : Forty-five recoveries. Forty-three were recorded from the Queen
Charlotte Sound area or that area and some alternative such as Okisollo Channel or Quatsino
Sound, and two were reported from the Discovery Passage area. Although alternatives are
possible in many cases, it is believed that all of these tags originated in Queen Charlotte
Sound. There is little certainty concerning the actual fishing-grounds from which tags
originated, but the reported sources were, in order of importance, Bones Bay, Retreat Passage,
and Knight Inlet. Of the two recoveries reported from beyond the limit of the Queen Charlotte Sound areas, either might be correct or either tag might have originated with fish from
the Queen Charlotte Sound area. For one there are alternative possible sources in Central
British Columbia.
Von Donop Creek (40): Nine returns reported from the following localities: Knight
Inlet, two; Bones Bay and Okisollo Channel, two; Bones Bay, one; Deepwater Bay, three;
not specified, but from date of recovery and operation record of plant, Sydney Inlet, Esperanza
Inlet, or Deepwater Bay, one. The possible alternatives for the localities listed above are as
follows: For Knight Inlet, Deepwater Bay, one; Deepwater Bay, areas in Queen Charlotte
Sound area and Central British Columbia, one; for Bones Bay and Okisollo Channel, Quatsino Sound, two; for Bones Bay, other areas in Queen Charlotte Sound, Deepwater Bay, and
Quatsino Sound, one; for Deepwater Bay, Queen Charlotte Sound, and Central British
Columbia fishing-grounds, one; east coast of Vancouver Island and Queen Charlotte Sound,
one; the remaining Deepwater Bay record is doubtless correct. It is believed that most of
the tags were recovered with fish taken in Okisollo Channel and Deepwater Bay. It would
appear, however, that some of the returns were from the Queen Charlotte Sound area.
Whitepine Cove (4P) : Twenty-seven recoveries reported as follows: Esperanza Inlet,
one; Sydney Inlet, sixteen; Kyuquot Sound, eight; Barkley Sound, two. The Esperanza
Inlet return might have been made from fish taken in Nootka Sound, Sydney Inlet, Kyuquot
Sound, or Deepwater Bay. Any of the recoveries reported from Kyuquot Sound could have
been made with equal likelihood from Matilda Creek fish. The Barkley Sound reports are
probably correct, with alternative sources in the east coast of Vancouver Island for one and
this locality and the Queen Charlotte Sound for the other. In interpreting these returns it
is worthy of note that the plant operating upon 90 per cent, of the Sydney Inlet fish which
reached reduction plants recovered twenty-one of the 4P tags and that the plant operating
on the remaining 10 per cent, recovered four 4P tags in the two days following the deliveries.
Induction detectors recovered three 4P tags—one from Matilda Creek fish and two from
Nootka Sound fish.
Refuge Cove (4Q): Twenty-four recoveries recorded from the following fishing-grounds:
Nootka Sound, two; Kyuquot Sound, four; Barkley Sound, eighteen. The Nootka recoveries
may have come from Sydney Inlet, Esperanza Inlet, or Deepwater Bay fish. The Kyuquot
Sound returns had alternative possible sources as follows: Nootka Sound, two; Nootka Sound and Barkley Sound, one; Nootka Sound, Esperanza Inlet, Sydney Inlet, and Deepwater
Bay, one. Fourteen of the eighteen Barkley Sound returns are evidently correct. The four
remaining have the east coast of Vancouver Island as a possible alternative, and one of them
has in addition Nootka and Kyuquot Sounds.
Five 4Q tags were recovered by induction detectors—one from Barkley Sound fish and
four from Nootka Sound fish.
Nootka Sound (4R) : Forty-seven returns. They were reported from fishing-grounds in
the following localities: Esperanza Inlet, three; Nootka Sound, seventeen; Kyuquot Sound,
fifteen; Sydney Inlet, two; Barkley Sound, nine; east coast of Vancouver Island, one. It is
probable that most of these reports are correct, although the only ones for which there are
no alternatives are two for Nootka Sound and three for Barkley Sound. The alternative
possible sources are all included among the localities listed above. It is evident that most
returns were made from fish taken in the Nootka Sound-Esperanza Inlet area, with Kyuquot
Sound and Barkley Sound in order of importance accounting for most of the remainder.
Twenty-two returns were made by induction detectors—nineteen from Nootka Sound,
two from Kyuquot Sound, and one from Barkley Sound.
Esperanza Inlet (4S) : Thirty-five recoveries were recorded from the following fishing-
grounds: Esperanza Inlet, three; Nootka Sound, fifteen; Sydney Inlet, four; Kyuquot Sound,
five; Barkley Sound, eight. All of these records may be correct, but the only ones for which
there are no alternatives are four from Nootka Sound and six from Barkley Sound. The
alternatives are included within the list above except that east coast of Vancouver Island is
a possible additional alternative for thirteen of the returns.
Seventeen recoveries were made by induction detectors—eleven from Nootka Sound, five
from Kyuquot Sound, and one from Barkley Sound.
Kyuquot Sound (4T) : Thirty-eight recoveries recorded as follows: Esperanza Inlet,
two; Nootka Sound, fourteen; Kyuquot Sound, twelve; Sydney Inlet, four; Barkley Sound,
six. Of these reported areas of recovery, only one from Nootka Sound and two from Barkley
Sound can certainly be said to be correct. The alternative possible sources are the areas listed
above and in addition nineteen of the recoveries had localities on the east coast of Vancouver
Island as possible but improbable points of origin for the tags.
Twenty-seven 4T tags were recovered by the induction detectors. Nineteen of these were
recovered from Kyuquot Sound fish and eight from Nootka Sound fish. In view of these
recoveries it would appear that a relatively high proportion of the magnet returns (say 70
per cent.) actually came from Kyuquot Sound fish.
Quatsino Sound (4U) : Twenty-one recoveries. They were recorded as follows: Belle-
isle Sound and Quatsino Sound, one; Bones Bay and Okisollo Channel, two; Kyuquot Sound,
twelve; Nootka Sound, four; Barkley Sound, one; Meyers Pass, one. Many of the reported
localities of recovery are, no doubt, correct although many possible alternatives exist. The
records of " Belleisle Sound and Quatsino Sound " and " Bones Bay and Okisollo Channel "
came from the only plant to operate on Quatsino Sound fish and were made within a few
days of that operation. It is believed that all three tags entered the plant in Quatsino Sound
fish. Many but not all of the tags reported from Kyuquot Sound were recovered while
fishing was taking place outside the sound proper. It is an interesting speculation as to
whether these fish would have moved up to Quatsino Sound for spawning later in the season.
Any of the recoveries reported as coming from Kyuquot Sound might have originated from
Nootka Sound fish and any of the Nootka recoveries could have originated in Kyuquot Sound
fish. Errors of the latter kind are considered more probable. Other alternatives such as
Sydney Inlet, Barkley Sound, and the east coast of Vancouver Island are possible but improbable. The Barkley Sound return is evidently correct. The record from Meyers Pass is possibly correct and it is evident that this tag was recovered from some fishing-ground in Central
British Columbia or the Queen Charlotte Islands (or possibly Queen Charlotte Sound).
Induction detectors recovered seven 4U tags, all from fish taken outside Kyuquot Sound.
Campbell Island (4W) : Ten recoveries reported as follows: Meyers Pass, one; Kwakshua Passage, six; Laredo Inlet, one; Burnaby Passage, two. For the Meyers Pass
recovery, Laredo Inlet, Bella Bella are reasonable alternatives with other Central, Northern,
Queen Charlotte Sound, and east coast of Vancouver Island areas also possible. The Kwakshua Passage recoveries have the other Central British Columbia fishing-grounds and Queen
I Charlotte Sound area as possible alternatives. The recovery reported as coming from Laredo
Inlet is probably correct but had a wide range of alternatives in Central British Columbia
and Queen Charlotte Sound. The recoveries reported from Burnaby Passage may be correct,
but the tags were recovered following a run of Laredo Sound fish, which seems like a probable
alternative. For these two tags, areas in Northern British Columbia and other fishing-
grounds in Central British Columbia are possible alternatives. It will be noticed that no
tags from this tagging were recovered by plants which processed large tonnages of east coast
of Vancouver Island herring and Queen Charlotte Sound fish but no fish from the Central area.
Big Bay (4X) : Five returns reported as follows: From Aaltanhash Inlet, one; Union
Bay, three; and Burnaby Passage, one. Examination of the records indicates that the
Aaltanhash Inlet record is probably correct although numerous alternative possibilities in
Central British Columbia, Queen Charlotte Sound, and east coast of Vancouver Island exist.
No important alternatives appear for one of the Union Bay records; Aaltanhash Inlet is an
alternative (but improbable) source for another. For the third Union Bay report (probably
correct) Aaltanhash Inlet is the most probable alternative and others are to be found in
Central British Columbia, Queen Charlotte Sound, and the east coast of Vancouver Island.
The tag reported from Burnaby Passage was recovered immediately following a run of fish
from Laredo Inlet. Laredo Inlet is accordingly a probable alternative with Aaltanhash Inlet
and Northern British Columbia areas possible but less probable. It may be remarked that
no tags from this group were recovered by a plant which operated upon large quantities of
Queen Charlotte Sound fish but no fish from the Central or Northern areas.
Butler Cove (4Y) : One return recorded from Meyers Pass. This would appear to be
the most probable source of the tag, but other areas in Central British Columbia, Queen Charlotte Islands, and Queen Charlotte Sound are possible. There is no reason for believing that
the tag could have originated in Northern British Columbia.
Lake Island (4Z) : Eleven recoveries reported as follows: Aaltanhash Inlet, one; Laredo
Inlet, four; Meyers Pass, five; Burnaby Strait or Laredo Inlet, one. All of these reports
are possibly or even probably correct. The Aaltanhash tag might have come from Queen
Charlotte Sound area fish, east coast of Vancouver Island fish, or fish caught in other parts of
the Central area. The Laredo Inlet and Meyers Pass tags had as possible alternatives
various fishing-grounds in the Central area, Queen Charlotte Sound, the Northern area, and
Queen Charlotte Islands. Plants which did not operate on fish caught in the Central area
did not recover any 4Z tags.
Toquart Bay (4AA) : Forty-six recoveries recorded as follows: Barkley Sound, thirty-
nine; Kyuquot Sound, two; Nootka Sound, one; east coast, two; Barkley or Nootka Sound,
one; Belleisle Sound and Bones Bay, one. Of the recoveries reported from Barkley Sound,
twenty-five were correct; eight had the east coast of Vancouver Island as an alternative; two
had as alternatives the east coast of Vancouver Island, Nootka Sound, Kyuquot Sound, and
Sydney Inlet; one had Nootka Sound; and three had the east coast and Queen Charlotte
Sound. The Kyuquot reports had Barkley and Nootka Sounds as possible alternatives. The
recovery reported from Nootka might have originated with fish from either Barkley or
Kyuquot Sounds. The recoveries reported from the east coast of Vancouver Island might
have originated with Barkley Sound fish and probably did so. The recovery reported from
Barkley Sound or Nootka Sound probably came from Barkley Sound fish, but there is some
possibility that the tag entered the plant with fish caught on the east coast of Vancouver
Island. From our records it appears possible that the tag recorded from " Belleisle Sound
and Bones Bay " entered the plant with fish caught in Quatsino Sound. Otherwise some such
fishing-grounds in the Queen Charlotte Sound area as those mentioned or the Discovery Passage area must have supplied the return. In any case the tag did not originate in Barkley
Sound or the adjacent fishing areas although the west coast of Vancouver Island appears as a
distinct possibility.
Nine returns were made by induction detectors as follows: Barkley Sound, four; Nootka
Sound, three; Kyuquot Sound, two.
Melanie Cove (4BB) : Seven recoveries reported from the following localities: Deepwater
Bay, one; Knight Inlet and Belleisle Sound, three; Bones Bay and Okisollo Channel, two;
Okisollo Channel, one. Although numerous alternatives exist among the Queen Charlotte
Sound and Discovery Passage fishing-grounds, it seems likely that the localities as reported
fairly represent the localities of actual recovery. J 62
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
Table III.—Tags from each Tagging recovered by each Plant making Recoveries during the
1940-41 Season.
Locality of Tagging.
Plant
making Recovery
(See foot
-note for fish processed.)
Code.
e
a
0
2
2
rtJ
U
re
3
D-
O
Eh
0)
%
3
%
p
53
&
0
0
rt.
oj
oj
1
0.
$
0
cj
'u
OJ
a
S
re
m
u
OJ
<
0
s
re
OJ
AS
■rt-
M
T3
rt
re
H
0
ft
rti
OJ
'a
m
3
S
0
u
0]
Total.
2E
14
25
1
2
1
14
1
1
3
6
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
7
7
1
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
1
11
6
4
1
5
1
8
1
1-
1
1
1
1
5
4
1
3
2
22
16
3
17
14
1
1
1
2
21
3
1
15
11
4
11
1
1
1
—
—
2
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
2
1
2
2
1
—
1
3
I
3
4
6
1
113
52
43
1
1
1
1
1
2
9
6
7
7
1
1
3
4
2
1
36
3
2
2
1
3
2
1
2
1
1
1
3
1
1
1
1
2
1
3U
39
4AA
46
21
2
3X
3Y
Matilda Inlet
5
1
4P
4Q
2K
Whitepine Cove
Refuge Cove —
27
24
1
3W
4
4R
47
4S
35
3V
11
4T
38
4U
21
2Q
1
2S
1
3B
1
3K
3M
Departure Bay
3
4
30
3
3P
2
4A
3
4B
4F
Swanson Channel -—
2
5
4G
1
4H
1
41
10
4K
11
40
9
4BB
7
4CC
2
4L
150
4M
55
4N
45
2M
31
Bella Bella — -
1
1
3J
2
3R
10
4J
10
4W
10
4Z
11
3S
3
3T
1
4X
Big Bay
5
4Y
1
4D
1
4E
2
Total
77
33
42
89
72
24
227
37
60
9 | 2 | 4 | 676
Kildonan: Barkley Sound.
Toquart: Barkley Sound, east coast of Vancouver Island, Deepwater Bay.
Ucluelet: Barkley Sound, east coast of Vancouver Island, Nootka and Kyuquot Sounds, Sydney Inlet.
Nootka: Nootka and Kyuquot Sounds, Barkley Sound.
Ceepeecee: Nootka and Kyuquot Sounds and Sydney Inlet, Deepwater Bay.
Imperial: East coast of Vancouver Island, Barkley Sound, Queen Charlotte Sound and Discovery Passage,
Nootka Sound.
Alert Bay: Queen Charlotte Sound, Discovery Passage, Quatsino Sound.
Namu: Central British Columbia, Queen Charlotte Islands and Queen Charlotte Sound.
Butedale: Central British Columbia, Northern British Columbia, Queen Charlotte Islands and Discovery Passage, east coast of Vancouver Island.
Port Edward: Northern British Columbia, Central British Columbia and Queen Charlotte Islands.
Tuck Inlet: Central British Columbia and Northern British Columbia and Queen Charlotte Islands.
Paeon: Queen Charlotte Islands. BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 63
Table IV.—Summarizing the Supposed Source of Tags from each Tagging producing Returns
during the 1940-41 Season.
(The entries in this table represent the authors' interpretation of the data based on the
amounts and dates for fish delivered to each plant, the plants which failed to make recoveries
from certain taggings, and the behaviour of the respective plants in returning tags as found
out by tests. Entries which are italicized include one or more returns about which there are
no reasonable doubts. Details of the qualifications concerning the various interpretations are
given in the text.)
Code.
Locality of Tagging.
XI
n
d
13
13
a
CO
OrH
>>
X
A,?
CQ
o»
Place of Capture.
t-> OJ
o £
ZfA
C
be
13
a
>
m
<f*H3
Q
Ph
o
d _£
p
QrH
01
-f>
d
3
>
O
u
0-
Q
S s
3 o
am
•3S,
Si
■Sft
J.Si
*j
OJ
B
C
■9
d
rtQ
-c
w'
O •
rt
rt
rt-J
Ch5
Total.
2E
3U
4AA
21
3X
3Y
4P
4Q
2K
3W
4R
4S
3V
4T
4U
2Q
2S
3B
3K
3M
30
3P
4A
4B
4F
4G
4H
41
4K
40
4BB
4CC
4L
4M
4N
2M
31
3J
3R
4J
4W
4Z
3S
3T
4X
4Y
4D
4E
Barkley Sound
Barkley Sound
Barkley Sound
Clayoquot Sound-
Matilda Inlet
Sydney Inlet
Whitepine Cove-
Refuge Cove.. —
Nootka Sound
Nootka Sound
Nootka Sound
Esperanza Inlet —
Kyuquot Sound
Kyuquot Sound
Quatsino Sound
False Narrows
Baynes Sound
Swanson Channel.
Departure Bay
Kuleet Bay
Bargain Harbour...
Dodd Narrows.
Sooke
Swanson Channel..
Kuleet Bay..
Ganges Harbour.
Lantzville
Nanoose
Deep Bay
Von Donop Creek..
Melanie Cove
Cahnish Bay
Cutter Creek
Shoal Harbour
Bend Island ._
Bella Bella
Kwakshua Passage..
Laredo Inlet
Campbell Island
Laredo Inlet
Campbell Island
Lake Island.
Duncan Bay
Butler Cove
Big Bay
Butler Cove
Lagoon Bay
Skaat Harbour-
Total..
1 I
4
1
1
4
4
H6
51
43
46
2
5
1
27
24
1
4
47
35
11
38
21
1
1
1
2
5
1
1
10
11
9
7
2
150
55
45
1
1
2
10
10
10
11
3
1
5
1
1
2
676 J 64
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
Cahnish Bay (4CC) : Two recoveries reported; one from Bones Bay and Okisollo
Channel, and the other from Nootka Sound. The former report is probably correct although
alternatives are possible in other parts of the Queen Charlotte Sound and Discovery Passage
areas and in Quatsino Sound. The remaining tag had the following possible alternatives:
Kyuquot Sound, Esperanza Inlet, Deepwater Bay.
The interpretations given in this section are presented in a simplified form in Table IV.
In Table V. the same data are given in a summarized form and in Table VI. all the returns
for which interpretations are offered are condensed in such a way as to illustrate the amount
of movement to and on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
STABILITY OF POPULATIONS AND MOVEMENTS OF HERRING.
The principal purpose of the herring-tagging programme is to determine the extent of
herring movements both as to space and numbers taking part, or, conversely, to find out the
extent to which herring in British Columbia form local populations. That there is some
tendency to form local populations was demonstrated by Tester (1937) by a study of racial
characters. He concluded " that intermingling of the runs of herring in British Columbia is
limited in extent and the total stock is divided into a number of essentially discrete units or
local populations. . . . The designation of these runs as local populations does not preclude
the possibility of a slight degree of intermingling between adjacent or closely situated groups."
The tagging investigation may then be considered as an attempt to define more precisely the
terms " a slight degree of intermingling " and " closely situated groups."
Table V.—Summary of the Supposed Source of Tags from Taggings producing Returns
during the 1940-41 Season, according to Major Areas.
(This table is a further condensation of Table IV. and the same qualifications apply
respecting the validity of the interpretations offered.)
General Locality
OP Eecovery.
