The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1900-12-21
How The Salmon Spawn Is Secured.

| oregon and Washington, and how the
eggs are extracted and cared for until
they hatch. In this connection the
report says:
The fish are captured by means of
downstream trap, which consists of
a box about 20 feet wide and Is inches
deep, made of Stats placed two inches
apart, anchored in midstream. The
end OF the trap pointing upstream is
weighed to the bottom OF the river and
dam or rack extends from it's two
sides to within a few feet of either
bank. The fish ascending the stream
pass around the rack to the spawning
grounds above, and as soon as suffici-
ent number have collected a seine is
drawn downstream at arapid rate.
although salmon always swim against
the current when frightened they turn
and 60 down stream at a rapid rate.
and as result they are brought to a
halt high and dry upon the lower end
of the trap. They are quickly assorted
and placed in pens near the traps, the
males and females being put in seper-
ate compartments. Most OF the fish
ing during the season'is done at night
the best hauls being made about an
hour after dark.
Spawning operations commence in
the morning and continue until all the
ripe fish have been stripped, The fe-
male is first taken from the pen by the
spawn taker, and if found to be ripe
she is killed by striking her upon the
back of the head with club. She is
then placed in the spawning box which
is held to vertical position so that
the eggs may be stripped into pan
held by an assistant. AS soon as the
milt is added to the eggs the contents
are gently stirred until every egg has
come IN contact with it. A little wa
ter is then added and the pan placed
aside for one and oue-half minutes,
when it is handed to third person
| who washes the milt and dirt from the
eggs by immersing the pan in water
| The eggs are then carried In buckets
to the hatchery, measured and placed
| in buckets. The buckets hold about
5000 eggs each, and are carried in
pairs by means of yokes, one man car
rying two buckets. The baskets te
which they are transferred on arriving
at the hatchery hold from 25,OO0 tc
10000 each, depending on the size o
the troughs used. Alter being placee
they are covered to exclude the ligh
On the first, second and third days the
dead eggs are picked off, after which
they are uncovered for at least thirty
DAYS, provided the water is clear. A
the expiration Of this they are placed
in water buckets and a strong curren
of water turned on, which causes all o
the unimpregnated eggs to turn white
| while it does not injure the good ones
After the dead eggs have been removed
the remainder are returned to tht
baskets.
"As the result of number ofexperi
ments, the conclusion was reached
that an average of 825 eggs remain il
q salmon after it has been stripped by
the usual operation, and of these 4s
per cent might be impregnated, or 4O(
eggs per fish; and consequently, had
all the eggs been removed through al
| incision made in the abdomen $500
more fry could have been hatched
The experiments seem to demonstrate
that where the eggs are removed
| through an incision and fertilized I'M
mediately before the blood is removed
1 the loss would be about 3 per cent
whereas, if the blood is quickly rinsed
off before the miltis applied the loss
| is very heavy, sometimes averaging ~
per cent. OF the eggs remaining after
the fish has been stripped by the usual
method, only 4S per cent could be
fertilized when they were removed
through an incision.
"On one salmon weighing about Az
pounds a lump as large as mars
head was observed Immediately under
the dorsal fin. The lump was found
to consist partly of agristly growth
resembling tumor and partly OF a
pelatinous substance, the former be-
ing of a light color and the latter OF
about the same shade as the fish. The
eggs from this fish were good, and the
lump had apparently not lnterfered
at ali with its locomotion. A male
was also observed with all the char
acteristics of q female. Another hsn
with Jaws crossed in such way as 20
resemble pair of shears was noted.
The bones seemed not to have been
broken.
The Best Plaster.
A piece of flannel dampened with