The Wrangell sentinel., 1924-10-02
DOG-SALMON NO. 10358
(Ketchikan Chronicle)

Some years ago it was commonly be- lieved that young salmon, after de- scendiug their native streams, were lost in the boundless and mysterious sea. Later it was confidently as serted that this belief was no more than a pleasing myth and that, in fact, salmon remained somewhere in the general vicinity of the mouths of their natal streams, or water courses, until they had reached ma turity. The fact that salmon of all ages were taken in nets at sea seem ed to confirm this theory. But sal mon No. 1035s has upset it.
 No. 1035S was a member of the species Oncorhynchus keta, or dog salmon. taken by the United States bureau of fisheries in south Alaskan waters and marked with metal tag. The fish was one of several thousand so marked, and the tags were to cast light upon the migra- tory habits of Pacific salmon, through the recapture of specimens decorated with the device. Released on July of this year, No. 1O35S furnished the sensation of the sea son. For he was retaken not in American waters, but in the river Pankara, on the eastern coast of Kamchatka, 2000 miles away from the scene of his tagging. This par ticular dog-salmon must have been visiting, for it is undeniably true that in the spawning season these anadromous fishes seek the stream of their birth. He must have turn ed his blunt nose toward far Siberia a. soon as released, for the date of his recapture was August IS. h. cluding both the day of his tagging and the day of his recapture, and as- suming that he went home in a straight line, we may nevertheless marvel at his feat of fins. Forty six days to swim 2oo0 miles. True. that is only a trifle in excess of 40 miles day but pray consider the pertinacity, the undertaking pur- pose of No. 1035S.
 So falls another theory, and in its fall is the proof tha we have only begun to learn the ways of salmon. There is the scientific dictum that all Pacific coast salmon inevitably die after spawning. Their tissues. so Dr. Jordan declares, are as void of life as the ripened cornstalk. This opinion. however, appears to rest solely upon observation and not in the least upon attempted proof Thus in a recent bulletin of the bu- reau of fisheries one finds an emil rent authority to this effect:
 "Evermann states, on page 260 of his preliminary report, that on Sep tcmber 13 he counted seventy-two dead salmon in a three-mile stretch of Salmon river and a mile or two more the lower portion of Alturas creek in Idaho. Only one live sal mon was noted on that date. He quotes numerous observations and conclusions of local men of the re- g;on tending to confirm the deduc- tion expressed on page 153 of his final report as follows: The chinook salmon which comes to these waters die after spawning"
 Does the case rest on this? Ger tainly it is not scientific evidence, but largely hearsay, supported by the considerable numbers of dead salmon that may be found along any spawning stream. Undoubtedly most of the spent salmon die soon after they leave the spawning rifle. Possibly all of them do. But We should remember that it was once held that all Atlantic salmon, which are of another species, also died af- ter spawning. English sportsmen established that they do not, by the simple expedient of tagging them. Few returned again from the sea, but among that few were salmon that made four consecutive trips.