13
T)
OJ
General Locality of Tagging.
tH U
CU
•tf'S
Oi—i
"•J tt
_o
T3
rtrt
HJ
'u
M
53
_o
rt
d £
d >
o a
O o
OT C
rt d
>.
1 i
S OT
QPh
J3
o
d-d
oj rt
oj 3
3 o
Cm
ca 0)
11
f!
OJ O
I- «
u_B
rtC
^OT
(-j-O
ChH
-rt->tt1
c o
^ fl
II
West Coast of Vancouver Island
399
1
10
East Coast of Vancouver Island - ,
6
24
11
2
1
4
Discovery Passage ..,
8
8
2
Queen Charlotte Sound - —
240
10
Central British Columbia -
1
41
3
2
6
1
1
3
Consideration of the previous section and examination of Tables IL, III., IV., and V. confirms the conclusions deduced from racial analysis. Table II. shows that of the tags recovered
by induction detectors from fish caught on the west coast of Vancouver Island all had been
used on the west coast of Vancouver Island and a majority of the tags were returned from
the same subdivision of the west coast in which they had been used. Table III., presenting
data on the tags recovered by each reduction plant making recoveries, demonstrates the way
in which the tags recovered by each plant tend to have been used on the spawning-grounds
close to the plant and how to a large extent exceptions to this rule can be readily accounted
for by the record of fish carried to the plant from other areas. Table V. indicates that, of
the 754 tags for which interpretations are offered, 721 (or 96 per cent.) were recovered from
fish caught in the same general area in which they were tagged. Considering Tables V. and
VI. it is evident that, of the tags used on the west coast of Vancouver Island, 399 were
recovered on west coast fishing-grounds as compared with one recovered elsewhere. Of tags
used in other areas, 347 were recovered outside of the west coast area as against seven BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 65
returned from within that general region. The conditions in regard to interchange of fish
between and within fishing areas are considered in greater detail in the following paragraphs.
West Coast op Vancouver Island.
The lack of movement into and out of the west coast of Vancouver Island area has already
been mentioned and the evidence is overwhelmingly in favour of what is practical isolation.
For that reason further comments will deal with the recoveries which indicate exceptions to
general behaviour.
Table VI.—Summary of the Supposed Source of Tags received during the 1940-41 Fishing
Season which were used on the West Coast of Vancouver Island or which are interpreted
as having been recovered from that Major Area.
(This table is derived from Table IV. and the qualifications concerning the validity of the
interpretations of recovery localities apply to it also.)
Locality of Recovery.
Locality of Tagging.
■6
a
1
CO
if
a o
5 fl
ft F
O it
0
-t->
cq
a.
\*
>>.5 ■
cu c
o
a
<u
s
ll
ifl
ShJ
tt
8^.2
5 a
2 fl
£ «
tt
>. c o
£s fl
A dfH
£ °
oo
86
25
21
9
1
5
27
6
7
4
10
76
22
4
2
5
5
29
40
19
3
Nootka Sound and Esperanza Inlet r
1
347
Six tags are interpreted as having reached the west coast from the east coast of Vancouver Island. Five of these, three of them unquestionably correct, were recovered in
Barkley Sound, and the sixth was reported from Nootka Sound. It, certainly, was recovered
from some area on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Only one tag used on the west coast
of Vancouver Island was interpreted as being returned from outside the area. That the tag
was not recovered on the west coast of Vancouver Island is certain. Of the tags for which
no interpretation is offered, only one requires comment. It is one used in the Barkley Sound
area but reported as coming from fish taken in the Queen Charlotte Sound area. The report
may be correct, but the tag was recovered on the same day as fish from Quatsino Sound were
received at the plant. It is, accordingly, not possible to be certain that the tag originated with
fish taken in Queen Charlotte Sound. If it did not do so, Quatsino Sound is the probable place
of recovery. All the rest of the tags for which no interpretation is offered were held in
doubt, either as to the particular west coast of Vancouver Island fishing-ground producing
them or because they were reported from the east coast of Vancouver Island under circumstances which made entrance to the plant with Barkley Sound herring appear equally probable.
It is notable that the plants processing east coast of Vancouver Island fish but none from the
west coast made no recoveries of west coast tags. Moreover, all the west coast tags (12)
recovered by the plant reducing most east coast herring were recorded as coming from herring
shipped from Barkley and Nootka Sounds.
Data given in Tables II., VI., etc., may be used to investigate the amount of movement of
tagged herring between areas on the west coast of Vancouver Island. A study of Table II.
shows that out of 108 tags recovered by induction detectors, sixty-nine or 64 per cent, were
returned from the area of tagging; if the Nootka Sound-Esperanza Inlet area and the
Kyuquot Sound area are considered together, this figure becomes eighty-six or 80 per cent.
Similar calculations from Table VI. show that, out of 399 west coast recoveries, 232 or 63 per
cent, were recovered from the same tagging area, or if Nootka Sound-Esperanza Inlet-Kyuquot
Sound is considered as a unit, 283 or 71 per cent, are recovered from the tagging area. It will
be noted that these two estimates of the extent of segregation are close and that in both cases
the estimates involving interpretation are lower than those for which all the areas of recovery
5 J 66
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
are certain. This may be taken as an indication that the interpretations are impartial or not
unduly, if at all, favouring the view that segregation is the general condition. A comparison
of the extent of intermixing indicated in previous seasons with that shown during the 1940-41
fishing season reveals the latter as being considerably greater.
There is definite indication of lack of randomness in the distribution of tags on what has
been customarily regarded in these reports as a single fishing-ground. A comparison of the
tags recovered by Kildonan with those recovered by other plants situated in Barkley Sound
illustrates the point under consideration. A tabulation can be compiled in which Kildonan
recoveries are compared with those of the combined Toquart and Ucluelet plants under the
headings of the various taggings. For the sake of convenience, the taggings outside of
Barkley Sound from which there are less than fifteen returns are combined and the taggings
2E, 4P, 4R, and 4T are excluded, the first because there is only one return and the latter three
because it is apparent that the tags for these taggings recovered at Ucluelet may well have
entered the plant with fish brought in from Nootka and Kyuquot Sounds.
Kildonan.
Toquart and
Ucluelet.
3U . -
14
25
14
15
18
4AA - - -
13
4Q -
4
3
This method of setting up the data and the subsequent mathematical treatment eliminate
the possibility of obtaining a difference which is significant only of the fact that fish were
brought in for processing from other areas. They also eliminate sources of error connected
with magnet efficiencies, induction detector operations, loss of tags in cannery operations, and
differences in tonnages processed. Mathematical treatment of the data presented shows that
recoveries differing as much as those indicated would be encountered by chance only once in
approximately seventy-five trials. An examination by a similar procedure of the recoveries
from the two Barkley Sound taggings which produced a considerable number of returns gives
evidence that these tags were not recovered to the same relative extents at the Ucluelet and
Kildonan reduction plants. In the following tabulation Ucluelet induction detector recoveries
are added to the magnet returns for the Ucluelet plant.
Kildonan —
Ucluelet, detector and magnet recoveries
14
17
25
9
It is evident from examination that relatively more 3U tags were recovered at Ucluelet and
relatively more 4AA tags at Kildonan and calculations establish that such a lack of uniformity
of results could occur only once in about fifty trials.
The foregoing calculations establish that herring tagged in Barkley Sound in successive
years and that herring reaching Barkley Sound fishing-grounds after having been tagged on
spawning-grounds outside of Barkley Sound are not distributed randomly among the schools
exploited in the area under consideration. The calculations further suggest that Kildonan
fishermen on at least a few occasions fished schools of herring which were not set upon by
fishermen from the Ucluelet or Toquart plants. In other words, neither the distribution of
fish from various sources as indicated by tagging nor the distribution of fishing effort by the
different operators could have been random.
There is evidence indicating differential behaviour of the Barkley Sound taggings (3U
and 4AA) in regard to movement out of the particular tagging area. From Tables II. and
IV. the following tabulation can be prepared. In the 4AA " outside of Barkley Sound " cell
is included the one " no-interpretation-offered " recovery which was certainly not taken in BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 67
Barkley Sound, but which might have been recovered in Quatsino Sound or in Queen
lotte Sound.
Char-
Interpreted as recovered
3U.
4AA.
41
1
44
9
Mathematical examination of this table shows that a lack of uniformity as great as that
shown would occur only once in forty-five trials if the fish represented by the two lots of tags
behaved in the same way. It is apparent, accordingly, that the fish represented by the 4AA
tagging became dispersed over the west coast to a greater extent than did the fish tagged in
Barkley Sound during the previous year.
The distributions of the returns from the two taggings at Sydney Inlet in 1940 differ
radically from one another. Accepting the interpreted localities of recovery as shown in Table
IV., the following tabulation may be drawn up (including induction detector recoveries) :—
Interpreted as returned from
4Q.
Within the Clayoquot Sound-Sydney Inlet area
Outside the Clayoquot Sound-Sydney Inlet area..
25
5
0
29
The difference in behaviour of the two groups of fish is evident to cursory examination and
calculations show that so great a difference could not arise by chance in more than a million
trials. It may safely be concluded then that fish of the two groups behaved very differently
in respect to the extent of their migrations. This difference in behaviour indicates very
clearly that final conclusions concerning the movements of herring should not be drawn on
the basis of tagging on one spawning-ground in an area. The difference in the distribution
of the returns of the 3U and 4AA taggings demonstrates, moreover, that conclusions cannot
safely be based on results obtained from a single year's experiments, as taggings carried on
in successive years on the same spawning-grounds may produce different results.
In the report on the herring-tagging investigation for 1939-40 it was shown that while
there was considerable mixing of the fish tagged at Nootka and Kyuquot Sounds, there was
also a distinct tendency for the fish tagged in these two areas to return to the area in which
they had spawned in the previous year. The relative strengths of the mixing and " homing "
tendencies is illustrated in the following tabulation, which includes both magnet and induction
detector recoveries as interpreted, but excludes data not referring to the west coast of Vancouver Island fishing-grounds. The relatively high values encountered in cells a and e are
indicative of the general tendency for the herring to return to the fishing-grounds adjacent
to the spawning-grounds of previous seasons. The substantial numbers of returns represented
in cells b and d, on the other hand, indicate that extensive intermixture takes place.
Place of Tagging:.
In Nootka Sound
and Esperanza
Inlet.
In KyuQiiot
Sound.
Outside of the
Nootka-Kyuquot
Area.
(a) 76
(d) 22
(9) 18
(b) 29
(e) 40
(h) 29
(/) 16
(i) 142
The degree of independence of the Nootka-Kyuquot area from other west coast areas can be
estimated qualitatively by comparing the sum of the values in cells a, b, d, and e (167) and
the value in cell i (142) with the sum in c and / (43) and in g and h (47). It might be said,
on the basis of these figures, that the Nootka-Kyuquot area is 71 per cent, independent of the
rest of the west coast of Vancouver Island as far as herring is concerned. However, this
figure cannot be accepted as an exact estimate on account of the errors involved in lack of
randomness in both tagging and recovery. J 68 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
One of the notable features of the recoveries made during the 1940-41 season is the large
number of Quatsino Sound tags (4U) returned from Kyuquot and Nootka Sounds. This
observation is all the more surprising since both the tagging investigations in previous years
and the racial studies have given particularly strong evidence for believing that the degree
of isolation for the Quatsino Sound herring population was high. There can be no reasonable
doubt but that the twenty-five recoveries (magnet and induction detector) reported from
areas outside Quatsino Sound represent the movement of a very considerable body of fish.
However, undue emphasis must not be given to these returns for two reasons. In the first
place, many of the recoveries were reported from little frequented fishing-grounds toward the
outside of Kyuquot Sound and there is some doubt possible as to whether the fish so captured
would have entered Kyuquot Sound or returned to Quatsino Sound. The possibility of the
movement of a school or shoal of fish from Quatsino Sound to the area outside Kyuquot Sound
appears enhanced by the recovery by one plant on a single day of six 4U tags, and no others,
at the same time as most of the 4U tags were being recovered from plants operating on
Kyuquot Sound fish by both magnets and induction detectors. The second point concerns the
concentration of Quatsino tags in the fish caught off Kyuquot Sound. If all 4U tags concerning which doubt is entertained in regard to their origin in Kyuquot Sound are included with
those which are known to have originated in that area it can be calculated that twenty-three
tags were recovered from the equivalent of about 3,700 tons of fish; that is to say, there were
about 0.63 tags per 100 tons of Kyuquot Sound herring. If the interpretation is accepted in
regard to the recovery of the three 4U tags from Quatsino Sound fish, it can be calculated
that the concentration of tags in the Quatsino Sound fish was more than four tags per 100
tons. In summary it may be said that the evidence of the tag returns shows that the 4U tags
were distributed rather unevenly among the herring caught about Kyuquot Sound and that
calculations based on a uniform distribution of the tags indicates a much lower concentration
in Kyuquot fish than among those caught in Quatsino Sound. The biological implications of
these observations are still obscure.
East Coast op Vancouver Island.
The recovery of tags used on the east coast of Vancouver Island and the recovery of tags
from fish caught on the east coast of Vancouver Island has three interesting features: the
number of returns in both categories is small; no movements into the east coast region were
indicated; a considerable number of tags used on the east coast of Vancouver Island were
recovered from fish caught in other areas. Two explanations suggest themselves for the
small number of tags recovered. The first of these is that owing to faulty technique a high
proportion of tagged fish died and that, accordingly, the number of effective tags put out
was comparatively small. This explanation appears improbable in view of the fact that no
conscious change in technique was made during the period of tagging and that the same
methods employed in another area resulted in remarkably good returns. Moreover, the relatively large number of east coast tags reported outside the area does not suggest a failure in
the tagging method. The other explanation deals with the recovery of the tags. During the
1940-41 season, in spite of increases in quota on the east coast, the amount of herring actually
reduced was not large. If it is considered that canning cuts down the expectation of recovering a tag by 50 per cent., it may be calculated that meal representing the equivalent of about
10,500 tons of herring passed over magnets. This represents about one-third of the fish
caught on the east coast of Vancouver Island. It is believed that the small recovery is related
to a small opportunity for recovery and this explanation fits in with the failure to make
recoveries from the 5A and 5B taggings and the absence of any recoveries among east coast
of Vancouver Island fish from taggings carried out in areas outside the east coast of Vancouver Island region. There is a possibility that the low return of east coast of Vancouver
Island tags is related to a partial failure of the schools containing the tagged fish to return
to the east coast of Vancouver Island fishing-grounds while fishing was still in progress.
Lack of uniformity in the numbers of returns from different taggings has been characteristic of the recoveries from east coast taggings. This year the return of only one tag
from 1,499 used at Ganges Harbour would appear significant were it not for the generally
poor returns from east coast taggings. It may be noted that there were no returns in the
first year from a tagging done in Ganges Harbour in the spring of 1938 and only one in the BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 69
following season. Recoveries from Nanoose Bay and Deep Bay are more numerous than
from other spawning-grounds. This difference may be the result of the treatment of the fish,
fish carrying Deep Bay and Nanoose Bay tags being taken to reduction plants and those
carrying other tags being salted or canned. Whatever the full explanation may be, it is
evident that lack of randomness in the fishery or in methods of utilization of the fish could
not result in differences in proportions recovered if the fish from different spawning-grounds
were thoroughly mixed on the fishing-grounds. It is evident, accordingly, that groups of fish
which spawn in different places in the Strait of Georgia do not mix indiscriminately with one
another and this in turn suggests that the east coast of Vancouver Island population is a
complex one not to be adequately understood or administered by regarding it as a unit.
A substantial proportion of the east coast of Vancouver Island tags recovered and
especially of the tags used at Nanoose and Deepwater Bays—the more northerly taggings in
the Strait of Georgia area—were reported from Discovery Passage fishing-grounds. These
recoveries are in keeping with those of Strait of Georgia tags from the Deepwater Bay fish
caught during the 1939-40 season.
A difference in behaviour of fish tagged in 1940 from that of fish tagged in 1939 is noticeable in regard to movements away from the Strait of Georgia. Tags put out in 1939 in the
Strait of Georgia and interpreted as being recovered away from east coast of Vancouver
Island fishing-grounds were returned from the west coast of Vancouver Island. For the most
part tags put out during the 1940 season in the Strait of Georgia and interpreted as being
recovered beyond the limits of the east coast of Vancouver Island fishery were reported as
being returned from Discovery Passage or Queen Charlotte Sound fishing-grounds. The lack
of randomness shown in the tabulation could be encountered by chance less than once in one
hundred trials.
Interpreted as recovered
3-Series
Tags.
4-Series
Tags.
On east coast of Vancouver Island fishing-grounds
On Discovery Passage and Queen Charlotte Sound fishing-grounds..
11
12
Discovery Passage.
During the spring of 1940 herring were tagged on the spawning-grounds at three different localities in the area corresponding to the Discovery Passage area of the Federal Fisheries
Department's regulations. For different reasons each of these taggings was carried out
under conditions which militate against good returns being produced from it. The Von
Donop Creek (40) tagging was carried out on an isolated school of fish (although the main
spawning run entered Von Donop Creek several days later) which were small in size and
only 500 fish were available for tagging. , The Melanie Cove (4BB) tagging was carried out
on an isolated school of fish of small size. The Cahnish Bay (4CC) tagging was carried out
close to two bait-pounds and seining operations for bait were continued on the spawning-
grounds where the tagged fish were released for some three weeks after tagging took place.
It is altogether likely, accordingly, that a large proportion of the tagged herring were used
for bait without the tags being discovered or recognized. In spite of these disadvantages,
tags were recovered from all three taggings and the number of recoveries from Von Donop
Creek tags was higher per thousand tags than that for any other tagging in the Strait of
Georgia or Discovery Passage areas. Owing to the differences in the efficiency of recovery
of tags from fish caught on different fishing-grounds, it cannot be said with certainty that
the higher recovery represents a more severe fishing drain on the fish spawning in Von Donop
Creek.
The interpreted areas of recoveries for tags used in the Discovery Passage area are
almost equally divided between the Discovery Passage area and Queen Charlotte Sound.
Either or both of the two returns for which no interpretations are offered may have originated
with fish caught on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Owing to overlapping in the fishing
in the Queen Charlotte Sound and the Discovery Passage areas it is not possible to state
definitely whether or not fish tagged in the latter region were caught in the former. Con- J 70 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
sidering all the circumstances surrounding the recoveries, it does seem probable that some
of the recoveries were made from the Queen Charlotte Sound fishing-grounds.
It is worthy of remark that while relatively many (11) tags from the east coast of
Vancouver Island area were interpreted as coming from Discovery Passage fishing-grounds,
there was no evidence of any interchange of fish in the opposite direction. This may reflect
features in the movements of the fish or may be another manifestation of the poor tag-
recovery for fish caught on the east coast of Vancouver Island.
Queen Charlotte Sound.
The recovery of tags from the three taggings carried out in the Queen Charlotte Sound
area has been particularly satisfactory in regard to number of returns. Presumably this
is a consequence of good conditions for both tagging and recovery. At the present time it is
not possible to say whether it is also dependent on the magnitude of the herring population
under exploitation in the area. Of 250 tags returned, 240 are interpreted as having come
from the Queen Charlotte Sound area. No interpretations are offered for the remaining
ten recoveries. It is possible that some or all of these were returned from the Discovery
Passage area. The difficulties related to the close connection between the fisheries in Discovery Passage and Queen Charlotte Sound prevent a certain statement being made on this
point. However, it is apparent that the evidence is less strong for a movement from Queen
Charlotte Sound into Discovery Passage than it is for a movement in the opposite direction.
