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ST.JOHN'S,NfWFOUNOWIO,CANA/lA. IThis series Includes unpublished preliminary reportsIand data records nollnlended for general distribution.They should nol be referred to In publications wllh­out c1ecu:ance from the Issuing Board eSlablishmenl andwllhout c1earlndlcalJon of their manuscrlpl status.

"

FISHERIES RE8EAR~H BOARDOF ~ANADA

MANUSCRIPT REPORT SERIES

No. 1014

Visit to Hokkaido Hatcheries, 1964

by

F.~. Withler

Biological Station, Nonoimo, B.C.

February 1969

This series Includes unpublished preliminary reportsand dala records nol Inlended for general dlslrlbutlon.They should not be referred to In publications wlih­oulclear.ance from the IssuJngBoardestablishmentandwllhoul clear Indication of their manuscript status.

FISHERIES RESEARCH BOARDOF CANADA

MANUSCRIPT REPORT SERIES

No. 1014

Visit to Hokkaido Hatcheries, 1964

by

F. C. Withler

Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C.

February 1969

VISIT TO HOKKAIOO HATCHERIES, 1964

Following Dr. W. S. Hoar's 1955 findings that the behaviour ofemerging pink and chum fry could be modified substantially by exposing themto unnatural environmental conditions, interest in perfecting hatcherypropagation methods was revived at the Nanaimo Biological Station. In 1957an experimental pink salmon hatchery was built on Kleanza Creek, a tributaryof the Skeena River near Terrace, B.C. The work at Kleanza Creek wasinitiated by Dr. M. P. Shepard and was later taken over by Mr. R. A. Barns.After the Kleanza Creek hatchery was destroyed by fire, another hatchery andfield laboratory, this time for sockeye, was built in 1961 at SCUlly Creek,tributary to Lakelse Lake. It was also within the Skeena drainage nearTerrace.

Observations by Dr. Shepard during a visit to Hokkaido in 1963,plus reports from others at about that time, suggested that the extensivechum salmon propagation program in Hokkaido was maintaining substantialinshore catches despite a high exploitation rate and increasing pollution ofHokkaido's salmon rivers. So, in the fall of 1964, when we learned that wewere to attend the annual meeting of the International North PacificFisheriesCommission in Tokyo, Dr. Shepard and I obtained permission to go to Japanbefore the meeting for the purpose of visiting Hokkaido salmonhatcheries.

Unfortunately, very shortly after our arrival in Tokyo, Dr. Shepardfound that for medical reasons he would be unable to proceed to Hokkaido.We decided that I should go on anyway. Since the Japan Fisheries Agency hadalready set up a brief but ambitious travel itinerary, alerted the appropri­ate hatchery staff, and made all necessary reservations, much rearrangementwas called for in the shortest time. Dr. Peter Miyake of the Japan FisheriesAgency undertook and accomplished this task.

Dr. TatsujiUenooftheCentral Fisheries HesearchStationoftheGovernment of Hokkaido accompanied me on the trip from Sapporo until I leftChitoseairporttoreturntoTokyo. He very skilfully assisted with thelanguage barrier and introduced an ungainly foreigner to Japanesecusto.m.The following diary, which 1 think reflects the unstinting courtesy shown meby the staff of the Hokkaido Salmon Hatcheries Branch of the Japan FisheriesAgency, is my record of observations of Hokkaido hatcheries and relatedfishery matters:

Wednesday October 21. Peter'hadthetravelplansunsnarledbynoonandIflew Japan Air Lines from Haneda to Chitose (Hokkaido), arriving 1350.

I was met by Mr. Toshinobu Tokui of the research division of theHokkaido Central Hatchery, Nakanoshimo, Sapporo. He drove me in an Agencycar to the Sapporo Grand Hotel where I spent the night.

