The weekly Alaska citizen., 1918-04-01

these refute arguments of those who get their knowledge of fish in a more or less haphazard way. In the first place there are many different members of the salmon family usu. ally entering every spawning stream Native salmon of the Yukon number five distinct varieties. without men, tioning any one of the different trouts and two or three species that show up occasionally just within the rivers mouth. Above all stands the so-called King" salmon. This spe. cies is larger than any of the known members of the family, Is larger in the way of a general average than the Columbia river Chinook" and in quality Is Its equal if not supe- rior; then there is the Yukon Red" a fish peculiar to the river This species so far is not found in other streams. Its quality Is good. There are two members of the "Silverside" family entering the Yukon. One is the ordinary sized coast fish, found in greater or less numbers in every stream from the middle California coast line north. The other Is the big "Silverside." a large. fine-looking fish, that shows up in many salmon streams not at all, in other streams only as a straggler or occasional visitor. and but very few waters in numbers of consequence. The Stic- keen river is visited by large num- bers of them, and the Yukon is an other of their ports of entry. Then there is the much-abused calico "dog salmon" so common along the en. tire coast.
 It has often been asserted that the small salmon making their way in company with the larger fish to the spawning beds, are young salmon This is an error. The small ones are fully matured and as old, and often older, than their bigger com panions. No salmon returns to spawn until fully matured. The time between the date he leaves the gravel beds and his return to repro duce, his kind are spent at sea. The young fish going to sea range in length from three to five inches, and when they come back, they come to spawn and die, and this whether they are but one pound or one hun dred in weight.
 What ruins fishing stream more than anything else is catching them on their spawning grounds. A sal mon loses flesh, flavor and color as soon as 1t strikes the fresh water of his native run. The nearer the mouth of a river they are caught the better will be their flavor and the greater their weight. Nearly all lake rivers are spawning ground fol salmon, while these waterways with a glacial head are barren. That is one reason the Copper river has been
 90 misunderstood and has often caused concern. Fully third of the Copper river tributaries spring from glaciers and produce no salmon. Such tributaries of the Yukon as the Delta and White rivers are non-producers If the Yukon itself and it's tributa ries were of like origin there would be no salmon therein.
 All members of the trout family are salmon egg eaters. They are the curse of salmon spawning beds The greyling is voracious egg eater. The white fish is about as bad, and such resident marine things as bull-heads, crawfsh, chubs, etc. are good seconds. However, the trout Is the salmon's worst enemy He not only fattens on their eggs but is Johnny-on-the-spot when it comes to eating the fry themselves He follows up the mature salmon to eat the eggs and he accompanies the young ones on their way to sea- ever thinning their ranks as they go
 Fishing stream commercially within a reasonable distance of its mouth, away from natural spawning grounds and with due allowance for depletion, does not injure the sal. mon value of the stream. That has been conclusively proven.
 There is another thing that has escaped the casual observer, and that is the balance nature holds with fish as we'll as with other members of the animal kingdom. An untished stream has so many salmon in it one might think that the fish would multiply until 1t fairly crawled with them. It does not. however, and if watched closely 1t will be noted that there will be lean years and again, seasons of plenty, but a general average will be maintained right along. Now commence catching the fish. Beyond a slight falling of at the start. the annual runs will bear up we'll with quantity when the creek was virgin. This refers. of course.