In general it would appear that the Queen Charlotte Sound population of herring is distinctly independent of the other populations of herring. ■
In the preceding section under the 4L, 4M, and 4N headings are statements indicating
that there may be a tendency of undefined strength for the Queen Charlotte Sound population
not to mix randomly within itself. The detailed areas of recovery as recorded with the
returned tags seemed to indicate that the Cutter Creek tags were returned more frequently
from Knight Inlet and Bones Bay. Shoal Harbour (4M) tags apparently were recovered
to a large extent from Retreat Passage (or from " Retreat Passage or Mackenzie Sound").
Bend Island (4N) tags were recorded from the following localities in order of number of
recoveries: Bones Bay, Retreat Passage, Knight Inlet. The lack of uniformity in the
recoveries from different taggings is evident and it is interesting to note that for each tagging
the greatest number of recoveries is noted for the fishing-ground closest to the scene of the
tfl sP*P*TTl P"
Central British Columbia.
The number of returns from Central British Columbia was low in comparison with the
two previous years and this is almost certainly due to the small tonnage of fish reduced—less
than 10,000 tons.
One tag used in Central British Columbia was recovered on the west coast of Vancouver
Island and four tags used in other major areas were interpreted as being recovered from fish
caught in the Central area. One of the latter originally used in the Northern area (4X) was
interpreted as coming from Aaltanhash Inlet. As one Central British Columbia (4Z) tag
was also interpreted as coming from Aaltanhash Inlet, it is evident that this fishing-ground
cannot at the present time be referred with certainty to either the Central or Northern areas.
In the report on herring-tag recovery for the 1939-40 season, differences in the behaviour
of different sets of tags in Central British Columbia were discussed. During the present
season the numbers of recoveries are not sufficient to indicate differences as significant.
However, reference to the recovery records is of interest. Comparatively small amounts of
fish were recorded from Kwakshua Passage, but, in spite of this, the number of Campbell
Island (3R) tags recovered there was as great as the number recovered in Laredo Inlet
where the tonnages handled were several times larger. For the Campbell Island (4W) tagging, six Kwakshua Passage recoveries are to be compared with two from Laredo Inlet.
The returns from the Campbell Island taggings are in contrast with those done at Laredo
Inlet (4J) and Lake Island (4Z) which produced eight and ten returns respectively as compared with none from Kwakshua Passage. The results are in keeping with those of last
year in that Campbell Island tags were principally recovered from Kwakshua Passage,
whereas Laredo Inlet tags showed a strong tendency to he returned from Laredo Inlet. The
meagre data available this year suggests that the Lake Island spawning is more closely
related to the Laredo run than to the runs around Calvert Island. BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 71
Northern British Columbia.
Only ten returns are recorded from fish caught in Northern British Columbia and this
small number is doubtless associated with the small amount of fish caught in Northern
British Columbia during the fishing season. Six of the recoveries were reported from Union
Bay and the Wark Canal. One recovery made in Aaltanhash Inlet has already been discussed.
One recovery of a Butler Cove (4Y) tag was certainly from Central British Columbia fishing-
grounds. One Duncan Bay (3S) tag was recovered on Queen Charlotte Island fishing-
grounds. It would appear that the apparently large amount of movement out of the area,
combined with no movement into it, is associated as in the case of the east coast of Vancouver
Island with reduced possibility for recovery. As fishing was not general throughout the
area, final conclusions are not possible. However, the indications are that fish which spawned
in Big Bay and Duncan Bay contributed substantially to the fishing-grounds in the Wark
Canal and Union Bay. _ _
Queen Charlotte Islands.
Four recoveries were interpreted as coming from herring taken about the Queen Charlotte Islands. Three of these were of tags used at the Queen Charlotte Islands. The remaining one was a Duncan Bay (3S) tag. One of these tags was recovered in the Queen Charlotte Islands fishery during the previous year. The second recovery under conditions which
are not altogether favourable for making returns indicates that the movement represented
may be both a regular occurrence and of considerable magnitude. However, conclusions are
not yet possible in view of the difficult recovery situation and the small number of tags put
out in the Queen Charlotte Island fishing-grounds.
CONSIDERATION OF RECOVERIES IN RELATION TO
TAGGING TECHNIQUE.
On several occasions tagging has been done in such a way as to allow comparisons of
the various techniques employed. Some of the resulting observations are presented herewith.
To facilitate consideration of the results only taggings producing more than twenty returns
are dealt with in presenting the data in this section.
Table VII.—Comparison of Three Methods of tagging Fish.
-(-Tagging.
Tagging Method and Number of
Recoveries.
*4L.
T4L.
4M.
4N.
1 ...
12 K'
4K'
8G
15 G
9G
6G
8K'
10 K'
8G
6G
14 K°
13 K°
8K'
5K'
2K'
6K°
8G
8G
tr
10 K"
6 G
3G
7K'
5K'
3K'
5G
7G
3K°
2 K'
2
3
4
4K'
5K'
4 G
5
4 G
6 . . .
9 G
7
6 G
8 -
3 K"
9
5 K°
10
3 K°
-|- Order of tagging by hundreds.
* First day.
t Second day.
G=Gun.
K'=l-man tagging.
K(=2-man tagging.
In the report for last year (Hart and Tester, 1940) comparisons were made between the
returns from taggings using the tagging-gun and those in which the fish were incised with
a knife and the tag inserted by hand. The results appeared to be inconclusive or in some
cases contradictory. Two sets of returns this year lend themselves to a repetition of the
comparisons made last year. Forty-eight recoveries were made of 3U tags, twenty-four of
which had been tagged by gun and an equal number by knife. These recoveries resulted
from 697 gun-tagged fish and 797 knife-tagged fish. It is evident that the small advantage
in favour of the gun-tagging is not significant. Thirty 4P tags were recovered, twelve of
which resulted from 400 fish tagged by gun and eighteen of which were produced from 750 J 72
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
fish tagged by knife. In this case again a difference which is not significant favours the gun
technique.
Returns bearing on three methods of tagging are available for the taggings 4L, 4M, and
4N. The third method of tagging is one in which one operator holds the fish in his two
hands while the other makes the incision and inserts the tag. The results are given in
Table VII. Examination of the results indicates that in all cases tagging by gun yields
more recoveries than the usual method of knife-tagging. However, the two-man knife-
tagging does not appear to be materially different from the gun-tagging in point of effectiveness. These results are interesting in that they more or less reverse those of the previous
year in which knife-tagging was indicated as being somewhat more effective for the tagger
concerned (Hart).
In the case of one tagging there is evidence of a relationship between the tagging method
employed and the effectiveness of different recovery methods. The data for the 3U tagging
are set out in the accompanying tabulation.
By magnets
By induction detectors..
Returns from
Gun-tagging.
Knife-tagging.
16
It is evident from examining the tabulation that for some reason a higher proportion of
knife-tagged fish were recovered by induction detectors and calculations show that evidence
for differentiation as strong as that indicated could arise by chance only once in one hundred
trials. As no reasonable explanation of the observation suggests itself, the facts are presented
here without further comment.
Table VIII.—The Number of Recoveries per Hundred Tags related to the Order of tagging
and the Tagger.
Tagging.
4R.
4S.
4T.
4U.
Tagger.
A.
B.
A.
B.
A.
B.
A.
B.
Numbers of returns from successive hundreds of tags j
3
3
3
4
9
3
6
7
7
5
13
6
5
7
8
5
3
1
6
5
6
7
8
2
8
9
8
5
2
5
5
2
4
3
0
2
3
3
2
1
3
1
0
2
0
0
2
Total
25
44
25
21
34
26
19
9
- 600
599
400
497 | 500
500
798 | 797
Number of tags returned per hundred-
4.2
7.3
6.2
4.2
6.8
5.0
2.4
1.1
It is noticeable in Table VII. that the recoveries for the second day of the 4L tagging
are lower than for comparable tagging methods on the first day. This suggests the possibility of deterioration in the quality of the fish with holding in the live-box or net. This
possibility may be examined by study of Table VII. or of Table VIII. which has been drawn
up for other taggings (carried out entirely by one-man knife-tagging) in such a way as to
determine both the effect of holding fish and the effect of unconscious differences in technique
between two taggers. In it the returns from each hundred tags are listed in order as the
tags were used. The order for each tagger is correct, but as the two taggers worked independently there is no certainty of the exact coincidence in time of the hundreds listed as
pairs. It is believed that no great discrepancies in this respect exist.
Table VIII. shows differences in the numbers of returns produced from hundred lots of
tags applied by different taggers under comparable conditions. It will be noted, however, BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 73
that although these differences are large enough in some cases to approach statistical significance they are not consistent and it seems that they are less likely to be due to differences
in technique than to a lack of randomness in the dispersion of fish from the spawning-grounds.
Certain coincidences within pairs in the deviation from the range are to be noticed in
Table VIII.; that is, the fifth pair in the 4R column, the third pair in the 4T column, and the
fourth pair in the 4U column. Deviations of the extent observed would not be considered of
any significance if found occurring alone. The repetition in a second series, however, seems
unlikely to be the result of chance and it is probable that the coincidences are connected with
variation in the chances for survival (or subsequent recovery of the tags) of the tagged fish
due to lack of uniformity of conditions on the spawning-grounds. The time at which the
coincidence in the 4R tagging occurred agrees closely with the time of high water. No
explanations are suggested for the other coincidences.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS.
The results of the herring tagging and recovery programme during the past year are in
keeping with those of former years in indicating a tendency for herring to form rather stable
populations in each of the major fishing areas and a less well marked tendency for a restriction of interchange of herring between fishing-grounds within major fishing areas. There
is a certain amount of interchange of herring between major areas, but evidently such interchange is of relatively slight importance. Interchange between fishing areas within major
areas (such as the west coast of Vancouver Island) is more extensive and apparently reaches
a magnitude which may be of considerable economic and administrative importance. Comparisons of the 1940-41 results with those for previous years indicate a somewhat greater
mixing than noted in former years.
Additional evidence has been obtained to indicate that the herring-fishing grounds in the
so-called Discovery Passage area are supported in part at least and probably largely by fish
which have spawned in the previous year in the Strait of Georgia area.
The fishing-grounds of the Queen Charlotte Sound area are indicated as being relatively
independent of the spawning-grounds in other major fishing areas.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.
The herring-tagging programme has enjoyed the help and co-operation of the fishing
industry as a group and of many individuals engaged in it. We are greatly indebted to
British Columbia Packers, Limited, and The Canadian Fishing Company, Ltd., for the loan
of boats used in tagging operations. Many thanks are due to the companies and also to the
crews of the boats, Captains E. Bostrom and J. Bordwick, and Messrs. 0. Anderson, Z. Brnjac,
M. Carefoot, and W. MacDonald. Mr. S. Vollmers, operating the " Whiff," gave valuable
help in the same phase of the investigation.
The continued interest of the companies operating reduction plants as evidenced by permitting the operation of recovery equipment in their conveyers and the help of plant employees
who have attended to clearing the magnets and reporting returns are appreciated.
Dr. R. V. Boughton and Mr. L. Quickenden, of the Biological Station staff, have co-operated capably in the investigation and their invaluable help is gratefully acknowledged.
The herring-tagging programme is carried out under a joint arrangement between the
Fisheries Research Board of Canada and the Provincial Department of Fisheries. The support of both organizations and that of the respective executive officers, Dr. W. A. Clemens
and Dr. R. E. Foerster, and Mr. George J. Alexander, is hereby acknowledged.
REFERENCES.
Hart, J. L. Tagging British Columbia pilchards (Sardinops cxrulea (Girard)): Methods
and preliminary results. Report, B.C. Provincial Fisheries Department, 1936, 49-54,1937.
Hart, J. L., and A. L. Tester. The tagging of herring (Clupea pallasii) in British Columbia:
Methods, apparatus, insertions, and recoveries during 1936-37. Report, B.C. Provincial
Fisheries Department, 1936, 55-67, 1937.
Hart, J. L., and A. L. Tester. The tagging of herring (Clupea pallasii) in British Columbia:
Apparatus, insertions, and recoveries during 1937-38. Report, B.C. Provincial Fisheries
Department, 1937, 64-90, 1938.
Hart, J. L., and A. L. Tester. The tagging of herring (Clupea pallasii) in British Columbia:
Apparatus, insertions, and recoveries during 1938-39. Report, B.C. Provincial Fisheries
Department, 1938, 51-78, 1939. J 74
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
Hart, J. L., and A. L. Tester. The tagging of herring (Clupea pallasii) in British Columbia:
Insertions and recoveries during 1939-40. Report, B.C. Provincial Fisheries Department,
1939, 42-66, 1940.
Tester, A. L. Populations of herring (Clupea pallasii) in the coastal waters of British
Columbia. Journal, Biological Board of Canada. Vol. III., No. 2, 108-114, 1937.
Table IX.—Detailed List of Tags inserted during 1940-41.
Identification
Marks.
H88201-H88700
H88701-H89200
H99401-H99600
AAAA
AABB
AAHH
AAII
AAJJ
AAKK
AALL
AAMM
AANN
AAOO
AAPP
AATT
AAXX
AAZZ
AA44
AA66
BBBB
BBHH
BBII
BBJJ
BBKK
BBNN
BBOO
BBPP
BBSS
BBUU
BBXX
BBZZ
BB44
HHAA
HHBB
HHJJ
HHKK
HHLL
HHNN
HHOO
HHSS
HHUU
HHXX
HHZZ
HH44
HH66
IIBB
IIJJ
IIKK
IIMM
IINN
IITT
IIXX
1166
JJAA
JJBB
VVII
Date
released.
Nov.
Nov.
Oct.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
Mar.
25, 1940
26, 1940
23, 1940
8, 1941
6, 1941
20, 1941
8, 1941
12, 1941
10, 1941
4, 1941
28, 1941
11, 1941
13, 1941
20, 1941
17, 1941
30, 1941
11, 1941
23, 1941
16, 1941
13, 1941
29, 1941
28, 1941
17, 1941
17, 1941
5, 1941
5, 1941
14, 1941
13, 1941
14, 1941
29, 1941
30, 1941
28, 1941
17, 1941
30, 1941
23, 1941
30, 1941
21, 1941
29, 1941
11, 1941
16, 1941
16, 1941
4, 1941
16, 1941
20, 1941
9, 1941
12, 1941
11, 1941
17, 1941
30, 1941
17, 1941
12, 1941
23, 1941
11, 1941
11, 1941
16, 1941
17, 1941
Tagging
Code.
5B
5B
5A
5D
5C
5J
5Q
5V
5E
50
5L
5F
5W
5J
51
5N
5U
6K
5Y
5W
5M
5L
5G
5G
5P
5P
5X
5W
5X
5M
5N
5L
51
5N
5K
5N
5H
5M
5U
5Y
5Y
50
5Y
5J
5Q
5V
5U
51
5N
51
5V
5K
5U
5U
5Y
51
Where released.
Satellite Channel
Fulford Harbour -
Swanson Channel _
Hammond Bay
Gabriola Bluff
Duncan Bay
Kendrick Arm
Clanninick Cove
Nanoose Bay
Lyall Point
Laidlaw Islands
Breakwater Island —-
Browning Inlet .*
Duncan Bay —
Brown Narrows
Kwakshua Passage
Queens Cove —
Jap Inlet
Refuge Cove, Sydney Inlet..
Browning Inlet
Deer Passage
Laidlaw Islands.
Bargain Harbour -
Bargain Harbour -
Toquart Bay
Toquart Bay
Bunsby Islands
Browning Inlet
Bunsby Islands
Deer Passage _
Kwakshua Passage
Laidlaw Islands
B rown Narrows -
Kwakshua Passage -
Jap Inlet
Kwakshua Passage „
Thomas Point
Deer Passage -
Queens Cove - -
Refuge Cove, Sydney Inlet-
Refuge Cove, Sydney Inlet..
Lyall Point -
Refuge Cove, Sydney Inlet.
Duncan Bay
Kendrick Arm
Clanninick Cove
Queens Cove
Brown Narrows .
Kwakshua Passage
Brown Narrows
Clanninick Cove —
Jap Inlet
Queens Cove —
Queens Cove —
Refuge Cove, Sydney Inlet.
Brown Narrows
No. of
Tags used.
498
499
200
975
1,000
508
1,000
993
1,000
1,000
1,000
974
997
997
1,000
496
492
487
493
493
497
498
498
500
499
496
500
499
498
500
500
199
198
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
199
200
100
100
92
99
99
99
100
100
100
100 BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 75
THE EDIBLE MOLLUSCS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.
By D. B. Quayle, Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C.
Nearly all the molluscs along the coast of British Columbia are edible. Most, however,
are small in size or difficult to obtain; some are unpalatable and hence are seldom eaten, but
certain forms are used and valued as food. In the present report a means is presented, chiefly
by the use of diagrams, for identifying these latter.
Molluscs vary so radically in form that many are not easily recognizable as such. Clams
and oysters are quite common and well-known, yet snails, squids, and octopuses are all true
molluscs. Although superficial resemblances are not great, the anatomical details show very
clear relationships. To clarify these relationships, molluscs have been divided into a number
of classes and, as a general guide, a number of these are described herein.
CLAMS AND OYSTERS.
(Pelecypoda.)
Clams, oysters, and scallops have two shells and are thus called bivalves (Pelecypoda).
These have adopted many ways of life. Some burrow into sand, mud, rocks, or wood; some
become attached to rocks or other solid objects; others, like the free-living scallops, are able
to swim for short distances. The food consists of small plants and animals, and microscopic
particles of decayed marine vegetation. These they filter from the water by means of
net-like gills. N
In identifying bivalves various characteristics of the shell are used, and these are indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. Due to the many types of environment in which a clam may become
lodged, considerable variation may exist in the external markings of the shell, but the interior
markings and structures are less likely to vary and are thus of greater value for identification
purposes.
- umbo
dorsal margin umbo ^V\\-^^— binga ligament
postorior adductor \tf*^Aj^S^j^"'['!°'' '" A \\\\MSv.-^'''"'"/ ""'''"
-"""""- 5^5^'"'/„,. /...* Ay] \\\X^prC radio,,,-,.,
anterior adductor
muscle scor
concentric lines
posterior end
pallia! tine
aallial sinus * \. S^ antral margin
^\^Z——— ventral ma/gin
■ ig ' Fig. 2
In the main, anatomical details are neglected, but it might be well for the observer to
consider this feature and to become acquainted with the outstanding differences between the
various species. Some of these, such as the shape and position of muscles, are reflected in the
internal markings of the shell.
The soft body of the bivalve is enclosed in and is protected by the two chalky shells or
valves. The shell is composed of three layers of material. The outside layer is of a horny
composition and is so thin that in most species it is worn off except around the edges of the
shell where new growth may have just taken place. This layer is called the periostracum.
