The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1889-02-20
CHAIRMAN HAHNS REPORT.
From the Committee on Fisherie
To the State House Of Representative.


was referred house bill No. 62, beg leave
to report that they have had the same
under consideration, and would respect
fully report it back to the house with the
recommendation that it do pass with tine
following amendments:
Section l, line s, add after word "trib-
utares" the following: Except that any
riparian owner on the said river, or its
said tributaries, may erect or build such
fixed contrivances for catching fish; pro-
viding, that such trap, weir or pound net
does not extend for a greater distance in
to the waters of the said river or its said
tributaries, than the distance of four
hundred feet beyond the line of ordinary
low water mark in front Of and adjacent
to the land SO owned bT said riparian
owner.
Amend Section by adding after the
word ''person" in line Z: Except the
riparian owner, rs provided in section
of this act. And we your committee
would further report:
That we have examined into the queS
tion of the ''6shing industry" of the
state of Oregon, and the methods par
sued in taking salmon from the Coium
bia river, and We find the following facts,
the witnesses before us having been
sworn:
lst. That there were erected and in
active operation in Bakers bay, during
the fishing season of 1888, abOut two
hundred and fifty (250) traps.
2nd. That said Bakers bay Is d part
of the Columbia river, whore the same
forms a common boundary line between
the state of Oregon and Washington ter
ritory, that the said bay covers at least
eighteen (lS) square miles.
3rd. That the owners of the traps in
that bay are, almost to 4 man, residents
of the territory of Washington.
4th. That the fishermen IN Oregon,
almost to man. are fishermen who use
gill nets.
9th. That there are in Astoria, at
least, 1,200 people who are directly in
terested in the fishing industry and who
directly depend upon 1t for their sub-
sistence, and who have come there and
made it their home because Of the same.
9th. That the whole of Clatsop coun-
ty has depended and still depends on the
fishing industry, and upon it alone, save
and except the logging and milling in
dustry, for its material advancement in
wealth and population.
9TH. That the traps in Bakers bay
are dangerous to navigation; that prior
to the construction of these traps and up
to the year 1884, in this bay there was a
channel through which ocean steamers
plying between Portland and San Fran
cisco, and also deep sea going vessels,
came in and out of the Columbia river,
and when it happened that the bar of
the said Columbia river was too rough
during the winter months, for steamers
or vessels to go out to sea, this bay then
formed natural harbOr of safety for
them until the bar was smooth again
That now the channel in said Baker s
bay is so shallow that a boat drawing
lonly six Co feet of water is not able TO go
through the same only on very high
tides; that the same shOaling that has
happened in the bay spoken of, will soon
be the condition of what Is now the
main channel of the river, unless some
thing is done to either regulate the traps
to shore line or else prohibit them, for
even now parties are erecting and are
building traps on the Desdemonia sands,
which sands are situated in the middle
of said river, on the Oregon side of it, at
least eleven (ll) traps.
8th. That those traps are not only
valuable for catching salmon fish, but
also for catching salmon fishermen,
sometimes catching as high as from
three to four fisherman in q single sea-
son.
9th. That the traps referred to catch
all sizes of salmon fish, from the very
smallest to the largest, the smallest of
chinook salmon measuring nine (S)
inches, and weighing from nine 90 to
ten 10) ounces, while the smallest
salmon caught by the gill nets in the
said river weighs twelve (l2) pounds.
10th. In regard to the effect of he
fish wheels upon the salmon fishing IN
dustry, Major Powell, in his report to
the secretary of war, uses the following
words, in speaking of the tish wheels:
"The success of this fishing machine de-
pends on the fact that there are many
points along the rapids of the river IRE
ferring to the Columbia river where the
trails of the travelling salmon come to-
gether alongside of rocky points project
ing from the shore, and the wheel placed
so as to cover such trail will be tolerably
certain to catch the majority of tho
fish," And he further says; The sue
cess of the fish wheels is painful; it has
been aptly remarked that they pump the
fish out of the water" The wheels at
the Cascades, of the Columbia river,
owned by Mr.. Williams catches more
fish than any other. The maximum
catch reported was fifty Thousand (500O0)
pounds in one day: See page As of Maj.
Powells report to the secretary Of war.
llth. In the years 1880 and 1851 the
first traps were built and have increased
in number every wear. In the year 1888
the largest number of cases put up that
year on the Columbia was 629000 cases
which brought s. per case, amounting to
the sum of $3,l47, 600; in the year 1887
the pack was 354, 900 cases, which brought
Sc per case, thus realizing the amount of
81, $4,000, and although the price per
case was 81 more, tho difference amounts
to S1,033,0OO:
18th. There is q difference of opinion
in Oregon upon the question as to
whether OF not the salmon returns TO
the sea after spawning. Some claim that
the fish do not return, but your commit
tee, after reading and examining into
the question, believes that the great
weight of scientific authority is that the
fish after spawning do return to the sea
and we base our opinion upon the report
of the q. S. fish commission and reports
of the German scientists, to whom the
matter had been referred by the said U.
5. fish commission, and who had made
the habits of the salmon fish the study
of their lives; these scientists state pos
ltivelY that the salmon fish return to the
sea after spawning, and they do place
the age of the salmon at seven (7) wears,
and your committee find it hard to be-
lieve, and still more difficult to explain,
how fish may attain the venerable age
of seven years, if it is caught when it is
only nine months or a year old. The
committee has notfound a single author
lty, outside of the report of the special
fish committee appointed by this body
two'years ago, who claim that the fish
after spawning die, but on the contrary
we find that scientists claim that the fe-