Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-06
TRYING TO SAVE THE SALMON
Oregon Wakes UP and Begins Re
plenIshinE Streams
by CanneFieB,

There is a glimmer Of hope ahead for the
American people deprived Of meat by high
prices. II no relief should be afforded In
the matter of steaks and chops by the nu-
merous official Investigations now under
way, not 10 mention the effect of strikes
and boycotts, solace may be found in the
salmon. This noble fish, all ready to serve
when turned out Of it's native can and
requiring only a drop Of lemon juice TO
develop it's intimate flavor, is well and
favorably known by the common people
At It's best 1t Is a poem of the Pacific
an ode of oregon, and an anthem OF
Alaska, Years of ruthless waste have d.
minished It's numbers; 1t used to be as
plentiful as the buffalo, and was slaugh-
tered lnrthe same ruthless manner, but to-
day state and federal authorities are con-
serving the fish, encouraging by scienutlc
methods it's propagation, and they expect
that In a few years 1t will become a large,
reliable part of the national food supply.
The state Of Oregon has lately estab-
lIshed a large central hatchery with a ca
pacity of 60, 100000 Eggs, and has cut down
the open season for catching salmon by Tor
ty-seven days, including a month in spring
and a twenty-four hour closed period from
Saturday night to Sunday night during
the open season. The latter restrictions
operative In 1909, did not decrease the total
yield for the catch on the Columbia
River, but had the beneficial result desired
which was to allow more of h parent
fish to reach the hatcheries spawning
grounds on the headwaterS.
Owing to the new laws, says II. c. NC
Allister, master fish warden Of the state,
the number Of eggs obtained at the hatch
cry on the Mckenzie river, nearly three
hundred miles from the mouth of the Co
umbia, amounted to S,b15, 500, as against
2,9Ss, 800, taken in 1908, proving cOnclusively
that with fishing stopped and all classes
Of gear out of the Columbia for a long
enough period each year a sufficient guam
tity of fish will get by and the river be
made to produce, by artificial propagation,
the same amount Of salmon 1t did in its
palmiest days"
1t was found that the first hatcheries
established In Oregon were giving poor re-
suits on account OF the pollution of streams
by power plants, irrigation bitches and
sawmills. These appurtenances OF civil
| cation encroached on hatchery sites and
caused the death Of a majority OF the
young fry liberated. The last legislature
therefore appropriated $4,000 to establish
a large central hatchery at some point
on the Columbia river so far below all
power plants, bitches and sawmills that
the fry would have a chance TO live and
enter the great ocean for their mysterious
duadrennial development Tanner creek,
near Bonneville. was selected as the site.
A hatchery s. by go feet, equipped with
s4s I6-foot Matching troughs with an egs
capacity almost equal to the population OF
the United States, was built. At the for
nal opening last November there were
q ,OOO,O 900 chinook salmon eggs and fry be-
ing cared for. all having been transferred
from the hatcheries OF the Mckenzie
Clackamas, Salmon. Wallowa and Little
White Salmon rivers, Nursery ponds
for holding and feeding 100000 young fist
are connected with the central establish.
ment. Besides the numerous state hatch
cries there II a United States government
plant on Rogue river. In the present yea
experimental work will be done on thu
Alsea, Nehalem and Nestucca rivers.
The salmon industry in oregon is eX
ceeded only by the states output OF tim
Der and wheat. The amount invested II
canneries and other outfit is 100000; la
Dor gets 1850, 900, and the annual revenu,
from the sale of salmon reaches Si,0OO,0OO.-
New York Tribune.