'Peter Miyake

S~I\ OF

JAPAN

SE,bo. OF

OKHOT5K

"PACIFIC

OCEAN

ROUiE MAP' HOKKAIDO ~1~lr

\Q,,4-

Mr. Tokui does not speak English fluently but I think the followinginformation fairly well represents what he told me: He works on chum salmonscales, on taxonomy of Pacific salmon, he is most keen on kokanee and doessome physiological work. About 400,000,000 chum eggs are taken each year insome 40 hatcheries in Hokkaido. To provide these eggs, about 400,000 adultchums (200,000 w) are spawned. Mr. Tokui believes that more chums are takenfor spawn than spawn naturally, but he admits that the numbers spawningnaturally are not known. In Hokkaido the most dominant species is chum, thenext is masu. Then come pinks. Occasionally the silver (kisutch) shows upin the southern part of the Hokkaido River. The king (chinook) is takenoccasionally in the coastal commercial fisheriesand~rarelyturnsupin

south Hokkaido rivers. There are two reports of sockeye appearing in southHokkaidorivers.

It is interesting that the two lakes in which kokanee were nativewere Akanko (AkanLake) andChimikeppu. TheyarenowextinctinChimikeppuand rare in Akanko. However the hatchery organization keeps the stock goingandhastransplantedthemtoabout5lakesinHokkaidoand20inHonshu.

Thursday October 22. This morning Mr. Tokui met me at 0840 in front of theSapporo Grand. We took a taxi to Sapporo Station where we met Dr. TatsujiUeno who is to accompany me on my trip in Hokkaido. Mr. Kazuhiko Nishino alsosaw us off on the train. Mr. Nishino is a pollution expert with the HokkaidoSalmon Hatchery at Nakanoshima, Sapporo. Mr. Tokuigaveme several of hiskokaneepapersasIleft.

We travelled the Limited Express to Obihiro. From Sapporo toTakigawa the country is low. In general the plain is drained by the IshikariRiver, the longest in Hokkaido, which is now so polluted from pulp mill, sugarbeet factory, and mine wastes that no salmon enter it. According to Dr. Uenoit was once a large salmon producer. From Takigawa to Obihiro the traincrosses the southern end of the high mountain range in the centre of Hokkaido.The summit is Karikachi Pass, and the view is quite like north central B.C.

On the plain, the rice crop harvest was in full swing. In Hokkaido,instead of two crops of rice a year, the first planting is oats and thesecond rice because of the long cold season. I saw several sugar beet factor­ies, but did not see many fields of beets. A lot of corn was being harvested,most of which was being dried so far as I could make out. I saw several smallsilos. A favourite vegetable seems to be "Japanese radish"a which looks likea large parsnip; also cabbage is grown.

There were many trucks with logs, and also many railway flats. Iassummed that some at least were headed for the pulp mills. Near Takigawathere were several coal and iron mines near the railway and we passed townswhich appeared to be mining towns only. Dr. Ueno says the coal is suitablefor iron smelting. (Coal occurs in Japan only in Hokkaido and Kyushu.)

adaikon

The Satsunai hatchery (new). Left to right: the hatcherychief, Dr. Ueno, and Mr. Ichikawa.

Egg pickers in the Satsunai hatchery "inspection" room.

None of the trees appeared to be exactly like those in B.C. Irecognized an oak, acacia, "northern pine" (not a true one), "white fir",larch and birch. Most of the forest to be seen from the railway has beenplanted (in rows, like apple trees). Not many birds could be seen - the onlyone I truly recognized was a crow.

At Obihiro (approximately 1330) we were met by Mr. Kunio Ichikawa,chief officer of Tokachi Hatchery atObihiro. Theaddressis4,Taisho-chyo,Obihiro. Mr. Ichikawa said that the main Tokachi hatchery was not yet beingfilled, and suggested we visit two other smaller hatcheries. I hired a cabto make the trip.