The middle layer, of a chalk or limestone composition, is called the prismatic layer and takes
up most of the thickness of the shell. The inner layer is very hard and in some species is very
shiny. This is the nacre which, in some types of shell-fish, forms mother of pearl. The shells
are hinged along the back or dorsal part of the clam by means of a horny elastic material
visible from the outside and called the hinge-ligament. This tends to spring the valves apart,
which it does when the body of the clam is removed from the shells. In the living animal
the shells are held together by two powerful adductor muscles, one at each end of the body.
(In scallops and oysters there is only one adductor muscle.) In connection with the ligament
there may be an internal cartilage, also horny in composition, which is usually attached to the
shells in sunken pits. J 76 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
Near the hinge-ligament and usually in front of it are knobs or projections of the shell
called the umbones. The shape of the bivalve when it was very small can often be seen near
the hinge line at the tip of the umbo, which is the oldest part of the shell.
Also on the exterior of the shell is a series of lines whose prominence varies with the
species. Some are concentric about the umbones and are fine lines of growth. Among these
are dispersed heavier lines indicating winter-checks by which, in some species, the age of the
organism may be determined. Other lines may radiate out from the umbo towards the ventral
edge of the shell. Concentric lines occur on nearly all species but with varying degrees of
prominence, while radiating lines occur only on a few.
The inside of the shell is usually quite smooth except for scars caused by the attachment
of muscles to the shells. The adductor-muscle scars are usually more or less circular in outline and are found at the upper part of ends of the shells. Connecting these is a finer line
called the pallial line which marks the place of attachment of the mantle to the shell. In the
posterior portion of the shell the pallial line is indented to form the pallial sinus. The shape,
size, and position of these markings are of considerable importance in identification.
Also on the interior of the shell near the umbo is a heavy ridge which may be studded
with projections or teeth of various sizes, shapes, and combinations. The form of these hinge-
teeth is constant for each species, so they are also an important means of identification. The
purpose of the teeth is to form a locking device to hold the shell together to prevent slipping.
The Butter-clam (Saxidomus giganteus).
(Plate I.)
The butter-clam, the most abundant of British Columbia clams, is the species used most
extensively for canning. It is widely distributed over the Province, and although it may live
in many types of soil it occurs most frequently on beaches composed of a mixture of sand and
gravel, at a depth of not more than a foot below the surface of the beach. In vertical distribution it occurs in approximately the lower third of the intertidal zone. In one locality it
is known to exist in at least 30 feet of water.
Externally the shell is quite smooth, with numerous fine concentric lines of growth interspersed between a number of more prominent grooves which represent the winter-checks in
growth. The muscle-scars on the inside of the shell are quite large and deeply impressed.
There are several hinge-teeth and the external hinge-ligament is large and prominent. All of
the meat of this species may be eaten, although the black tips of the siphons are usually
removed.
The butter-clam may reach a length of 5 inches. The average size in the commercial
catch is about 3 inches.
The Little-neck Clam (Paphia staminea).
(Plate I.)
The little-neck clam or rock-cockle is widely distributed over the British Columbia coast
and is found on nearly every type of beach. The typical habitat, however, is a mixture of
pebbles and fine mud. Because of its comparatively small size and its ability to close its shells
tightly together, thus preventing the loss of moisture, the little-neck clam is most suitable for
the fresh market.
The shells, which are pure white or cream-coloured, with angular brown markings, have
numerous fine radiating lines as well as many concentric ones. The muscle-scars are clearly
outlined and the hinge-teeth are quite prominent. The average size is about 2 inches but a
length of nearly 3 inches may be attained.
The Cockle (Cardium corbis).
(Plate I.)
The cockle, heart-cockle, or basket-cockle, is distributed generally over the British
Columbia coast, but in no great abundance. The typical habitat is a rather sandy or muddy
beach. It occurs often among eel-grass on such beaches, over which it can move by the use of
its muscular foot.
This species is easily identified by the thirty-seven prominent radiating ribs and by the
dark brown colour. The external hinge is small, the interior of the shell has a polished BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 77
Butter clam
Little neck clam
Cockle
Horse clam
Plate I. J 78 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
appearance, and the muscle-scars lack the impression of the pallial sinus. The tips of the
short siphons are studded with tentacles. The cockle may attain a length of 4 inches.
The Horse-clam (Schizothxrus nuttalli).
(Plate I.)
The horse-clam or gaper is also widely distributed. Its most favoured habitat is a mixture of mud and sand near or below the low-tide mark. Due to the great length to which the
larger specimens are able to extend their siphons, they are often found at depths of 2 feet or
more below the surface of the beach. The muscular foot and neck (skinned) are the choice
edible parts and these, minced, are canned.
The horse-clam may be identified by the heavy deep cartilage pit in each valve and by the
manner in which the posterior ends of the shells gape. The very large neck or siphon, which
can not be completely withdrawn into the shells, is covered with a thick, dark, wrinkled skin.
At the tip of the neck are two horny pads which are found only in horse-clams. On these pads
barnacles and various marine plants often grow, which form excellent camouflage for the neck
when it is protruded above the surface of the beach while the clam is feeding. The horse-
clam, which reaches a length of 8 inches and a height of 5 inches, is the largest bivalve to be
found in British Columbia.
The Razor-clam (Siliqua patula).
(Plate II.)
The razor-clam or razor-neck clam is found only on the sandy surf-swept beaches of the
open, west coasts of Vancouver and the Queen Charlotte Islands. It is one of the few clams
that can burrow into ithe beach with any degree of rapidity as contrasted with most of the
burrowing bivalves, which seldom move once they are entrenched in the sand. This species is
canned at infrequent intervals in British Columbia, the supply for these operations coming
from Graham Island.
The long, narrow, thin shells are covered with a distinctive shiny brown periostracum.
They may reach a length of 6 inches and a height of 2% inches. This species must not be
confused with the small " jack-knife " clam which it resembles and which is found on sandy
beaches in the Gulf of Georgia.
The Mud-clam (Mya arenaria).
(Plate II.)
The typical habitat of this species is, as the name implies, on muddy bottom, usually in
the vicinity of river or creek mouths. Except for a few localities, such as Masset Inlet, it is
not abundant in British Columbia. Although an excellent food-clam, it is not yet of commercial importance in the Province. The mud-clam is also found on the Atlantic coast of
North America where it is called the soft-shell clam.
As the alternative name indicates, the shells of this species are thin and easily broken.
The posterior end is rather pointed and the anterior end quite blunt. The umbones are
centrally placed and from this region on the inside of the left valve issues a spoon-shaped
projection which is a characteristic feature of the species. The edges of the valves of the
living specimens may be covered by a thin, yellow brown periostracum. The mud-clam may
attain a length of 4 inches and a height of 2 Vz inches.
The Sand-clam (Macoma secta).
(Plate II.)
This sand-clam, also called the mud-clam, is typical of a number of species found on sandy
or muddy beaches. They are distributed generally over the British Columbia coast. Macoma
secta has a very white, rather thin shell and a prominent hinge-ligament. The siphons are
long and separate.
Despite the fact all species of Macoma are edible, they are seldom used here, for most of
them are quite small and their abundance is limited. Macoma secta may attain a length of
3 inches. BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 79
Sand clam
Mud clam, dorsal view
Razor clam
Mud clam
Geoduck
Plate II. J 80 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
The Japanese Little-neck Clam (Paphia philippinarum).
This clam was accidentally introduced into British Columbia from Japan with imported
oyster-seed. It became established in Ladysmith harbour where it was first noticed in 1936.
Since then its propagation has been extremely successful and it is now found in considerable
abundance along the shores of Stuart Channel, where it is dug in commercial quantities for
the fresh-clam market. The habitat is quite similar to that of the native little-neck, in fact
it seems to have supplanted the latter on a number of beaches. In general it does not burrow
quite as deeply.
The Japanese little-neck clam has the same external markings as the native species, but
in colour it may be mottled with green, brown, or black. The very smooth interior of the shell
has a yellow tinge and the posterior margin may be coloured purple. The length of the shell,
seldom exceeding 2 inches, is greater in proportion to the height than in the native " little-
neck." One definitely distinguishing feature is the fact that the tip of the siphon is split for
a distance of one-quarter of an inch.
The Geoduck (Panope generosa).
(Plate II.)
The geoduck (pronounced " gooeyduck "), though not at all abundant, is a clam that
arouses considerable interest. Digging for it is considered a sport because the limited abundance and the great depth at which it lives makes it extremely difficult to secure. The habitat
of the geoduck is confined to fairly well protected sandy beaches; localities where it is
definitely known to exist are Sidney Island, Tofino, Nanoose, and Seal Island, near Comox,
although it doubtless occurs elsewhere. All of the meat of this mollusc may be utilized,
although the exposed parts, siphon and foot, require to be skinned.
The shell of the geoduck is nearly rectangular in shape and the deeply engraved concentric lines give the outside a rugged appearance. The edges of the white shell are covered
with a thin, light brown periostracum. The muscle-scars are quite small in proportion to the
size of the animal, but the pallial line is very broad with a shallow sinus. There is a single
tooth on each valve. The shells aways gape, showing the compact brown mantle, which being
completely fused, except for one small posterior opening, completely hides the body of the
clam. The neck or siphon is so large that, like the horse-clam, it cannot be withdrawn into
the shell. In the larger specimens it can be extended to a length of 3 feet or more, which is
the depth at which these clams are found.
The Bay-mussel (Mytilus edulis).
(Plate III.)
The bay, edible, or blue mussel is world-wide in distribution. On this coast it is generally
found in more or less sheltered locations attached to rocks, wharves, or piling. The attachment is affected by numerous fibrous threads which collectively are called the byssus. In
British Columbia no commercial use is made of this species, although the meat is quite edible.
The byssus threads should be removed.
The shape of mussels is very distinctive with the pointed umbones placed at one end of
the rather fragile blue or brown coloured shells. The posterior end is rounded and, except for
the slope towards the umbo, the dorsal and ventral edges of the shell are nearly parallel. The
byssus threads protrude between the ventral edges of the shells.
In British Columbia this clam is quite small in size, seldom exceeding a length of 2 inches
and a height of three-quarters of an inch.
The Sea-mussel (Mytilus californianus).
The sea-mussel, as the name indicates, is found mainly on rocky beaches bordering on the
open ocean, though sometimes small numbers occur on sandy beaches. Like the bay-mussel,
it attaches by means of byssus threads. In some localities, such as Queen Charlotte Sound,
it is very abundant, masses of them forming mats which completely cover the rocks.
As in the bay-mussel, the umbo is placed at one end of the shell which is covered with a
black periostracum. Older specimens, when this covering is worn off, are blue in colour and
have an eroded appearance. There are two adductor muscles, the one at the umbo tip of the
shell being much reduced in size. The bright orange colour of the flesh is quite distinctive.
The sea-mussel may attain a length of 8 or 10 inches. It is not used commercially. BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 81
Blue mussel
Rock oyster
Native oyster
Pacific oyster
Scallop
Plate III. J 82 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
The Native Oyster (Ostrea lurida).
(Plate III.)
The native or Olympia oyster lives on the surface of mud-flats or gravel-bars located near
the mouths of small rivers or streams. When cultured on a commercial scale, dykes are
usually used to impound the water to guard against sudden changes in temperature, to which
the species is known to be very susceptible. Native oysters are widely distributed over
British Columbia, being found at the head of nearly every stream-fed inlet or bay.
Externally the shells are grey or purple in colour and are seldom deeply fluted like the
Pacific oyster. Internally the shells are a shiny olive brown or mother of pearl, and the
adductor-muscle scars are clearly outlined.
The length of this species seldom exceeds 2 inches.
The Pacific Oyster (Ostrea gigas).
(Plate III.)
The Pacific or Japanese oyster, which is the dominant species in the British Columbia
oyster industry, is imported from Japan as seed (young oysters) and grown to market size
on suitable beaches. It has occasionally propagated, especially in Ladysmith harbour and,
as a result of the successful breedings which occurred in the summers of 1932 and 1936,
Japanese oysters may be found abundantly along the shores of Ladysmith harbour and Stuart
Channel attached to rocks and shells at about the half to three-quarter tide mark.
The Pacific oyster may be easily identified by the very rough shells which are extensively
fluted and laminated. The scar of the single adductor muscle is mauve coloured and not very
clearly outlined. The shape of the oysters depends on where and how they are grown. If
grown in clusters or in mud, the oysters tend to become long and thin; whereas, when grown
singly on firm ground, a round, deep oyster results. This latter is the preferable condition.
Three to five inches is the average length at maturity. Oyster-beds are located at Ladysmith, Boundary Bay, Sooke, Comox, and Pender Harbour.
The Rock-oyster (Pododesmus macroschisma).
(Plate III.)
The rock-oyster or jingle-shell is distributed generally over British Columbia but never
reaches great abundance. It is found near the zero-tide mark, very often attached to the
under-side of rocks.
This so-called oyster has two rather fragile shells circular in shape, grey or white outside
and coppery green inside. It fastens itself by a single heavy byssus which passes through a
pear-shaped notch in the lower valve. The notch and the bright red flesh are characteristics
by which the species may be easily identified. The shells seldom exceed a diameter of 3 inches.
The Scallop (Pecten caurinus).
(Plate III.)
The scallops or pectens are nearly all deep-water forms and therefore are obtained by
dredging. They may exist in considerable numbers in British Columbia but to date only a
few small beds are known. Exploratory searches for them have not been extensive and no
commercial exploitation has been attempted.
The valves, nearly circular in outline, have rather prominent radiating ribs with extensions called " ears " on each side of the umbo. Some species are bright pink in colour externally, and others, like Pecten caurinus, are golden brown. The inner surface of the shells are
usually lustrous white. Scallops, like oysters, have only one adductor muscle, which is the
most favoured edible part.
One group of pectens, represented by the species Pecten hindsii and Pecten hericius,
seldom exceed a length of 3 inches, while Pecten caurinus may attain a diameter of 10 inches
or more.
The Rock-scallop (Hinnites giganteus).
(Plate IV.)
The purple, hinged rock-scallop is one of the larger of the edible molluscs of British
Columbia. It is generally distributed over the whole coast in varying degrees of abundance
and tends towards a rocky habitat, at or near the zero-tide mark. BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 83
During the early part of its life the rock-oyster or scallop resembles the ordinary scallop
in shape and in its ability to swim. When slightly over an inch in diameter it becomes permanently attached to a suitable rock and the two shells become very thick and heavy, the
lower one taking the shape of the surface of the rock to which it adheres. The upper valve
often becomes riddled with holes made by boring sponges and worms, and may also be
encrusted with many forms of plant and animal life. The shape is usually spherical. In the
region of the hinge the inside of the shell assumes a distinctive purple colour. As in the
pectens, there is only one adductor muscle, but this is very large and forms the main edible
portion. The rock-scallop may attain a diameter of 6 inches.
The Rock-borer (Zirfxa gabbi).
The rock-borers are clams which burrow into clay and soft stone by a rasping motion
of their shells, which are provided with a series of cutting-edges. They are distributed
widely over British Columbia wherever the intertidal zone is composed of hard clay or stone
soft enough for burrowing.
The shells, usually grey or white in colour, gape very widely at the posterior end to allow
the round adhesive foot to protrude for gripping the end of the burrow. When the body of
the clam is thus held, strong muscles rotate the shells which wear down the sides and end
of the burrow completely enclosing the shells, only the siphon protruding outside. Instead
of the usual hinge-ligament there is a freely moving pad, which, though it holds the shells
together, allows them to move freely. In the hinge region are long spoon-like extensions for
muscle attachments. A line runs dorso-ventrally across the shells, dividing the cutting-section
from the rest of the shell.
Zirfxa gabbi may attain a length of 3% inches in British Columbia. It is frequently
used as a shell-fish dish in certain communities along the coast.
SEA-SNAILS.
(Gastropoda.)
The Gastropoda, including the snails, slugs, limpets, and whelks, is the largest of the
mollusc classes. In those forms that have a shell it is single, hence the general name
" univalve." Some types are completely free-swimming, some burrow in the sand, but the
great majority cling to or crawl about the rocky shore by means of their adhesive muscular
foot. All gastropods are equipped with a rasping apparatus in the mouth. Some utilize it
for tearing into shreds the marine plants upon which they feed; while others, which are
carnivorous, use it for drilling into the shells of other molluscs upon which they subsist.
While practically all gastropods are edible, the small size of most of the species discourages their utilization. In this paper reference is made only to the two most prominent
edible forms, the abalones and the limpets.
The Abalone (Haliotis kamtchatkana).
(Plate IV.)
The abalone, often popularly called the " ear-shell " or " Venus' ear," is an edible mollusc
of excellent quality that has received scant attention in British Columbia. Fairly extensive
beds occur on the rocky shores bordering the open ocean, such as on the west coast of Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands, being found from the zero-tide level down to
a depth of several fathoms. Little use has been made of abalones in British Columbia, but in
California and other parts of the world, where it is common, it is considered (and rightly so)
a delicacy.
The abalone possesses a rough corrugated single shell, which is often encrusted with
many forms of animal and plant life. One edge of the shell, which is turned over and inward,
is quite thick and along this side are a number of short stout tubercles or projections, five or
six of which are open at the top. They are used as respiratory pores. At one end the shell
arises in a short whorl. The internal surface is composed of a beautifully coloured mother
of pearl.
The edible part of the abalone is the muscular foot. In the living animal this covers
the whole under-part of the shell and is used for crawling about over the rocks in search of J 84 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
Rock scollop
Abalone
Squid
Plate IV.
Octopus BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 85
the algse upon which the animal feeds. Before cooking, the foot is usually pounded to break
up the fibrous muscles, otherwise the meat is very tough.
The average length of the British Columbia species of abalone is 4 to 5 inches.
The Limpet (Acmea mitra).
The limpet is a gastropod whose shell is oval and conical in shape; in fact, quite like the
hats worn by Chinese coolies. Limpets cling to and move about over the rocks in the inter-
tidal zone by means of a muscular foot very similar to that of the abalone. Also like the
latter mollusc, unless taken by surprise, they are very difficult to move from their hold-fast.
In the northern part of England where limpets are quite extensively used for food, they
are known as " flitters " or " flithers." In British Columbia no use is made of them, for,
while it is not difficult to gather enough for a meal, the abundance is not sufficiently great
to warrant exploitation on a commercial scale. They rarely exceed 1% inches in length.
SQUIDS AND OCTOPUSES.
The cephalopods are the most highly developed of the molluscs, indeed of all invertebrate
animals. They have well developed eyes, complex nervous systems, and an almost amazing
ability to move. The squids have a small internal shell, commonly called cuttle bone; the
octopuses lack shell entirely. All cephalopods are characterized by the possession of a number of tentacles studded with suckers, used entirely for clinging. Within the mouth there is
found a pair of hard jaws which resemble a parrot's beak, as well as a rasping apparatus
like that of the Gastropoda.
The Octopus (Polypus hongkongensis).
(Plate IV.)
The octopus is distributed generally over the British Columbia coast in both deep and
shallow waters, where it hides in rock crevices and under rocks. Such a retreat may be
discovered by the presence of a near-by pile of empty shells of crabs upon which the beasts
usually feed.
The octopus, as the name implies, has eight arms on which are set rows of sucking disks
used for holding prey or for clinging to some hold-fast. On each side of the body, which is
short and squat in relation to the length of the arms, is placed a prominent, well developed
eye. The mouth is situated in the centre of the ring of arms.
