The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1915-06-10
BEARS FISH FOR SALMON.
Furry Sportsman lie Luxe Can Eat
800 Pounds at One Meal.

Bears that fish in shallow water
and sullS that pluck out the eyes OF
their prey are destroying millions OF
Alaskan salmon. according to +. Les
ter Jones, deputy commissioner OF
rhe bureau o. fisheries. wno was sent
10 Alaska last summer to investl-
gate the causes of the waning salmon
supply. The bears. he says. are the
worst offenders because they haunt
the shores of the streams during the
spawning season, and. besides kill
ing large quantities of salmon for
food. slay many thousands OF others
Just for the pure Joy OF the sport
says New York dispatch.
The commissioner in his report
tells of how at Black Bear creek IN
the Cleveland peninsula he found the
shores for 150 feet on both sides lit
tered with hundreds upon hundreds
of humpbacK. silver and chum sal
mon that had been tossed out OF the
water by bears. Hardly any OF the
fish had been mutilated except the
marks of the bears claws on their
backs. All that was eaten was the
cheek" of the salmon, the bear, &C
cording to Commissioner Jones, be-
ing very fastidious and preferring
that part to any other.
AS the bears in Alaska are the
largest in the world and are noted
for their ravenous appetites, it is
easy to realize how much damage
they can do. On Kodiak Island
where the full-grown bear weighs
three-Quarters of a ton. the deputy
commissioner learned from a native
that one of these giants could eat a
third of his own weight in salmon in
single day.
As in other parts of the terri
tory" Mr.. Jones remarks, this bear
also throws considerable numbers OF
fish out of the water, many of which
it may never care to touch for food.
Destruction by Gulls.
While wolves and even eagles are
also doing much harm, Mr.. Jones
found that still greater destruction
was caused by gulls and terms. De-
scribing his visit to Sierra creek on
a rainy day at low tide he says:
MY attention was first attracted
by a movement of birds in the water
and along the banks. AS l drew
nearer l saw thousands Of salmon
fighting their way up the shallow
stream, and among these fish were
the gulls, picking out first one eye
and then the other. / flushed TINS
enormous horde of gulls, which l be-
lieve numbered at least 10000. Co
ing closer to the stream, / found
humpback salmon Topping every
where, with their eyes gone and
otherwise mutilated from the pick
ing and clawing of these birds. |
estimated that in this creek alone
there were within sight 5000 hsh
either dead or dying that had never
spawned"
To remedy this condition Mr..
Jones makes several novel sugges-
tions. The ease with which the bears
and gulls prey upon salmon. he says
is due in large measure to the num-
Der of distractions in streams which
they frequent in the spawning sea-
son. Besides the falls and other nat
ural barriers, some of the rivers have
not been kept clear of timber and
other distractions, and are conse-
quently providing ideal fishing
grounds for the natural enemies OF
the salmon. Whole schools are halt
ed on their way upstream by these
obstructions, with the result that the
fish fall back exhausted into shall
low water only to be preyed upon by
bears and gulls.