We drove first to Satsunai Hatchery, a few miles east of Obihiro.A relatively new hatchery bUilding is being used. River water is used duringthe whole season - it is 11°C now, but goes only as low as 6°C in winter. Thewater is taken from a head pond leading directly from the river. The eggs arebrought from about 40 miles away, down the Tokachi River. They are transportedin squat metal containers, dry, about 40,000 eggs each. Wet moss is held overthe eggs, attached to the lid in cheesecloth. While we were there a load ofabout 30 to 40 containers came in. The eggs were dumped into empty (exceptfor water) troughs from the containers. From there they were ladled ontoshallow screens about 12" x 12", two layers deep (2,500 to a tray). Thesetrays are then taken to the "inspection" room where they are picked by abattery of women, mostly wives of the hatchery men. (The dead but unbrokeneggs are kept for sale inObihiro.) The picked trays are then stacked introughs, slightly divided upwards from one another. There is no attempt toforcethewatervertically,thenacross,downandupj it flows directlybetween the trays. The troughs run from the wall toward the centre, with astep halfway out. The eggs hatch in April, and the fry are put into longponds divided lengthwise with wooden walls. The bottom is gravel. Here theyare fed for about 6 weeks: first, with "Alaska pollock" eggs (frozen andshipped everywhere from Sapporo), then with a mixture of pollock eggs, fishflesh, meat, vitamins and minerals. The food is placed on dishes suspendedinto the feeding ponds, which are loosely covered with planking • As far as Ican make out, the feeding fish are allowed to escape from the outlets of theponds when they wish. It was difficult to get a good estimate of growth duringthe period because of translation difficulties. Satsunai hatchery is forchums only.

At Makubetsu hatchery, a very modern concrete incubation bUildingis being built. The arrangement of troughs is the same. There is an elec­trical pumping system which takes water from a stream tributary to theTokachi, pushes it into a head tank, and so into the hatchery. When thestream water gets too cold in winter, water is taken from a large well at theside of the building. The manager was proud of innovations: plastic hatcherytroughs (long lasting) andadrive-inentrancefordeliveringtheeggs. Here,too,thereareacoupleoflongfeedingponds.

AtChiyoda catching place on the Tokachi River there is an irriga­tion diversion weir. This is the upmost egg collecting site on the Tokachi.

Rearingponds,Satsunaihatchery.

Makubets\J hatchery (new) and head tank.

Wooden egg-carrying cases used at Makubetsu hatchery.

Sorting churn salmon caught by seine at the Chiyoda catchingplace, Tokachi River (weir in background).

Mr. Ito was in charge. The river is large (the weir is 160 m long). Wecrossed it sampan-style in a long low flat boat. On the opposite bank is along holding pond (about 100 yards by 20 yards), fed by water from above theweir. There were about 10,000 chums in it being sorted by sex and for ripe­ness. Two males are used to serve 5 females. The excess males are sold inObihiro. The manager demonstrated the spawning technique (which is a tablewith a screen chute down which the eggs fall into a flat pan which is movedalong for rinsing under a shower). The fish are held by an iron hook in thehead by the assistant, and by the egg-taker by the tail, andslitbyashort­bladed (l inch exposed) knife. It may be easier, but had no advantage overCorburn's3 methods that I could see. I demonstrated Coburn's methods inpantomime. The eggs are dumped into screen-bottomed troughs with upwellingwater for final rinsing.

A seine haul was made in the Tokachi while we were there. About 12men and women were involved. They used a seine of perhaps 300 feet which wasset from a boat from the shore. I would estimate the haul at 100-150 fishwhich were sorted, excess males into the boats, the remainder and the femalesinto a cage-like boat. This was taken upriver to an overhead cable systemfrom which an aerial, water-tight cage was suspended. The cage was filledwith water, then fish, then hoisted up and pUlled shorewards with a smalldonkey engine to a spot over the pond. Here the cage was lowered and thefish released into the pond.