The species found most commonly in this Province is apparently Polypus hongkongensis.
Its average length from tip of arm to tip of body is about 2 feet, although a length of 16
feet has been recorded from some localities.
Octopuses are very much relished by Orientals, the arms, with sucking disks removed,
being the parts utilized.
The Squid (Loligo opalescens).
(Plate IV.)
The squid has a cigar-shaped body provided with two fins at the tail end and a cluster
of ten arms about the head. The suckers or adhesive disks on the arms are placed on short
flexible stalks and have sharp horny rims. Like the octopus, the squid has a parrot-like
beak. Squids may be easily recognized in the water by the manner in which they swim both
backwards and forwards at lightning speed and by their ability to change colour to suit the
environment.
The species found most commonly in British Columbia is Loligo opalescens (opalescent
squid). It seldom exceeds a length of 8 inches.
The edible portion of the squid consists of the thick mantle. In California large quantities of squid are sun-dried, after cleaning, and used in soups and other dishes. The tentacles
are also often used.
SHELL-FISH POISONING.
In discussing edible molluscs some reference should be made to the possible danger arising through the eating, at certain seasons of the year (summer months chiefly), of fresh
shell-fish collected from beaches on the open Pacific Coast.
While known authentic cases of shell-fish poisoning are rare in British Columbia, many
instances are recorded from Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California of serious illness, J 86 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
sometimes fatal, resulting from the consumption of clams and mussels, particularly the latter,
during the summer months. The cause of the poisoning has been found to be due, apparently,
to toxic products contained in " red " water, an excessive multiplication of red, one-celled
animals called " dinoflagellates," upon which the molluscs actively feed. The toxin is secreted
in certain parts of the body of the shell-fish, chiefly the liver and siphon, and is not destroyed
by cooking. Molluscs living in sheltered bays do not seem to be affected. In California,
therefore, the use of shell-fish from areas bordering the open ocean is prohibited during those
summer months when " red " water appears off-shore.
No detailed information is available concerning the occurrence of the toxic dinoflagellate
species in British Columbia waters, hence of the possibility of shell-fish poisoning occurring.
It may perhaps be quite unlikely in Strait of Georgia and other " inside " waters.
REFERENCES.
Bonnot, P. 1940. The edible bivalves of California. California fish and game, Vol. 26,
No. 3, 1940.
Dall, H. D. 1921. Summary of the marine shell-bearing mollusks of the north-west coast
of America. Bulletin of the U.S. National Museum, No. 112.
Johnson, E. M., and H. J. Snook. 1935. Seashore animals of the Pacific Coast. Macmillan
Co., New York.
Keen, A. M. 1937. An abridged check-list and bibliography of the West American marine
mollusca. Stanford University Press.
Keep, J. 1911. West coast shells. Whitaker and Ray-Wiggin Co.
Lovell, M. S. 1867. The edible mollusks of Great Britain and Ireland. Reeve and Co.,
London.
Oldroyd, I. S. 1924. Marine shells of Puget Sound and vicinity. Publications of the Puget
Sound Biological Station, 4: 1-272.
Ricketts, E. F., and J. Calvin. 1939. Between Pacific tides. Stanford University Press,
Stanford.
FISHERY REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE TAKING OF MOLLUSCS
IN BRITISH COLUMBIA.
(Excerpts from " The Special Fishery Regulations for the Province of British
Columbia for 1940.")
Section 1.—Abalone.
1. No one shall fish for, catch, buy, sell, or have in possession any abalone that measures
less than 2% inches across (that is through) the longest diameter of the shell.
2. The year 1938 and every third year thereafter shall be closed years for abalone-
fishing.
3. The fee for an abalone licence shall be one dollar.
Section 2.—Clams.
1. No one shall dig for or take, have in possession, buy, sell, or expose for sale any
butter-clam that measures less than 2V2 inches, or any clam other than butter-clam that
measures less than 1% inches across (that is through) the longest diameter of the shell.
2. No one shall dig or take:—
(a.) Any little-neck clams in Districts Nos. 1 and 3 from February 1st to March
31st in each year, both days inclusive:
(b.) Any razor-clams in District No. 2 from June 20th to August 31st in each year,
both days inclusive:
(c.) Any butter-clams in Districts Nos. 1 and 3 from July 1st to September 30th in
each year, both days inclusive;
provided that the Chief Supervisor may prohibit digging for or taking clams in any area or
areas at an earlier date than the beginning of the close times specified herein should he deem
such to be necessary for the purpose of conservation.
3. No one shall dig for or take clams of any variety from Seal Island, in the vicinity of
Comox, until January 1st, 1945. BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 87
Section 13.—Oysters.
1. Except from areas leased by the Provincial authorities for the culture and cultivation
of oysters, no one shall fish for or take oysters during the months of May, June, July, and
August in each year.
2. Except by special permission of the Provincial Commissioner of Fisheries, no one
shall import into the Province for introduction into areas vested in the Crown in the right
of the Province any oysters or oyster-seed. J 88 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
REPORT ON INVESTIGATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL PACIFIC
SALMON FISHERIES COMMISSION FOR THE YEAR 1940.
The season of 1940 was the third since the first meeting of the Commission in the late
fall of 1937. The first season, of 1938, was one of organization. Because of limited funds,
the work done then was of an experimental and preliminary nature to establish facts upon
which the programme could be based. That which followed in the succeeding two years has
been the programme thus arrived at. Its results will undoubtedly necessitate a recasting of
the programme within the next few years.
Action by the Commission might fall in any one of three divisions: (1) To prevent overfishing, insure a proper escapement to the spawning-grounds; (2) to discover and remove
obstructions to the ascent of salmon to their spawning-grounds; and (3) to protect and assist
propagation and survival during fresh-water life.
The first division has to do with provision of a proper escapement.
The evidence now available indicates strongly that the number, or percentage, of the fish
in each race which escapes to the spawning-ground is determined in large part by the level
to which it is economically possible to fish them. The evidence also indicates that this escapement varies greatly with the years. Thus in those years when the migrating salmon pause
for long periods (as in 1939) on the fishing-grounds, the toll taken is very large and the
escapement small. The reservoir of fish is filled not only in proportion to the number of fish
in the run, but in proportion to the time the fish spend there. It appears possible for a relatively small run to fill the grounds just as it would were it delayed in an eddy of the river, as
was described in last year's report on Hell's Gate (p. 9). As a result, a larger proportion
can be removed and a small proportion is left to escape up the river. When the run passes
through more rapidly (as in 1940) a smaller proportion is caught.
Several lines of evidence indicate this. Thus in 1939 the tag returns were 65 per cent.,
but in 1940 about 50 per cent., reflecting the amount of fishing to which the tagged stocks
were subjected. The escapement, as estimated in a preliminary way from the survey of the
spawning-grounds, was approximately one fish in ten during 1939 and one in four during
1940. And the tagging returns showed that whereas in 1939 the fish entering through the
Strait of Juan de Fuca were found off the mouth of the Fraser for two months or more,
there was in 1940 a large proportion which entered Johnstone Strait and passed through the
commercial fishery in large part in a few weeks.
In this so-called reservoir action, the numbers observed on the fishing-grounds were
increased in accord with the number of entering fish and also in accord with the speed of
their passage. There is, in this, cause of great variability in the escapement. The fishery
and the habits of migration accordingly become major factors in determining what fish reach
the spawning-grounds.
It must also be remembered that the run to the Fraser is made up of races, or strains,
each bound for its own spawning-ground. Some are depleted, others in good condition. If
these races can be treated differently, so that those needing it can be given preferential consideration, the full effect of proper regulation in multiplying the escapement can be realized
where it will do the most good. This has been investigated by tagging experiments which
will show to what spawning-grounds the fish are bound and the time during which they are
in the catch. This need for racial study provides a second justification for the proper execution of the tagging programme.
This consideration of escapement falls into the first division of Commission research.
A second is the discovery and removal of obstructions to the ascent of this escapement of
mature fish, the opening of new areas for reproduction, and the safeguarding of the descent
of young to the sea. It implies, first of all, a survey of the river, of falls and rapids, of
possible dams and fishways, and of the migrating habits of the fish itself.
The greatest problems now faced in conservation of the salmon runs in the great rivers
to the south of the Fraser are the dams and water diversions. As in the case of the Columbia
and the Sacramento, there have been discussions of dams on the Fraser which will range up BRITISH COLUMBIA.
to 500 or more feet in height. The knowledge necessary to evaluate the effect is coming to
light during the attempts to perpetuate the runs which are cut off in the Columbia and the
Sacramento. These attempts are great experiments, each of them costing many times the
total appropriations for this Commission. It will be advisable to watch them closely; in the
first place, for their results; in the second, for an idea of the facts which should have been
known before they were begun; and in the third, for the procedure which it has been found
necessary to adopt.
Certain facts were needed before these attempts to perpetuate the runs were begun.
The location and numbers of fish spawning in the different tributaries above a dam must be
known, and the proportion of the commercial catch properly assignable to them should be
determined. In the Columbia some light was thrown on this by the fish counted over two
existing dams, the Bonneville and Rock Island, but in the Fraser the same ends must be
attained by direct counts on the spawning-grounds, checked for accuracy and completeness
by tagging experiments of the character now being tried in the Harrison-Birkenhead system.
It is plain that this requires the same research as is now under way for other purposes,
including surveys, estimates of escapement, and statistics.
The care of the runs thus cut off from their spawning-grounds requires, of course, a
knowledge of the physical characteristics of the rivers and streams which it may be necessary
to use in any programme for retaining ponds, hatcheries, etc. This can be gathered in such
manner and detail as will be indicated by the great experiments under way in the Columbia
and Sacramento. Fortunately our problems are not so urgent but what we can, year by
year, profit in organizing our studies by what the experience of others shows is needed to
establish a successful system of artificial propagation.
The third division of the work of the Commission was referred to in the previous reports
as follows:—
Assisting and protecting Propagation.—The spawning-grounds and streams leading from
and to them must be protected from injury by logging, dredging, pollution, or changes in
water-flow. Spawning may be assisted by methods of artificial propagation or stream improvement. Mortality during the early stages may be lessened by retention in ponds or by
destruction and control of predatory fish, animals, and poachers. There is required a survey
of the river at the time of spawning, a study of the Indians and their fishery, and of the
habits of the sockeye and of fishes or other organisms affecting its survival. Means of
counting or estimating the number of mature fish, of the fry, and of the yearlings produced
must be devised to guide action in their behalf.
In 1940 tagging experiments were carried on at Sooke, in various localities in the Strait
of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, and the Gulf of Georgia, and at Hell's Gate.
As in the previous years, the tags used -were celluloid disks 13.5 mm. in diameter, with
a red spot on one side 7 mm. in diameter. The disks were attached on either side of the body
immediately below the dorsal fin by means of a nickel pin run through from disk to disk.
Upon one of the two disks a number was printed with the address of the Commission and an
offer of reward. The red spot of each tag was turned outward when attached, to make the
tag vivid and easily seen.
The experiments are discussed according to locality, under three headings:—
(1.) The tagging of sockeye at Sooke traps at the southern end of Vancouver Island was
carried on under the same arrangements as in 1938 and 1939, with the co-operation of the
trap operators and the Canadian Department of Fisheries.
The number of fish tagged and recovered from this experiment for the three years
tagging has been done here is as follows:—
Year.
Tagged.
Recovered.*
Per Cent.
Recovered.
1938
980
1,051
930
432*
535
415
1939
1940
* All recoveries as of March 15th, 1941. J 90
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
The fish tagged in June and early in July were again returned in large part from
streams and areas other than the Fraser. They formed 18 per cent, of the total returns of
tags placed at Sooke. Those fish tagged on or before July 11th were recovered as follows:—
Skagit Bay 16
Issaquah Creek 16
Pender Harbour 16
Baker River 8
Nitinat 7
Swinomish Creek 5
Barkley Sound 4
Quinault River 2
Grandy Creek _
Cedar River
Cowichan River
Rivers Inlet
1
1
1
1
78
Only in rare cases were fish tagged after this date taken anywhere but in the Fraser, or
presumably en route to it. Two fish tagged at Sooke were recovered in Johnstone Strait.
(2.) In 1940 two boats were again employed, one a small seine-boat and the other a small
troller. The seine-boat operated for a period of three months, purchasing fish for tagging
from the fishermen in the vicinity of the San Juan Islands and catching fish for tagging with
a small seine in the Fraser estuary. The trolling-vessel operated for approximately a month,
purchasing fish for tagging in the Johnstone Strait area. In addition to this, a shore crew
operated for a brief period from Lummi Island, purchasing fish from the reef-netters. Altogether 3,279 fish were tagged. Compared with former years, the numbers tagged and
recovered were as follows:—
Year.
Tagged.
Recovered.
Per Cent.
Recovered.
1938
2,587
6,152
3,279
1,231
3,990
1,614
1939 —
1940 - -
(3.) In 1940, sockeye were again tagged at a point just below Hell's Gate as in 1938
and 1939.
The numbers tagged and recovered for these years were as follows:—
Year.
Tagged.
Recovered.
Per Cent.
Recovered.
1938
2,128
4,344
5,194
632
2,328
1,762
1939
1940 .... ... .
A considerable number of tags was recovered again in eddies immediately above Hell's
Gate, in spite of the fact that rigorous attempts were made to curtail Indian fishing for tags
at these points.
Fishing operations were initiated at Hell's Gate on June 22nd this year and continued
until November 7th. Fish were present in varying numbers in the eddies during the whole
of that time.
Recoveries from the spawning-grounds indicate a distribution of the runs as they pass
Hell's Gate as follows:—
Stuart Lake Before July 27th.
Bowron July 15th-August 10th.
Chilco July 22nd-September 28th.
Nechako July 22nd-September 14th.
Shuswap
Seton- Anderson-
Raft River
Canyon Streams..
-September 9th-November 2nd.
...August 26th-September 28th.
...July 22nd-August 17th.
..July 22nd-September 28th.
This is a preliminary listing only.
data on hand.
Final proof must await a thorough analysis of the BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 91
(4.) During 1940, the statistical activities of the four regular cannery observers engaged
in the recovery of tags and sampling of the catch were continued. They were stationed at
Steveston, Bellingham, and Anacortes. They recovered tagged fish, took representative
samples of sockeye throughout the season, and collected statistics. The services of F. H.
Bell were secured for four months, through a joint arrangement with the Halibut Commission, to assist in the organization of a statistical system for the fishery. After the end of
the fishing season services of two of the observers were utilized in compiling some of the
statistical material.
(5.) The spawning-grounds were again surveyed and estimates made of the number of
spawners returning to each, as in 1938 and 1939. Because of the distribution of the spawning population in the 1940 cycle, it was necessary to divide the Fraser River watershed somewhat differently than in the previous two years, the areas being designated as the Stuart
Lake, Nechako-Quesnel-Bowron, Chilcotin, Thompson-Seton-Anderson, Harrison-Lillooet, and
Canyon-Lower Fraser districts. Every known sockeye-stream was visited during the season
and those containing sockeye salmon were patrolled frequently. It was the purpose of each
observer to recover all tags possible, to estimate as accurately as possible all sockeye present
in the spawning areas, to record the extent of spawning areas, and the progress of the run
throughout the season. Obstructions were observed and stream conditions recorded. Dead
fish were recovered for information as to size, sex ratio, and the completeness of spawning,
and samples were collected for racial studies. As in previous years, close co-operation was
maintained with the officers of the Canadian Department of Fisheries who are stationed in
the Fraser watershed.
The Chilko run for 1940 was a definite increase over the cycle-year of 1936. Parts of
the river were used for spawning which, so far as is known, had not been used before. In
addition, dead sockeye were recovered over half-way up the lake, apparently an indication
of a considerable lake spawning.
Information from the spawning-stream survey for the past three years has been increasingly complete and has been systematically recorded. It has been utilized in the drawing of
detailed maps of each spawning-stream, with references to the current, bottom, trails, landmarks, etc. These will be of great value for our own future reference.
(6.) The experience of the field observers has shown the need for special methods to
determine more accurately the numbers of fish spawning and to show the presence of bodies
of fish not accessible to observation.
As has been reported before, experiments have been conducted at Cultus Lake with a view
to establishing a system by which the number of fish on a spawning-ground could be calculated indirectly by tagging a part of the run. These calculations at Cultus Lake could be
checked, as the number of fish in this area was known by actual count through a weir. In
1938 a proportion of the run was tagged and the calculated number of fish arrived at from
the proportion of tagged to untagged carcasses found on the spawning-grounds was remarkably near the known figure. This is the more encouraging, as in this area only a very small
fraction of the fish known to be present can actually be seen.
In 1939 this experiment was repeated on a much larger run of fish with equally satisfactory results.
In 1939, experiments were instituted in the Harrison-Lillooet River system with the
object of applying the methods developed at Cultus Lake to a determination of the sizes of
salmon populations in a large river system by means of marking. During the 1940 season
these studies were continued and modified on the basis of the results of the 1939 researches.
(7.) The collection and study of the voluminous records of all kinds which have to do
with the Fraser River run of sockeye are proceeding as outlined in the report for 1939. It is
an extensive task, but is proving well worth while. It cannot be completed for several years,
as it can be carried on only while other duties of the staff permit. As pointed out in the first
part of this report, this is one of the projects which it is most necessary to complete.
(8.) Cultus Lake. The capture of predatory fish, the counting into the lake of the adult
spawning sockeye and the counting out of the resulting fry were continued at Cultus Lake
in 1940.
The gill-nets used for the capture of predatory fish were worked continuously from February 5th to June 30th, during which time 4,292 coarse fish were removed from the lake. J 92 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
The first adult sockeye of the Cultus Lake run arrived at the counting weir on September
1st. The run continued in varying numbers until January 3rd, 1941, when the last sockeye
entered the lake. Altogether the run numbered 74,121 fish.
The number of first and second age-group seaward migrants counted out of the lake
was 1,374,938.
(9.) An experiment was conducted on the value of the various types of marks on finger-
ling sockeye. Groups of year-old sockeye were marked on January 11th, 1940, using an
electric cauterizing needle, and held in tanks at the University of Washington until April
27th, 1941. BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 93
REPORT ON INSPECTION OF SALMON-SPAWNING GROUNDS, 1940.
By J. A. Motherwell.
GENERAL.
An endeavour is made each year to have each salmon-stream inspected, although, in view
of the fact that there are in the vicinity of 800 such streams the task of a thorough inspection
in each case is often beyond the capabilities of the staff available.
Inspections are made with a view to ascertaining information under the following
headings:—
(1.) Intensity of Seeding.—It is necessary to know each year just how the seeding of
each variety of salmon compares with that of other years, particularly the brood-year. With
this information in hand it is usually possible to take any necessary measures in the later
cycle-years to correct depletion.
(2.) Obstructions to the Ascent of Salmon.—These include natural falls and rapids in the
several streams, the construction of power dams, or log-jams formed as a result of freshets or
logging operations.
(3.) Pollutions.—Under this heading come the effluents of pulp-mills, the discharge of
sawdust from sawmills, and the effluents from mining operations.
(4.) Enemies of Salmon.—These consist of bears, wolves, trout, gulls, ducks, eagles, and
other bird-life which prey on the spawning salmon.
