The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1901-04-30

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They have never had the consideration
TO which the magnitude Of the industry
in which they are engaged entities them,
The Gamers say that the Industry Is
on the wane They must know whether
this is true or not They can have no
possible object n making such state
ment II il Is not true, AS long as there
are plenty Of fish to be caught. IL is a
matter Of supreme Indifference to them
whether they are the progeny of salmon
hatched out in the ordinary way. or
are produced in artificial hatcherjes.
What they want is salmon. and when
they say that there is imminent danger
Of the supply being exhausted, they
know what they are talking about, and
are not to he understood as wanting a
lot Of hatcherles Tor the mere sake of
having them. We may. therefore. in
discussing this question. accept as es-
tah'ished that here IS danger Of the
supply being exhausted. Certainly such
contingency would be very serious
thing for British Columbia. The de-
mand for canned salmon will increasa. /
end instead of cur being compelled to
contemplate the possibility Of its ceas-
ing to be supplied from this province.
We ought to be able to contemplate a !
rapidly increasing business. II salmon |
canning should unfortunately he stop !
ped in this province because Of short
age Of hsh, the loss 70 the community |
would be very great The fact that last
year was a poor season for fishermen.
owing to the strike. prevented the dis
tributlon OF something Ike a million
dollars alone on the Fraser. This
money would have found its way into
the hands Of the merchants. chiefly
those of New Westminster and Van
couver. and its absence cannot have
failed to have done serious injury to
the trade Of those cities. You cannot
take a million dollars out Of circulation !
among workingmen in comparatively {
small communities without its loss being ]
severely felt In addition to the dis
bursements among the fishermen. there
are other large outlays. and il this
should be wholly cut off the entire COM q,
munity would very seriously suffer. y
What seems to be most urgently need y
I'd is the setting up of a number OF
not only on streams where Z
ishing is now resorted to. but on other Q
streams. The salmon fishing grounds of v
British Columbia can. we are told. be
greatly enlarged by a proper series of !
latcheries. At present there is one
uch establishment, and we are told that
t Is a very poor affair indeed. State n
nents are made as to the wav the sal +
non fry were handled last spring, @
which. If true. show that the hatchery |
night as we'll not be there at all. But h
his is only by The way It is absurd to
uggest that this one little hatchery
an supply the fry necessary TO keep
he rivers Of British Columbia we'll
locked. L takes four years after sal n
non fry are put into the streams be- .
ore they come back again. It will take
year to get the hatcheries erected
md stocked. so thar at the best speed
hat can be made. five years must g
lapse before the fisheries can be re- L
tocked with salmon fit for canning. =
n the meantime the catch will prob
bly, decrease from year to year. II o
3 therefore apparent If anything is to
'e done it should be done at once.
Parliament has ample time to make =.
he necessary appropriations for can s
eries, or if it is not willing to do this. II
uerly permission can be given by the [
apartment for the Gamers to erect !.
atcheries themselves. We shall refer fl
D this matter aagin. and al present II
hall only urge our representatives at II
'ttawa to take the matter up in earn n
It, for 1t is a matter Of vital interest.