There was lots of excitement during the seining - the net haulersshouted out a chanty as they hauled. It changed with each part of the haul­ing. When the net was in, some fish escaped onto the shallow shore and werepursued with vigour. The whole operation was suspended while I clumsilychanged film and ruined a whole roll previously exposed:

Mr. Ichikawa provided some information regarding Tokachi salmonstocks. He said that there is little natural spawning, that some fish escapeduring floods and a few spawn in tributaries. Most go into the hatcherieshe said. (I am not so sure - the Tokachi is big, seems to have good spawninggravel, and is too wide to seine really effectively. However, I have not seenthe lower reaches where there are two more collecting sites.) There are afew pinks in the river. They are taken into the hatcheries as well but thefryarenotfed,Iunderstand. They are not highly regarded by the hatcherypeople. Beginning about 5 years ago, about 100,000 chinook eggs a year wereflown from the USA for incubation in the hatcheries. The young are marked byby fin-clipping. A few are returning to the river each year (it had nonepreviously of course). There is a record of a coho in the Tokachi but thatis alL Everyonewishestherewere~inHokkaido.

Dr.San04 cametovisitthisevening. He regretted very much notseeing Mikes and asked that he be sent his best wishes. He is squiring two

3Mr. A. S. Coburn, Nanaimo Biological Station.4HeadofResearchDivision, HokkaidoHatcheries, Sapporo.sM.P. Shepard

Churns selected for holding being placed in (lowered) aeriq.lcage,Chiyodacatchingplace.

KushiroHarbour,fromKushiroFishDock.

Soviet scientists about, one a hatchery man from Sakhalin and one from thefisheries office in Moscow. They saw the Chiyoda catching place this morningand will see Satsunai and Makubetsu tomorrow. I asked Dr. Sano if they mightcome to my room for a drink, but he thought they would be too tired?: Dr. Sanotold me about crossing Q. gorbuscha and Q. keta (producing a large fishmaturingin2yearsiFlcrossesnotyetback)andcrossesofketaandkokaneeinL.Shikotsu. They look intermediate in character. Mr. Sano can give nospecial explanation for the large run of chums to Hokkaido this year (2 to 3times normal); the runs are also abundant in the Kuriles.

He fondly remembers Dr. Foerster's trip in 1956(?) and mentionedJackson,Kasahara,AtkinsonandThompson. He did not seem to have the latestnews of them and their whereabouts. I asked him if he would send kokaneesamples if we asked for them, - mentioning McCart's work6. He said yes.

Most hatcheries now use malachite green as a fungicide. I gatherthat a few still use formaldehyde, but not many. Some hatcheries are instal­ling recirculation systems to economize on malachite green.

Tonight I am staying at the Hokkaikan Hotel. (Part of dinner con­sisted of Makubetsu Hatchery chum eggs, dead, uncooked, in a clear sauce:Fish which I have eaten so far [usually raw] include flounder, swordfish,mackerel, tuna, halibut, octopus, squid and salmon eggs.)

Friday October 23. We left Obihiro at about 0830. Dr. Sano dropped in justbefore we left to say goodbye. We arrived at Kushiro at about 1100 and weremet by Mr. Motohiro Sakurai, Director of the Kushiro Fisheries ResearchStation, Kushiro, and one of his staff, Mr. Sakamoto (Mr. Sakamoto has studiedtheecologyandbehaviouroftheoctopus(~vulgaris?).

The Kushiro Research Station is being rebuilt into a large buildingnear the Kushiro fish market. It will contain bllth biologists and chemists.The station belongs to the Hokkaido provincial gdvernment and doe sbiologicaloceanography.

We went to the large co-operative fish market. Chum salmon from thelocal trap fishery were being sorted at the dock. They looked fresh andbright, suggesting that they would have spent some time longer before enteringthe rivers. A long-line cod (true) fishing boat was unloading at the dock.It had been fishing in the Okhotsk Sea near West Kamchatka and in the Pacificas far north as 55°. The boat is away from port from 2 to 3 weeks; the fishare iced. They looked terrible tome-practically a mush.