(5.) Freshets.—In numerous parts of the Province, particularly the mountainous portions, heavy rains during the fall cause the streams and lakes to rise very rapidly, resulting
in a great outrush of water which often destroys the spawn which may have been deposited
by the salmon.
There are some areas where the conditions of the country are such as to preclude regular
inspections of the spawning areas. The upper portion of the Nass River system, for instance,
cannot receive the attention desired. This also applies to a section of the Skeena River watershed. Conditions of travel, from the standpoint of hazard to life, time consumed, and
expense, make these inspections prohibitive.
SOCKEYE.
Generally speaking, the supplies of sockeye found on the spawning-grounds this year were
entirely satisfactory, notwithstanding the poor catches in certain areas. The case of Rivers
Inlet is interesting in this connection as the commercial catch was small, but the conditions on
the spawning-grounds showed that without doubt an unusual proportion of the run passed
safely beyond the commercial fishing areas. In the Nass, Skeena, Bella Coola, and Rivers
Inlet areas there is every reason to believe that the sockeye runs were early and well under
way by the time fishing was opened on July 1st.
In the Chilko watershed of the Fraser River system an unusually large supply of spawning sockeye was observed. In the Barkley Sound and Nitinat areas, however, the spawning of
this variety was poor.
SPRINGS.
The supplies of this variety on the spawning-grounds were not as good as could be wished,
although in certain areas conditions were quite good.
COHOES.
The spawning of this variety was, generally speaking, unsatisfactory along the whole
coast. Off the west coast of Vancouver Island appeared the largest run of cohoes that could
be remembered in recent years, and the trailers obtained splendid catches well offshore.
PINKS.
The greatest disappointment was in these supplies, the pack being less than 50 per cent,
of what might reasonably have been expected. The conditions on the spawning-grounds in the
brood-year of 1938, in many areas, were excellent, but the return this year, for some unknown
reason, was largely a failure. Particular mention is made of the Bella Coola area, where, in J 94 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
1938, such an excellent spawning occurred. There were no serious freshets in that year and
spawning conditions generally were good. Notwithstanding this the return this year was
negligible. This was the " off " year, of course, for the Fraser River district.
CHUMS.
Notwithstanding the unusually intensive fishing for this variety of salmon, the spawning-
grounds, generally speaking, were well supplied.
More detailed descriptions of conditions found are as follows:'—
QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS.
All varieties of salmon, with the exception of sockeye, frequent this area in commercial
quantities. A few sockeye reach Masset Inlet and Copper River each season, but the
quantity is not sufficiently large to justify commercial operations.
The pink seeding in the Masset area is reported as being generally satisfactory, particularly in the Yakoun River, which is the largest stream in the area. It is suggested by the
local officer that this year's seeding is heavier than any since 1930. Most of the supply on the
spawning-grounds appears to have been from the late run as the earlier run was very intensively fished. In Juskatla Inlet, although there was no fishing there, the supply on the
spawning-grounds was found to be unsatisfactory. The supply on the Naden Harbour spawning-grounds was light. The seeding of the beds in the balance of the Queen Charlotte district
was poor. The cohoe-supply is reported to be poor in comparison with the spawning of other
years. Springs frequent the Yakoun River only and the runs showed a slight improvement.
The chum-supply in the Naden Harbour district was exceptionally good. That in the Masset
Inlet area, however, is reported as a failure. The creeks in the balance of the Queen Charlotte Islands, apart from the west coast, were satisfactorily seeded.
NASS AREA.
The early run of sockeye to the Meziadin Lake district, the principal spawning-ground,
was only medium, and the later run is reported as light. The escapement past the commercial
fishing area was reported as good and certainly much better than would appear from the
report of the Meziadin district. There are considerable portions of the Nass River district,
however, to which sockeye are known to proceed, but, due to the difficulty of travel, these have
not been inspected in recent years. It is very probable that these areas were well supplied,
particularly as the run, in common with some other areas, was early and was practically at its
height when fishing opened on July 1st.
The inspecting officers commented on the large size of the individual fish in this year's run.
The supply of springs in the Meziadin area was reported as only medium, although the
escapement past the upper river fishing boundary was a good average one. The cohoe run in
the Meziadin area had only commenced at the time of inspection, but the escapement past the
commercial boundaries is reported as having been very good. The seeding generally by this
variety might be termed medium. The pink spawning at Khutzeymateen Creek is reported as
being very good. This also applies to Ikgiik and Kincolith Creeks, and Quinnimas and Toon
Rivers. The seeding in other creeks was light. The chum seeding is reported as light also.
This has never been a prolific chum area.
The Meziadin fishway is reported as being in good condition and functioning satisfactorily.
SKEENA AREA.
The Inspector for the Babine district, the main spawning area, reports that taken as a
whole the sockeye run was a very heavy one and better than that of 1936. The highlights
were the heavy runs on the Babine and Fulton Rivers, as well as at Morrison Creek and
several other smaller streams. Apparently the spawning-beds at the Babine and Fulton
Rivers received the heaviest seeding for some years and the whole situation, in so far as
sockeye are concerned, in the Babine area is eminently satisfactory.
There was no doubt some loss of eggs in several of the more important streams, due to
the large quantities of spawning females which, as the later runs arrived, dug up the eggs of
those which had arrived previously. In addition, due to high-water conditions some further
loss is expected as eggs were deposited in portions of the creeks which went dry as soon as the BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 95
water dropped to normal condition. Notwithstanding these losses, however, there has evidently been an excellent seeding.
The sockeye-supplies on the spawning-grounds of the Lakelse Lake system, tributary to
the Skeena River, were also abundant, showing improvement over the cycle-years of 1935 and
1936. There was a heavy run of sockeye to the Morice Lake district. In the Ocstahl section
a good supply of sockeye was observed, an improvement over the cycle-years of 1935 and
1936. The seeding of springs was found to be not more than medium. In the Ocstahl section
the supply was adequate, however, but the seeding of the Morice Lake area is reported as
heavy. The cohoe run was light. This also applies to this variety in the Ocstahl and
Morice Lake systems.
The year under review was an " off " one for pinks in the Babine section of the system and
the quantity observed was stated by the inspecting officer to be medium, under the conditions.
In the Lakelse Lake section, however, the pinks were found to be abundant and the seeding
better than in the brood-year of 1938. In the Ocstahl system, whilst the quantity of pinks
was found to be only medium, yet it was an improvement over the brood-year of 1938. The
chum-supply in the Ocstahl system was found to be disappointing, although the Skeena
system has never been an important one for this variety.
It is interesting to remember that this season is the first which could be expected to show
the effects of the moving of the fishing boundary on the Skeena River 7 miles down towards
salt water. This conservation measure has undoubtedly been fully justified by results found
on the spawning-beds.
LOWE INLET AREA.
The sockeye-supply to most of the streams in this area is reported as lighter than usual.
The escapement, however, was larger in proportion to the catch. This was due to high-water
conditions. The cohoe-supply was found to be fairly good, particularly in the streams on the
west coast of Banks Island, although many streams in the area were poorly seeded. The pink
spawning in this area was also disappointing, particularly in the streams in the southern part
of the area, in the vicinity of Gil Island. The streams in the North Grenville and Ogden
Channel areas were much better than usual, although not as good as in 1938. Unless flood
conditions in 1938 are the cause, there is no apparent reason why this year's run of pinks
should not have been better. The chum-supply is reported as being fairly good, although the
streams in the Kitkatlah Inlet portion of the area will require some further protective
measures. This area is not a heavy producer of this variety.
BUTEDALE AREA.
The weather in this area was reported as the wettest season on record. This would, of
course, cause flooding in the salmon-spawning streams, and possibly some damage to the eggs.
It also made the examination of the spawning areas difficult.
The sockeye spawning was found to be normal and compared favourably with the brood-
year of 1936. The escapement to Kwakwa Inlet spawning-grounds was particularly heavy.
The spring-supply was slightly better, but the run of this variety is not of much importance
in the area. On the other hand the cohoe spawning is reported as being very satisfactory.
In the case of the pinks, for some unknown reason, the supply was the smallest on record for
an " even " year. This applies particularly to the northern part of the area, the southern
portion being considerably better. Some streams received quite heavy supplies. The chum
seeding was found to be poor, with the exception of a few streams.
BELLA BELLA AREA.
The escapement of sockeye, cohoe, and pink salmon to this area was light during the
season under review, notwithstanding the unusual curtailment of fishing-time. Out of forty-
three salmon-streams inspected the only exceptions were Tinkey River where a heavy escapement of sockeye was found, Gull Chuck and Howyet Rivers, with a heavy escapement of cohoe,
and Koeye River with a medium escapement of pinks. The chum-supply was also found to be
light, although after the fishing season closed there was a further run which proceeded
unmolested to the spawning-grounds.
It will be remembered that although 1938 was what is known as an " off " year for pink
salmon in this area, the escapement was quite heavy and the spawning-beds in all streams of J 96 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
importance were reported as being well seeded with spawning pinks. In view of this fact
it is difficult to understand the shortage this year.
BELLA COOLA AREA.
The sockeye spawning is reported as being very satisfactory and a substantial increase
over that of the brood-year. This probably is due largely to the fact that the run was early
and that by the time fishing opened the run was at the height, permitting a large escapement,
unmolested by fishing operations. An unusually abundant supply of spring salmon was also
found. The cohoe seeding was normal, with the usual run passing safely up-stream after the
fishing was over. In the case of the pinks, the spawning was found to be most disappointing,
notwithstanding that fishing operations were not intensive. This is not understood, in view
of the good spawning conditions in the brood-year of 1938. In the ease of Quatna River, for
instance, specifically mentioned by the inspecting officer, notwithstanding excellent spawning
facilities and an abundant seeding in 1938, with no freshet damage and very little fishing in
the vicinity this year, the run was a failure. The chum-supply was found to be very fair but
not up to expectations. Most of the smaller streams were well supplied, however.
Up to November 1st no appreciable flood damage had been observed in the area.
RIVERS INLET AREA.
Notwithstanding a most disappointing commercial catch of sockeye, conditions on the
spawning-grounds were found to be excellent. Possibly the seeding was not as good as the
splendid conditions obtaining in 1935 and 1936, but decidedly satisfactory. Particularly good
supplies were found at Waukwash, Shumahault, Quap, and Whonnock Rivers. Speaking of
the Quap, the inspecting officer states, " The river was loaded from stem to stern." The run
appeared to have been at its peak when fishing opened on June 29th.
There was a very heavy flood between October 17th and 20th, resulting in the lake rising
to such a height that there was 4 feet of water on the floor of the old hatchery building. Due
to the early date and the low-water conditions in the lake before the freshet, it is estimated
that the detrimental effect on the spawning was of a minor degree.
A great proportion of the spawning salmon were found to be very large individually; in
fact, the inspecting officer reports that he is satisfied the average size of mesh used in sockeye-
fishing in Rivers Inlet during the season could not have gilled these large specimens. Many
were found showing net-marks, indicating that their progress towards the spawning-grounds
had been interrupted temporarily.
The serious floods of 1936 obviously affected the four-year cycle.
It was found that the Waukwash River, which, some years ago had changed its course
near the mouth with the possibility of some detrimental effect on spawning conditions in
future years, had returned to its original channel and is now as good a spawning-stream
as ever.
The supplies of fish on the spawning-grounds of the several streams entering directly into
Rivers Inlet were found to be only fairly satisfactory. This refers to cohoes, pinks, and
chums.
SMITH INLET AREA.
The remarks regarding Rivers Inlet apply largely to this area also, for notwithstanding
the disappointing commercial catch the escapement and spawning of sockeye was good. In
the Geluck River sockeye were reported as being present on every bar in good numbers. The
fish here also were found to be large in size individually. The Delabah River, the other
important sockeye-stream, was well seeded.
The cohoe seeding in the area was poor but the pink seeding in Nekite River was good.
A heavy escapement of chums to the Takusk River was found. This is the principal chum-
spawning area in the district.
FRASER RIVER WATERSHED.
Prince George Area.—Whilst the quantity of sockeye observed on the spawning-grounds
was found to be still few compared with the quantities of years ago, yet this season's spawning
showed an improvement over that of the brood-year. The fish were in good physical condition
on arrival, although many were reported as being three-year-olds. The inspecting officer BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 97
mentions a large increase in the number of spring salmon this year in the main spawning-beds
of the Stuart and Nechako Rivers.
Quesnel Area.—A satisfactory increase in the number of sockeye spawners over the
brood-year is reported in both the Bowron River and Chilco Lake systems. The increase at
these points is estimated at 300 per cent.
The outstanding feature of the 1940 sockeye spawning conditions on the Fraser system is
the abundant supply observed in the Chilco Lake area. In the brood-year of 1936 it is estimated that 74,000 sockeye spawned in the system, but in the year under review the total was
close to 350,000. Conditions in the rivers on the way to the spawning-beds were apparently
good as the spawning fish arrived in excellent condition. The spring-salmon supply was
normal.
Kamloops Area.—At Raft River the seeding of sockeye was excellent. It is possible,
however, that some damage may have been done by the freshet which occurred after the eggs
had been deposited. At Adams River and Little River the spawning was heavier than in the
brood-year of 1936. The seeding of springs was estimated to be normal, but the cohoe-supply
was not up to expectations.
Pemberton Area.—It is estimated that 20,000 sockeye reached the spawning-grounds in
the Birkenhead River. This was a decrease of approximately 50 per cent, from that of the
brood-year.
Sockeye returned to the Anderson-Seton Lake system again, although not in as large
numbers as in the brood-year. The supply of springs was normal. This also applies to the
cohoe species. The run of chums to the Squamish River showed in smaller numbers than in
recent seasons, yet it is expected that the seeding will be adequate. Freshet conditions may,
however, have resulted in some loss of eggs.
Hope Area.—A normal seeding of sockeye was observed in Coquihalla River and Spuzzunl
Creek. Cohoes and chums were found in fair numbers. Steelheads were numerous. Conditions at Hell's Gate were reasonably good and although, as usual, salmon were delayed from
time to time for short periods, there appears no reason to believe that they did not all succeed
in passing beyond this point.
Chilliwack Area.—The main sockeye portion of this area is the Cultus Lake system, where
approximately 74,000 spawning fish were counted over the fence operated by the International
Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission. This run was the result of the hatchery operations in
1936, when all sockeye were spawned by the hatchery staff, none being permitted to spawn
naturally. The supply of springs was normal and the cohoe fair. This also applies to the
chums. The steelhead trout seeding was very good.
Harrison Lake Area.—A good spawning of sockeye was observed in Silver Creek and
Morris Creek and at the rapids in Harrison River. These supplies show an improvement over
those of recent years. The spring, cohoe, and chum seeding cannot be considered as satisfactory.
Pitt Lake Area.—The seeding of sockeye showed an improvement over that of the brood-
year and spawning conditions were favourable. Normal supplies of springs, cohoes, and
chums were observed.
Lower Fraser Area.—In the several streams such as the Alouette, Coquitlam, Bear, and
Salmon Rivers, emptying into the lower portion of the Fraser River, the cohoe-supply was
found to be disappointing. The chum seeding was also not up to expectations.
North Vancouver Area.—The cohoe spawning was fair, and although the quantity of
chums appearing was not as great as expected, yet the seeding was reasonably satisfactory.
A great improvement was observed in the chum-supply at Nelson Creek, where a large boulder
which had obstructed the passage of the fish last year had been removed. The seeding of
steelheads was not up to expectations.
ALERT BAY AREA.
The sockeye spawning-beds were heavily seeded in the Nimpkish River, which is the most
important stream in the district. Conditions here were quite equal to the satisfactory ones
of the brood-year of 1936. The run to Fulmore River, Port Neville, did not compare with the
unusually heavy run of 1936. In the other sockeye-streams, such as Keogh, McKenzie, and
Kahweiken Rivers, the supplies were normal, but at Nahwitti and Shushartie Rivers, light.
At Kleena Kleene River, head of Knight Inlet, the largest quantity yet observed was found, although this is not a particularly important sockeye-stream. Sockeye-spawning conditions,
generally, over the district were satisfactory.
The supply of springs was somewhat better than that of the brood-year, except at Adams
River where a decrease was found.
A heavy supply of pinks was observed at Kingcome, Adams, Glendale, and Quatse Rivers,
and Embley Lagoon. A slight increase over the brood-year was also found at Bond Sound,
Thompson Sound, and Wakna Cove. The supplies at Shushartie River, Cache Creek, Kluck-
sivi, Hoeye, and Wakeman Rivers were again light.
The spawning of cohoes was satisfactory at practically all streams on the mainland portion of the district, except at Wakeman and Kingcome Rivers. The spawning in the first-
mentioned streams was estimated at 50 per cent, better than in that of the year 1937. In the
streams on the Vancouver Island side an increase of at least 25 per cent, over the spawning
of 1937 was observed.
Chums were found to be plentiful on the spawning-grounds with heavy supplies at Nimp-
kish, Fulmore, Bond, and Glendale Rivers, and in practically all streams in Seymour Inlet.
Medium supplies are reported at most other streams, with good spawning conditions.
As the fishing operations were concentrated largely in the Broughton and Johnstone
Straits portions of the Alert Bay area, distant from the spawning-streams, the escapement to
the numerous streams was very good.
QUATHIASKI AREA.
An excellent supply of spawning sockeye was found on the Hayden Bay spawning-beds
and a very good one at Phillips Arm. The improvement in both areas over that of the brood-
year was very considerable. A normal supply of springs was observed. The cohoe-supply
was found to be rather light. Pinks were definitely scarce, particularly in view of the fact
that 1940 appeared to have been a good year. The exceptions were Bear River and the
stream entering into Grassie Bay. A very heavy seeding of chums is reported in all streams.
COMOX AREA.
The seeding of springs is reported as much lighter than that of an average year. The
cohoe seeding is reported as being only medium, but definitely better than that of 1937. This
system does not appear to have yet fully recovered from the severe freshets of 1934. At
Oyster and Puntledge Rivers and all streams flowing into Baynes Sound the supply was light.
At Tsolum, Big and Little Qualicum, and Englishman Rivers the cohoe-supplies were found to
be good. The chum seeding is described as light, with the exception of Englishman River
and French Creek where the supplies were found to be satisfactory, and at Little Qualicum
with a reported heavy seeding and Big Qualicum with an exceptionally heavy seeding.
Apparently the steelhead runs in this sub-district are being well maintained.
PENDER HARBOUR AREA.
Whilst this is not a prolific sockeye area, yet, an unusually abundant seeding was found
in the Saginaw Lake system. The cohoe-supply was found to be, generally speaking, normal,
with a slight increase in Sliammon River. The supply of springs was light. The year under
review was an " off " one for the pink variety in this area. An excellent supply of chums was
observed throughout the district, especially to the Sliammon River system.
NANAIMO AREA.
In the various small streams lying between Englishman River and Nanaimo the return
of parent cohoes was about the same as during the brood-year. This also applies to chum
salmon and steelhead.
LADYSMITH AREA.
The seeding of springs was found to be normal and that of cohoes quite satisfactory.
This is not a pink area. The chum seeding was found to be adequate.
COWICHAN AREA.
The seeding of springs is reported as being an improvement over that of 1939 and fully
equal to a good average year. This is particularly satisfactory in view of the mortality BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 99
amongst this variety in the Cowichan Bay area, due to conditions which were the subject, of
an investigation by the officers of the Fisheries Research Board.
