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A considerable number of quinnat salmon run in August and September, and some stragglers even later; these now are all which keep up the supply of fish in the river. The non-molestation of this fall run, therefore, does something to atone for the almost total destruction of the spring run. This, however, is insufficient.
The blue-back and the dog salmon probably seek deeper water, as the former is seldom or never taken with the seine in the ocean, and the latter is known to enter the Straits of Fuca at the spawning season. The great majority of the quinnat salmon and nearly all blue-back salmon enter the rivers in the spring.
In Frazer's River, in the fall, quinnat male grilse of every size, from eight inches upward, were running, the milt fully developed, but usually not showing the hooked jaws and dark colors of the older males. Females less than eighteen inches in length were rare. All, large and small, then in the river, of either sex, had the ovaries or milt well developed.
In the lower Sacramento the flesh of the quinnat in either spring or fall is rarely pale. In the Columbia, a few with pale flesh are sometimes taken in spring, and a good many in the fall. In Frazer's River the fall run of the quinnat is nearly worthless for canning purposes, because so many are white meated.
These species may be called the quinnat or king salmon, the blue-back salmon or red-fish, the silver salmon, the dog salmon, and the hump-back salmon, or Oncorhynchus chouicha, nerka, kisutch, keta, and gorbuscha. All these species are now known to occur in the waters of Kamtschatka as well as in those of Alaska and Oregon.
It has been questioned whether the present hatchery on the Clackamas River actually receives the quinnat salmon in any numbers. It is asserted, in fact, that the eggs of the silver salmon and dog salmon, with scattering quinnat, are hatched there. We have no exact information as to the truth of these reports, but the matter should be taken into serious consideration.
A well-ordered salmon hatchery is the only means by which the destruction of the salmon in the river can be prevented. This hatchery should be under the control of Oregon and Washington, and should be supported by a tax levied on the canned fish. It should be placed on a stream where the quinnat salmon actually come to spawn.
Closely allied to Salmo salar both in appearance and habits is the genus Oncorhynchus, commonly known as Pacific salmon. It contains six species, is peculiar to the North Pacific Ocean, and is of some importance to the angler, though of not nearly so much as the Atlantic salmon. The quinnat is the largest member of the genus, closely resembles salar in appearance and surpasses him in size.
As to the superiority of the Columbia River salmon, there is no doubt that the quinnat salmon average larger and fatter in the Columbia than in the Sacramento and in Puget Sound. The difference in the canned fish is, however, probably hardly appreciable. The canned salmon from the Columbia, however, bring a better price in the market than those from elsewhere.
All the species have been seen by us in the Columbia and in Frazer's River; all but the blue-back in the Sacramento, and all but the blue-back in waters tributary to Puget Sound. Only the quinnat has been noticed south of San Francisco, and its range has been traced as far as Ventura River, which is the southernmost stream in California which is not muddy and alkaline at its mouth.
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