The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-04-05
Mystery of the LordIy Fish's Life
History is Discovered by In
vestsation Car
ried On
PLIERS AND BUTTON
spccments Were Tagged and Then
Released to be Studied by
Sharp Eyed sclen-
fists.

WASHINGTON, April Fishing
for the exclusive Salmon with pair
of pliers and button, Uncle Sam
has practically succeeded in solving
the mystery of the life history of this
lordly fish.
1t was not merely fishing expedi-
ton for the fun of it, but a serious at
tempt on the part of the government
ichthyologists to lift the veil of mys
terry which has enshrouded the sal
mon.
The pliers and buttons are part of a
plan of tagging certain specimens.
which are later released, so that
their future movements may be trac-
ed and their life history studied.
Strange to relate up to the pliers and
button process, which is a develop
ment OF the last few months, the sal
mon has baffled Investigation Var
ious superstitions about the fish have
been accepted almost as facts simply
because they could not be disproven.
Recently. however, the Bureau OF
Fisheries nit upon the .uea of mark
ing immature specimens Of the fish
and tracing their movements The
button is clamped through the tail
of the salmon. One face shows the
words "U. S. FISH" the other the num-
Der with which the scientists Chris
ten" the specimen
The location chosen for the mark
fr,ry of ol,
ton state fish trap. a few hundred
yards above the head of Sand Island
1t was selected by the government be-
cause it marks the limits on the north
OF the area over which the gill-net
fishermen operate. Standing as it
does on the line which separates the
gill-netters' field and the set traps it
is especially well located for the ex.
pertments.
There were 50 fish marked and liber-
ated on August 14-25 chinook salmon,
l6 silvers, and Is steelheads. These
fish ranged In total length from Al
to 1913 centimetres for the chinooks.
~ to rs centimetres for the silvers
and II to 80 for the steelheads, demon
strating that while the fish were small
in number they were well distributed
in size.
Information of the import of the ex-
pertinent was given out to the fishery
interests on the Columbia river with
the request that they record the place
and details of the catch of any mark
ed fish.
Their cooperation resulted in the
capture of II out of the SO marked
fish, representing 30 per cent of those
liberated, which was favorable pro-
portion considering the IL to Is days
OF the closed season. OF the 1t cap
tured 6 were chinooks, 6 silver salmon,
and 5 steelheads. The period between
the time of liberation and recapture
of all specimens was 81 days.
The record made by the officials up
on the receipt of the buttons and fish
tails, which has just been made public
here, sheds considerable light on the
life history of the salmon. BY compar-
ing the facts recorded at the time OF
liberation with those of the time OF
capture scientists have been able to
figure out something of the individual
history of each fish. BY examination
OF the button scientists were able to
tell whether the fish spent his time in
salt water or fresh. The degree OF
corrosion of the aluminium button gave
an index to the time spent in salt
water. Where corrusion occurred ex
tensively in short time it was assum
ed that the fish spent most of his time
in concentrated sea water.
An examination of the records show
ed that each group Of the three species
liberated included certain individuals
that apparently lived in sea water LONG
enough TO produce corrusion of the
marking buttons.
Chinook number 11S was caught
days after liberation and by purse
seine operating near Republic Spit,