The supply of cohoes was found to be normal, and whilst the chum seeding was not as
heavy as that of the preceding season it is considered satisfactory. The steelhead seeding is
reported as being very good. The inspecting officer states that it is evident the annual runs
of this variety are not only being well maintained but are increasing noticeably.
VICTORIA AREA.
The only varieties frequenting this sub-district in commercial quantities are the cohoes
and chums. The seeding of the former variety was somewhat lighter than that of the
average year, but supplies of the latter variety were found to be satisfactory. The steelhead
seeding was normal.
ALBERNI AREA.
The watersheds frequented by sockeye salmon are those of the Somass, Anderson, and
Hobarton Rivers. The supplies in the first-mentioned area are reported as being very disappointing compared with the brood-year of 1936. This is not understood in view of the good
seeding four years ago. The same remarks apply to Anderson River and Lake where the
seeding was found to be very poor. Very similar conditions obtained at Hobarton River.
The seeding of springs is reported as being very satisfactory, with the exception of the
Nitinat. The cohoe seeding is reported as being exceptionally good this year in the streams
generally frequented by this variety, such as the Somass, Nahmint, Toquart, Sarita, San Juan,
and Nitinat. The chum-supply was very disappointing, notwithstanding the heavy seeding of
four years ago.
CLAYOQUOT AREA.
The sockeye seeding in the Clayoquot River portion of the Kennedy Lake area is reported
as being very satisfactory, corresponding with that of the exceptionally heavy run of the
brood-year of 1936. In the Elk River, a tributary, the supplies were not so large, but adequate. The Medgin River spawning was normal. The seeding of springs is reported as good.
The inspecting officer reports that this variety has been on the increase during the last two
years. The cohoe seeding was very good. The chum seeding is reported as being satisfactory, far ahead of that of last year, and compared well with the seeding of the brood-year.
NOOTKA AREA.
The spring-supply was found to be only fair, and although the cohoe seeding is usually
small in this area the 1940 supply was satisfactory. The chum run is the most important in
this area but in the season under review the seeding was found to be disappointing, particularly after the excellent seeding of 1936. Unusual conservation measures permitted a
good percentage of the run to pass to the spawning-grounds.
KYUQUOT AREA.
The sockeye run to this area is not of commercial importance. The seeding of springs
was found to be a fair average. This also applies to the cohoes. The chum seeding was
found to be disappointing as in the brood-year the seeding was good.
QUATSINO AREA.
The small sockeye run to this area is of little commercial value. In the Marble Creek
watershed, to which 75 per cent, of the springs in this area run the seeding was found to be
above average. The pink-supply was not as good as usual, with the exception of Rupert
Creek, where they are reported as being very heavy, and in East Creek and Klashkish River,
where the seeding is also reported as heavy. The chum run was below normal but the escapement, due to special conservation measures, was an average one. J 100 REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BRITISH COLUMBIA SALT-FISH BOARD,
1940-41 SEASON.
We have the honour to submit herewith the report in respect to the marketing conditions
obtaining for dry-salt salmon and dry-salt herring during the 1940-41 season; these products
being controlled for marketing purposes by a scheme under the " Natural Products Marketing
(British Columbia) Act," and administered by this Board.
ORGANIZATION.
The following appointments to the Board were recorded at a meeting held in Vancouver
on September 20th, 1940 :—
Appointed to represent the Meal, Oil, and Salt-fish section of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association (British Columbia Division) :—
Mr. R. Nelson, 325 Howe Street, Vancouver, B.C., and Mr. G. R. Clark, foot of Gore
Avenue, Vancouver, B.C.
Alternates: Mr. S. M. Rosenberg, 525 Seymour Street, Vancouver, B.C., and Mr.
A. J. McCallum, Wall Street Fish Dock, Seattle, Wash.
Appointed to represent the Canadian Salt Herring Exporters, Limited:—
Mr. K. Kimura, 217 Dunlevy Avenue, Vancouver, B.C., and Mr. R. Suzumoto, 193
Hastings Street East, Vancouver, B.C.
Alternates: Mr. T. Matsuyama, 467 Powell Street, Vancouver, B.C., and Mr. T.
Takenaka, 219 Dunlevy Avenue, Vancouver, B.C.
Mr. Hugh Dalton, of Vancouver, B.C., was reappointed by the Commissioner of Fisheries,
under date of August 22nd, 1940, as Chairman of the Marketing Board, as from October 1st,
1940, to September 30th, 1941. Mr. J. B. Sutherland, 608 Marine Building, Vancouver, B.C.,
was appointed Secretary.
During the period under review, a total of six meetings were held. The Chairman and
Messrs. Nelson, Clark, and Kimura attended all meetings; Mr. Matsuyama attending one.
The marketing agencies appointed by the Board for the season were:—
Producers' Salt Fish Sales, Limited, 608 Marine Building, Vancouver, B.C.
Canadian Salt Herring Exporters, Limited, 217 Dunlevy Avenue, Vancouver, B.C.
GENERAL MARKET SITUATION.
During previous seasons, considerable effort was made to find markets for the products
under control of the Board in the South Sea Islands, Singapore, and Central and South
America; but it was the general opinion of the Board, in view of correspondence received
from firms in these markets and from the offices of the Canadian Government Trade Commissioners, that it did not appear that any of these markets were suitable for our product,
with the possible exception of Singapore and Panama.
It was felt that further efforts should be made in these two countries if conditions
warranted them later on during the season.
An inquiry was received during the season from the Canadian Government Trade Commissioner in Singapore for a quotation on 50 tons of dry-salt herring in the style of packing
common to that market. Due to the large extra cost involved in this type of packing and the
very high freight rate to that market, the Board could not see its way clear to authorizing a
quotation of less than U.S. $60, c.i.f. Singapore, war risk insurance and any increase in the
freight for buyers' account.
The Board cabled this price, but no interest was evinced by the buyers and consequently
no business was done.
The Board was advised by Mr. Kimura that the Japanese Government had allotted
approximately 500,000 yen for the purchase of dry-salt herring; but that efforts were being
made by the importers to have this amount increased. The Board was further advised that
the Japanese Government would control the retail price at which dry-salt herring would be
sold in Japan.
In addition to Japan, it appeared that a certain tonnage of dry-salt herring could be sold
through Shanghai.
As far as Hong Kong was concerned, the buyers displayed little, if any, interest. BRITISH COLUMBIA. J 101
In so far as dry-salt salmon was concerned, while the Board understood that the Japanese
Government were prepared to establish credits, inasmuch as the Provincial Government had
decided not to issue licences for the salting of salmon, no negotiations were carried on in this
direction.
Saltery licences were issued by the Provincial Government to the following firms:
B.C. Fish Salteries, Limited, Otter Bay, and Canadian Saltery, Limited, North Galiano
Island. Plant registration certificates were accordingly issued to these two companies by
the Board.
The Board decided that tolls on herring should be the same as last year; namely, 15 cents
per box.
DRY-SALT HERRING.
China.
After considerable cabling with the Canadian Government Trade Commissioner at
Shanghai, it was agreed that we should indicate a price of U.S. $40 a ton, c.i.f. Shanghai;
any increase in freight or war risk insurance to be for buyers' account: this on an indication
that Shanghai would take approximately 1,000 tons. Buyers in Shanghai countered with a
price of U.S. $35 per ton, on 1,250 tons. The Board then countered with an offer of U.S.
$37.50 for a minimum of 1,250 tons. After a further exchange of cables, on October 8th
definite orders were received and accepted for 1,000 tons at a price of U.S. $37.50, c.i.f.
Shanghai.
This order was received from Dodwell & Company for 500 tons and the China Union
Trading Company for 500 tons, to be purchased through their brokers, Messrs. Powell &
Russell and Messrs. Shafer-Haggart, Limited, respectively. One stipulation of this order was
that no further direct shipments should be made to Shanghai within thirty days of our final
shipment in early December.
In late November it was necessary to cable the Canadian Government Trade Commissioner in Shanghai, advising him that the two ships, the " Talthybius " and the " Ixion,"
which we had contemplated using for space, had been commandeered by the British Ministry
of Shipping and that it would likely be necessary to ship on a Japanese boat. In this case
the Board would try to persuade the shipping company to continue on to Shanghai, rather
than to have the cargo transhipped at Kobe, where it might possibly lie for some considerable
time on the docks.
It was also pointed out that it might be possible to ship direct to Shanghai on an
American Mail Line boat, but this would mean that the ship would not go until some time
in January and that the freight would be in U.S. funds, which would increase the price to
the buyers; also the Board could not guarantee to make no further shipments within thirty
days, as would be the case if shipment was made on a Japanese vessel which would sail in
December.
The buyers replied that they were willing to have the shipment go forward on a Japanese
vessel, provided that direct shipment was made; and also advised that January shipment
would be too late for the market.
The Board exerted every effort they could to induce the shipping company to go direct
to Shanghai, but eventually were forced to advise the buyers in Shanghai that the best
arrangement that could be effected was transhipment at Kobe; and that the Japanese steamship line would give an undertaking that the transhipment would be properly handled. The
Board further guaranteed to extend their thirty-day undertaking to cover this shipment.
This was satisfactory, in view of all conditions prevailing, to the buyers; and shipment
was made accordingly of this 1,000 tons, or 5,000 boxes. In addition, a further quantity of
600 boxes was also shipped at the same time to the Union Trading Company, Hong Kong.
After the expiry of the thirty-day clause, a further shipment of 1,250 boxes was made to
Shanghai through Mitsui Bussan Kaisha, at the same price as the previous shipments. This
meant that a total of 6,850 boxes was shipped to the China market.
Advice from the Canadian Government Trade Commissioner was received earlier this
year to the effect that everything went very well for the buyers in Shanghai, and that all
business for this season had been cleared up quite satisfactorily.
During the season an inquiry was received from the Canadian Government Trade Commissioner from one of the buyers in Shanghai, who thought that there might be a possibility J 102
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
of a market in that territory for dry-salt salmon-heads. Two boxes of these were packed
and forwarded to Shanghai, but the report of the Canadian Government Trade Commissioner
was that they were a rather unsatisfactory proposition, as compared with the dry-salt herring,
and that unless they could be sold at a very much lower price than salt herring it did not
appear that there was any likelihood of developing a market.
In view of the fact that these heads have a market here in the reduction plants, it was
not felt that it would be possible to develop this business.
Japan.
After the Board had advised the Japanese Government through the Canadian Legation
in Japan that it was imperative that the Japanese Government state the amount of exchange
they would allot for the purchase of dry-salt herring from British Columbia at the earliest
moment, in view of the fact that much tonnage of herring was being caught and canned for
the United Kingdom requirements, we were advised by the Canadian Legation that they had
been informed that credit would be established for Japanese requirements.
The Board set a price of U.S. $28.50 on the same terms as the previous year; namely,
U.S. $28.50, f.o.b. Vancouver, including 25 per cent, of the ocean freight prepaid. The credit
was established, in the amount of 421,000 yen, and shipment was made to the extent of
17,358 boxes. In addition to this, 25 boxes of dry-salt herring were shipped as a gift by the
Canadian Japanese Citizens' Association and the Steveston Young Men's Buddhist Association
for charitable purposes in Japan.
TSINGTAO.
The market in Tsingtao took 400 tons—i.e., 2,000 boxes—at the price set by the Board
for that market, of U.S. $28.50, f.o.b. Vancouver, including 25 per cent, of the ocean freight
prepaid, plus transhipment charges for the buyers' account.
A total of 26,234 boxes, or 5,246% tons, was shipped during the season under review.
It is the desire of the British Columbia Salt-fish Board to take this opportunity of
thanking the Canadian Government Trade Commissioners and the staff of the Canadian
Legation at Tokio for their continued invaluable assistance during the past season. We
would also like to express our appreciation at this time for the co-operation received from the
Provincial Department of Fisheries, which has been of great assistance to the Board in
discharging its duties.
Respectfully submitted.
BRITISH COLUMBIA SALT-FISH BOARD.
Hugh Dalton, Chairman.
T. Takenaka, Member.
K. Kimura, Member.
G. R. Clark, Member.
R. Nelson, Member.
J. B. Sutherland,
Secretary.
Vancouver, B.C., August 13th, 1941- BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 103
PACK OF BRITISH COLUMBIA SALMON, SEASON 1940.
Showing the Origin of Salmon caught in each District.
District.
Sockeye.
Springs.
Steelheads.
Cohoes.
Pinks.
Chums.
Grand Total
(Cases).
99,009
16
13,809
116,507
63,469
25,947
32,042
15,177
426
4,504
62
1,716
6,118
1,226
142
1,518
2,454
145
117
133
55
37
506
214
13,028
8,897
10,060
20,614
H.561
1,102
49,886
88,885
20,489
12
44,966
29,278
47,301
3,329
755
54,478
33,785
35,665
164,911
5,461
4,682
9,025
6,015
135,802
279,064
2,816
152,363
218,852
60,441
195,355
88,665
33,998
274,232
419,579
23,731
Smith Inlet.
Totals
366,402
17,740
1,207
224,522
213,904
643,441
1,467,216
* 23,277 cases of bluebacks are included with the cohoe-pack for Vancouver Island.
STATEMENT SHOWING THE SALMON-PACK OF THE PROVINCE, BY
DISTRICTS AND SPECIES, FROM 1925 TO 1940, INCLUSIVE.
Fraser River.
1940.
1939.
1938.
1937.
1936.
1935.
1934.
1933.
99,009
3,725
779
35,665
12
13,028
145
54,296
4,426
1,567
30,150
95,176
13,557
69
186,794
3,754
554
58,778
63
27,127
14
100,272
3,706
1,738
20,878
94,010
11.244
184,864
6,675
8,451
31,565
28,716
62,822
4,205
5,196
8,227
111,328
24,950
139,238
5,150
11,068
104,092
2,199
11,392
52,465
5,579
Chums
Pinks ."....
Cohoes —
34,391
92,746
13,901
Totals
152,363
199,241
277,084
231,848
260,261
216,728
273,139
199,082
1932.
1931.
1930.
1929.
1928.
1927.
1926.
1925.
Sockeyes
Springs, Red —
65,769
18,298
10,403
14,948
385
16,815
23
40,947
9,740
103,692
11,366
9,761
68,946
30,754
25,585
27,879
61,569
3,305
6,699
144,169
158,208
40,520
12,013
29,299
1,173
3,909
193,106
2,881
27,061
795
61,393
7,926
10,528
67,259
102,536
24,079
10,658
85,689
12,783
20,169
88,495
32,256
21,783
13,776
35,385
7,989
25.701
251
13,307
8,165
657
66,111
99,800
36,717
5,152
Cohoes —
Steelheads
Totals
126,641
73,067
277,983
426,473
258,224
284,378
274,951
276,865 J 104
REPORT OF PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
STATEMENT SHOWING THE SALMON-PACK OF THE PROVINCE, BY
DISTRICTS AND SPECIES, FROM 1925 TO 1940, INCLUSIVE—Contd.
Skeena River.
1940.
1939.
1938.
1937.
1936.
1935.
1934.
1933.
Sockeyes -
116,507
6,118
4,682
47,301
20,614
133
68,485
4,857
7,773
95,236
29,198
55
47,257
4,318
16,758
69,610
52,821
42
42,491
4,401
10,811
59,400
15,514
21
81,973
4,5511
15,2971
91,389
25,390
33
52,879
4,039
8,122
81.868
23,498
14
70.655
8,300
24,388
126,163
54,456
114
30,506
3,297
Chums — —
Pinks ,
15,714
95,783
39,896
267
Totals.—
195,355
205,604
190,806
132,638
218,634
170,420
284,096
185,463
1932.
1931.
1930.
1929.
1928.
1927.
1926.
1925.
59,916
28,269
38,549
58,261
48,312
404
93,023
9,857
3,893
44,807
10,637
768
132,372
7,501
5,187
275,642
29,617
58
78,017
4,324
4,908
95,305
37,678
13
34,559
6,420
17,716
209,579
30,194
241
83,996
19,038
19,006
38,768
26,326
582
82,360
30,694
63,527
210,081
30,208
754
81,146
23,445
Chums — -
Pinks
74,308
130,079
39,168
713
Totals
233,711
162,986
450,377
220,245
298,709
187,716
407,624
348,859
Rivers Inlet.
1940.
1939.
1938.
1937.
1936.
1935.
1934.
1933.
Sockeyes —
63,469
1,226
9,025
3,329
11.561
55
54,143
745
5,462
12,095
10,974
83
87,942
1,209
7,759
9,063
16,285
105
84,832
917
9,415
7,536
6,012
70
46,351
5811
11,505
6,4321
7,1221
19
135,038
429
7,136
4.554
8,375
39
76,923
436
895
2,815
4,852
79
83,507
449
Chums —
Pinks
677
5,059
3,446
82
Totals
88,665
83,502
122,363
108,782
72,0111
155,571
86,000
93,220
1932.
1931.
1930.
1929.
1928.
1927.
1926.
1925.
Sockeyes
69,732
459
944
3,483
7,062
29
76,428
325
429
5,089
6,571
32
119,170
434
492
18,023
756
105
70,260
342
989
2,386
1,120
29
60,044
468
3,594
16,546
868
7
65,269
608
1,122
671
2,094
9
65,581
685
11,727
12,815
7,286
11
192,323*
496
Chums -
Pinks.
Cohoes - -
11,510
8,625
4,946
Totals
81,709
88,874
138,980
75,126
81,527
69,773
98,105
217,900
* Including 40,000 cases caught in Smith Inlet and 20,813 cases packed at Namu. BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 105
STATEMENT SHOWING THE SALMON-PACK OF THE PROVINCE, BY
DISTRICTS AND SPECIES, FROM 1925 TO 1940, INCLUSIVE—Contd.
Smith Inlet, 1926-40.*
1940.
1939.
1938.
1937.
1936.
1935.
1934.
1933.
Sockeyes—
Springs, Red
Springs, White
Cohoes
Pinks
25,947
116
26
1,102
755
6,015
37
17,833
44
171
3,880
3,978
2,771
50
33,894
68
25,258
21
12,788
2
28
310
65
1,653
42
31,648
214
2
1,201
4,412
12,427
24
14,607
164
3,941
6,953
15,548
43
37,369
354
1,058
1,761
8,076
64
241
483
9,494
5
5,068
19,995
8,841
Steelheads— '
87
Totals
33,998
28,727
44,921
35,502
_]
14,888
_J
49,928
41,256
71,714
1932.
1931.
1930.
1929.
1928.
1927.
1926.
25,488
46
2
273
1,148
165
20
12,867
122
32,057
268
22
1,460
16,615
1,660
103
9,683
18
60
275
853
113
12
33,442
108
178
230
167
19
6
22,682
270
79
2,990
732
2,605
8
17,921
73
39
112
824
133
36
164
689
31
Totals.
27,142
14,094
62,185
1
11,014
34,150
29,366
18,917
* Previously reported in Queen Charlotte and other Districts.
Nass River, 1925-40.
1940.
1939.
1938.
1937.
1936.
1935.
1934.
1933.
Sockeyes
13,809
1,716
5,461
29,278
10,060
117
24,357
708
2,500
26,370
1,996
15
21,462
773
15,911
61,477
14,159
188
17,567
1,251
10,080
8,031
12,067
46
28,5621
2,167
20,6201
76,8871
11,842
496
12,712
560
17,481
25,508
21,810
143
28,701
654
2,648
32,964
9,935
311
9,757
1,296
1,775
Pinks
44,306
3,251
60,441
55,946
113,970
49,042
139,5751
78,214
75,213
60,434
1932.
1931.
1930.
1929.
1928.
1927.
1926.
1925.
Sockeyes
14,154
4,408
14,515
44,629
7,955
10
16,929
1,439
392
5,178
8,943
26,405
1,891
3,978
79,976
1,126
84
16,077
352
1,212
10,342
1,202
5,540
1,846
3,538
83,183
10,734
Sfi
12,026
3.824
3,307
16,609
3,966
9fi
15,929
5,964
15,392
50,815
4,274
375
18,945
3,757
22,504
35,530
8,027
Pinks
Totals
85,671
32,881
113,460
29,185
104,877
39,828
92,749
89,008 J 106
REPORT OP PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
STATEMENT SHOWING THE SALMON-PACK OF THE PROVINCE, BY
DISTRICTS AND SPECIES, FROM 1925 TO 1940, INCLUSIVE—Contd.
Vancouver Island District, 1927-40.
1940.
1939.
1938.
1937.
1936.
1935.
1934.
Sockeyes—
15,177
2,454
279,064
33,785
88,885
214
16,259
2,889
212,949
235,119
123,388
132
27,965
4,254
266,566
70,108
62,054
27,607
25,427
2,359
203,900
318,780
52,244
88
32,6961
6,340
347,951
82,0281
90,625
105
22,928
6,525
143,960
191,627
104,366
21
27,282
1,630
210,239
Pinks -
54,526
78,670
Totals -
419,579
590,736
458,554
608,798
559,746
469,427
372,347
1933.
1932.
1931.
1930.
1929.
1928.
1927.
18,397
4,875
96,642
172,945
60,019
147
27,611
10,559
70,629
33,403
35,132
28,596
22,199
4,055
16,329
81,965
26,310
24,638
24,784
3,431
177,856
89,941
30,206
14,177
10,340
1,645
162,246
74,001
35,504
11,118
14,248
2,269
303.474
41,885
23,345
5,249
24,836
6,769
220.270
Pinks
Cohoes .... ...
52,561
58,834
10,194
Totals
353,025
205,930
175,541
340,395
294,854
390,470
373,463
* 23,277 cases of bluebacks are included with the cohoe-pack for Vancouver Island.
Queen Charlotte Islands, 1932-40.
1940.
1939.
1938.
1937.
1936.
1935.
1934.
1933.
1932.
16
62
164,911
44,966
8,897
1
36
45,519
2,123
3,020
179
66
40,882
57,952
16,616
2
140
72,689
13
4,631
85
227
69,304
89,355
19,920
3,575
6,988
63
86,298
1,479
5,461
258
38,062
53,398
8,315
278
358
2,415
3,805
Totals -
218,852
50,699
115,695
77,475
178,891
93,301
100,033
10,563
6,856
Central Area, 1932-40.
1940.
1939.
1938.
1937.
1936.
1935.
1934.
1933.
1932.
Sockeyes
Springs
32,042
1,518
135,802
54,478
49,886
506
26,158
655
79,384
150,498
44,426
392
36,178
540
127,089
130,842
56,716
433
29,987
1,641
110,493
97,321
25,009
614
27,499
830
99,592
246,378
45,824
373
32,417
687
125,953
94,190
41,831
355
20,438
2,116
117,309
157,336
53,850
733
26,106
841
128,602
101,701
33,471
827
21,685
3,236
166,653
Pinks
80,034
41,172
591
Totals -
274,232
301,513
351,798
265,065
420,496
295,433
351,782
291,548
313,371 BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 107
STATEMENT SHOWING THE SALMON-PACK OF THE PROVINCE, BY
DISTRICTS AND SPECIES, FROM 1925 TO 1940, INCLUSIVE—Contd.
Total packed by Districts in 1925 to 1940, inclusive.
1940.
1939.
1938.
1937.
1936.
1935.
1934.
1933.
152,363
195,355
88,665
33,998
60,441
419,579
516,815
199,241
205,604
83,502
28,727
55,946
590,736
375,307
277,084
223,413
122,363
44,921
113,970
458,554
467,493
231,848
133,165
108,782
35,502
49,042
608,798
342,350
260,261
218,634
72,0111
14,888
139,5751
559,7461
699,387
216,728
170,420
155,571
49,928
78,214
469,427
388,734
273,139
284,096
86,000
41,256
75,213
372,347
451,815
199,082
185,463
93,220
Smith Inlet
71,714
60,434
Vancouver Island .—
353,025
302,111
1,467,216
1,539,063
1,707,798*
l,509,677t
1,864,5031
1,629,022
1,583,866
1,265.049
1932.
1931.
1930.
1929.
1928.
1927.
1926.
1925.
Fraser
Skeena—
126,641
233,711
81,709
27,142
85,671
205,930
320,227
73,067
162,986
88,874
14,094
32,881
175,541
137,661
277,983
450,377
138,980
52,185
113,460
340,395
848,439
426,473
220,245
75,126
11,014
29,185
294,854
341,873
258,224
298,709
81,527
34,150
104,877
390,470
901,822
284,378
187,716
69,773
29,366
39,828
373,463
405,476
274,951
407,524
98,105
18,917
92,749
347,722
844,139*
276,855
348,859
217,900
Smith Inlet
33,998
89,008
Vancouver Island
263,904
522,756
1,081,031
685,104
2,221,819
1,398,770
2,035,629
1,360,634
2,065,190
1,719,282
* Including 17,921 cases of sockeye packed at Smith Inlet.
t Including 527 cases of Alaska cohoe packed at Skeena River.
$ Including 6,779 cases of Alaska sockeye and 26,828 cases of Alaska cohoe packed at Skeena River.
STATEMENT SHOWING THE SOCKEYE-PACK OF THE ENTIRE
FRASER RIVER SYSTEM FROM 1894 TO 1940, INCLUSIVE.
1894.
1895.
1896.
1897.
1898.
1899.
1900.
1901.
1902.
1903.
Fraser River, B.C.
State of Washington
363,967
41,781
395,984
65,143
356,984
72,979
860,459
312,048
240,000
252,000
486,409
499,646
170,889
228,704
974,911
1,105,096
293,477
339,556
204,809
167,211
Totals
405,748
461,127
429,963
1,172,507
492,000
986,055
399,593
1910.
2,080,007
1911.
633,033
1912.
372,020
1904.
1905.
1906.
1907.
1908.
1909.
1913.
Fraser River, B.C.
State of Washington
72,688
123,419
837,489
837,122
183,007
182,241
59,815
96,974
74,574
170,951
585,436
1,097,904
150,432
248,014
58,487
127,761
123,879
184,680
719,796
1,673,099
Totals
196,107
1,674,611
365,248
156,789
245,525
1,683,339
398,446
186,248
308,559
2,392,895
1914.
1915.
1916.
3917.
1918.
1919.
1920.
1921.
1922.
1923.
Fraser River, B.C.
State of Washington
198,183
335,230
91,180
64,584
32,146
84,637
148,164
411,538
19,697
50,723
38,854
64,364
48,399
62,654
39,631
102,967
51,832
48,566
31,655
47,402
Totals -
533,413
155,714
116,783
559,702
70,420
103,200
111,053
142,598
100,398
79,057
1924.
1925.
1926.
1927.
1928.
1929.
1930.
1931.
1932.
1933.
Fraser River, B.C.
State of Washington .
39,743
69,369
35,385
112,023
85,689
44,673
61,393
97,594
29,299
61,044
61,569
111,898
103,692
352,194
40,947
87,211
65,769
81,188
52,465
126,604
Totals
109,112
147,403
130,362
158,987
90,343
173,464
455,886
128,158
146,957
179,069
1934.
1935.
1936.
1937.
1938.
1939.
1940.
Fraser River, B.C.
State of Washington..
139,238
352,579
62,822
54,677
184,854
59,505
100,272
60,259
186,794
134,641
54,296
43,511
1
99,009 |
59,354 |
Totals
491,817
117,499
244,359
160,531
321,435
97,807
158,363 | J 108
REPORT OP PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
STATEMENT SHOWING THE SOCKEYE-PACK OF THE PROVINCE,
BY DISTRICTS, 1925 TO 1940, INCLUSIVE.
1940.
1939.
1938.
1937.
1936.
1935.
1934.
1933.
99,009
116,507
63,469
25,947
13,809
15,177
32,484
54,296
68,485
54,143
17,833
24,357
16,259
34,514
186,794
47,257
87,942
33,894
21,462
27,965
36,357
441,671*
100,272
42,491
84,832
25,258
17,567
25,427
29,989
183,120
81,973
46,351
12,788
28,5621
34,4301
27,584
62,822
52,879
135,038
31,648
12,712
22,928
32,417
139,238
70,655
76,923
14,607
28,701
27,282
20,438
62,465
30,506
Rivers Inlet
Smith Inlet
83,607
37,369
Nass River _.
Vancouver Island
9,757
18,397
26,106
Totals .. .„ .
366,402
269,887
325,836
414,809
350,444
377,844
258,107
1932.
1931.
1930.
1929.
1928.
1927.
1926.
1925.
Fraser River .
Skeena River .
65,769
59,916
69,732
25,488
14,154
27,611
21,685
40,947
93,023
76,428
12,867
16,929
22,199
29,071
103,692
132,372
119,170
32,057
26,405
24,784
39,198
477,678
61,569
78,017
70,260
9,683
16,077
10,340
35,331
29,299
34,569
60,044
33,442
5,540
14,248
26,410
61,393
83,996
65,269
22,682
12,026
24,835
37,851
85,689
82,360
65,581
17,921
16,929
25,070
44,462
35,385
81,146
192,323
33,764
18,945
14,757
16,198
Totals.
284,355
291,464
281,277
203,542
308,052
337,012
392,518
216 cases of Alaska sockeye packed in British Columbia canneries are not shown in the above table for the year
1936.
* 5,779 cases of Alaska sockeye packed at Skeena River are not shown in the above table for the year 1938.
STATEMENT SHOWING THE SPRING-SALMON PACK OF THE
PROVINCE, BY DISTRICTS, 1930 TO 1940, INCLUSIVE.
1940.
1939.
1938.
1937.
1936.
1935.
4,504
62
1,716
6,118
1,226
142
1,518
2,454
5,993
36
708
4,857
743
215
655
2,889
4,308
66
773
4,318
1,209
68
540
4,254
5,444
140
1,251
4,401
917
21
1,641
2,359
15,126
227
2,167
4,5511
5811
30
830
6,340
9,401
63
560
4,039
429
Smith Inlet - -
216
687
6,525
Totals
17,740
16,098
15,536
16,174
29,853
21,920
1934.
1933.
1932.
1931.
1930.
16,218
258
654
8,300
436
164
2,116
1,630
5,579
3,575
1,296
3,297
449
354
841
4,875
28,701
278
4,408
28,269
459
48
3,236
10,559
9,740
854
1,439
9,858
325
122
754
4,055
21,127
131
1,891
7,501
Rivers Inlet ... - — —
Smith Inlet - -
434
290
1,721
3,431
Totals .
29,776
20,266
75,958
27,147
36,526 BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 109
STATEMENT SHOWING THE COHOE-SALMON PACK OF THE
PROVINCE, BY DISTRICTS, 1930 TO 1940, INCLUSIVE.
1940.
1939.
1938.
I 1937.
1
1936.
1935.
Fraser River.. — -
13,028
8,897
10,060
20,614
11,561
1,102
49,886
88,885
20,489
13,557
3,020
1,996
29,198
10,974
3,880
44,426
123,388
14,658
27,127
16,616
14,159
52,821
16,285
1,058
56,716
89,471
26,828
I
11,244
4,631
12,067
15,514
6,012
241
25,009
58,244
527
28,716
19,920
11,842
25,390
7,1221
310
45,824
90,6251
24,950
5,461
21,810
Skeena River
23,498
8,375
Smith Inlet _
1,201
41,831
104,366
Totals
224,522
245,097
301,081
133,489
[
| 229,750
1
231,492
1934. 1
1933.
1932. |
1
1931.
1930.
11,392
8,315
9,935
54,476
4,852
3,941
53,850
78,670
13,901
3,251
39,896
3,446
5,068
33,471
60,019
16,815
3,805
7,955
48,312
7,062
273
41,172
63,637
8,818
5,335
8,943
10,637
6,571
112
10,806
50,953
25,585
7,091
1,126
29,617
756
Smith Inlet _
1,460
54,327
30,206
Totals
225,431
1
159,052
189,031
j
102,175
150,168
STATEMENT SHOWING THE PINK-SALMON PACK OF THE
PROVINCE, BY DISTRICTS, 1930 TO 1940, INCLUSIVE.
1940.
1939.
I 1938.
1
1
[ 1937.
1936.
1
1935.
12
44,966
29,278
47,301
3,329
755
54,478
33,785
95,176
2,123
26,370
95,236
12,095
3,978
150,498
235,119
1
63
57,952
61,477
69,610
| 9,063
| 1,761
| 130,842
70,108
[ 94,010
13
8,031
59,400
7,536
j 483
| 97,321
| 318,780
1
1
111,328
1,479
89,355
75.887J
91,389
6,4321
65
246,378
82,0281
81,868
4,554
4,412
94,190
191,627
Totals
213,904
620,595
| 400,876
1
585,574
[ 591,5351
514,966
1934.
1933.
1
1932. |
1
1931.
1930.
2,199
53,398
32,964
126,163
2,815
6,953
157,336
54,526
' -
92,746
1
385
2,415
44,629
58,261
3,483
1,148
80,034
33,403
13,307
30,754
224,902
79,976
275,642
18,023
16,615
376,084
89,941
44,306
95,783
5,059
19,995
101,701
172,945
5,178
44,807
5,089
824
55,825
81,965
Rivers Inlet
Smith Inlet _ —
Totals
436,354
532,535
223,758
1
206,995
1
1,111,937 J 110
REPORT OP PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT, 1940.
STATEMENT SHOWING THE CHUM-SALMON PACK OF THE
PROVINCE, BY DISTRICTS, 1930 TO 1940, INCLUSIVE.
1940.
1939.
1
1 1938.
1
1
i 1937.
1
1936.
1935.
35,665
164,911
5,461
4,682
9,025
6,015
135,802
279,064
2,816
30,150
45,519
2,500
7,773
5,462
2,771
79,384
212,949
82
58,778
40,882
15,911
16,758
7,759
8,076
127,089
266,566
20,878
72,689
10,080
10,811
9,415
9,494
110,493
203,900
31,565
69,304
20,6201
15,2971
11,505
1,653
99,592
347,951
8,227
86,298
17,481
8,122
7,136
Smith Inlet
12,427
125,953
143,960
Totals ....
643,441
386,590
541,819
447,760
597,488
409,604
|
1934.
1933.
1
1932.
1
1931.
1930.
104,092
38,062
2,648
24,388
895
15,548
117,309
210,239
1
34,391 i
6,988
1,775
15,714
677
8,841
128,602
96,642
14,948
358
14,515
38,549
944
165
166,653
70,629
251
68,946
39,010
392
3,893
429
113
34,570
16,239
3,978
5,187
492
Smith Inlet
1,660
104,771
177,856
Totals
513,181 ]
293,630
306,761
55,997
401,900
STATEMENT SHOWING THE PILCHARD INDUSTRY OF THE
PROVINCE, 1920 TO 1939, INCLUSIVE.*
Year.
Total Catch.
Canned.
Used in
Reduction.
Oil.
Meal.
Bait.
1920
Cwt.
88,050
19,737
20,342
19,492
27,485
318,973
969,958
1,368,582
1,610,252
1,726,851
1,501,404
1,472,085
886,964
120,999
860,103
911,411
889,037
961,485
1,035,369
110,453
Cases.
91,929
16,091
19,186
17,195
14,898
37,182
26,731
58,501
65,097
98,821
55,166
17,336
4,622
2,946
35,437
27,184
35,007
40,975
69,473
7,300
Cwt.
Gals.
Tons.
Bbls.
9,937
1921 - -
4,232
3,125
1923
3,625
923
220,000
940,000
1,310,000
1,560,000
1,654,575
1,468,840
1,456,846
876,700
119,545
845,849
896,586
863,373
930,713
986,118
105,303
495,653
1,898,721
2,610,120
3,997,656
2,856,579
3,204,058
2,551,914
1,315,864
275,879
1,635,123
1.634,592
1,217,097
1,707.276
2,195,850
178,305
2,083
8,481
12,145
14,502
15,826
13,934
14,200
8,842
1,108
7,628
8,666
8,715
8,483
8,891
906
4,045
2,950
1927
1,737
1928
2,149
1,538
926
1931
1,552
1932
1,603
1933
20
1934
40
521
580
1937
1,045
310
1939
20
* Authority: Advance Report of the Fisheries of British Columbia, Ottawa. BRITISH COLUMBIA.
J 111
PRODUCTION OF FISH OIL AND MEAL, 1920 TO 1940 (OTHER
THAN FROM PILCHARD).
From Whales.
From other Sources.
Year.
Whalebone
and Meal.
Fertilizer.
Oil.
Meal and
Fertilizer.
Oil.
1920
1921
Tons.
503
326
485
292
347
340
345
376
417
273
249
340
211
332
268
273
181
Tons.
1,035
230
910
926
835
666
651
754
780
581
223
631
354
687
527
512
434
Gals.
604,070
Tons.
466
489
911
823
1,709
2,468
1,752
1,948
3,205
3,626
3,335
5,647
6,608
5,583
5,028
7,509
13,197
17,147
12,115
26,129
15,884
Gals.
55,669
44,700
1922... .,
1923
283,314
706,514
645,657
556,939
468,206
437,967
571,914
712,597
525,533
75,461
180,318
1924
241,376
1925 _
354,853
1926
1927 .-
217,150
250,811
1928
387.276
1929 ..-
459,575
1930...
1931
243,009
352,492
1932
231,690
1933
1934
1935
1936 . ..
1937
1938
1939
509,310
813,724
426,772
763,740
662,355
543,378
497,643
441,735
688,629
1,143,206
1,578,204
1,157,316
1,990,901
1940
361,820
1,338,993
STATEMENT SHOWING THE HERRING INDUSTRY OF
THE PROVINCE, 1935 TO 1940.
Year.
Canned.
Dry-salted.
Pickled.
Oil.
Meal.
1935 , ,
Cases.
26,143
20,914
27,365
23,353
418,021
640,252
Tons.
14,983
16,454
10,230
7.600
7,596
5,039
Tons.
892
Gals.
328,639
786,742
1,333,245
1,526,117
1,677,736
923,137
Tons.
6,313
1936 -_
10,340
1937 -
14,643
1938 _
18 028
1939
1940 -
22,870
10,886
The above figures are for the season October to March 31st annually.
Victoria; b.c. :
Printed by Charles F. Banfield, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty.
1941.
1,325-641-3263
BC Sessional Papers
PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA REPORT OF THE PROVINCIAL FISHERIES DEPARTMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER… British Columbia. Legislative Assembly 1942
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