Mr. Sakurai took us to a tempura restaurant for lunch. The food wasdelicious, cooked tempura-style: squid, prawn, salmon, mushroom, egg plant, asmall fish. He then drove us to the train at 1230. We rode toShibecha,changed trains to Nakashibetsu, arriving at 1530.

6Mr. P. J. McCart, now with the University of Saskatchewan, Regina

Kushiro Research Station under construction (photo taken fromFish Dock).

Poster advertising salmon barbecue on October 25 at Shibetsucatching place (front of Nakamoto Hotel).

Churn salmon from the coastal trap fisherybeing sorted at Kushiro Fish Dock.

Cod being sorted on Kushiro Fish Dock.

We were met by Mr. Okubo, vice-director of the Nemuro Hatcheries,Nakashibetsu, who drove us to the headquarters building at the NakashibetsuHatchery. Here we met Mr. Shinjiro Kouchi, Director of Nemuro Hatcheries.We had an hour's talk about timing of runs and feeding of fry.

The chum runs in Nemuro district enter from October to January,peaking in mid-November. Pinks run from May to July, peaking in July, whenthe eggs are taken.. Masu run from April to June. Pink eggs are taken aswell as those of chums and masu. All are fed in the spring. The newly-hatchedchum alevins about the end of January are placed in the feeding ponds. Whenthe yolk sac is absorbed, feeding begins (about the end of March). The foodused here is the same as in the Tokachi District, although shredded carcassesof spawners are used as well in the later feeding. Attempts are made to keepthe hatchery water warm in mid-winter - at Nakashibetsu, spring water is usedto avoid temperatures below about 6°C. Feed is distributed from Nakashibetsuto other hatcheries in the Nemuro District. Mr. Kouchi gave me data on theproposed numbers of eggs to be taken in 1964, the results of marking hatcheryfry and their later recapture as adults. He also gave me a map of Hokkaidoshowing all headquarters, hatcheries, holding ponds and collectingsites. Mr.Kouchi mentioned Dr. Foerster's work and I reviewed it as best I could. Onecould tell he was skeptical of the stigma on hatcheries in Canada. Marking(ilsfry) and recapture (as adults) arebeingcarriedoutatmanyNemurohatch­eries. It is clear, as Mike says, that no one has a clear idea of whatproportion of upstream migrants is used in the hatcheries.

Everyone talks of the advance of pollution, and I saw much evidencenear pulp mills and factories.

There is evidence of new hatchery construction in Nemuro district,too. Tomorrow we will see a relatively new vertical incubator (Burrows type)and a collecting station. Mr. Kouchi and Mr. Okubo both expressed satisfactionwith the performance of the Burrows type; it rears eggs with the same survivalbut uses less space.

Tonight's new fish taste treat: boiled Alaska pollock testes: WearestayingattheNakamotoHotel,Nakashibetsu.

Saturday October 24. This morning we were met by Mr. Okubo with a hatcherycar. We drove to Nemurobetsu which is close to the mouth of the ShibetsuRiver. We could see the Kuriles across Nemuro Strait. We saw scallop shellsbeingstrungforoysterculchandmanyacresofsquid-dryingracks.

We drove up the Shibetsu about 2 miles to Shibetsu catching place.Here there is a fence across the river much like the Babine Fence?, where theupstream migrants are sorted. At present they are being kept in relativelysmall pens at the side of the river. Another fence is under constructionabout 150 yards downstream. It is intended that fish entering the area between

'A salmon-counting weir on the Babine River near the outlet of BabineLake,B.C.

At mouth of the ShibetsuRiver. Scallop shells (oysterculch)and squid drying racks in background. Left to right: driver,Mr. Okubo, Dr. Ueno.

Scallopshellsstrungforoysterculch,Nemurobetsu.

Lower reach of Shibetsu River.

Squid drying on rack near Nemurobetsu.

Fence and buildings at Shibetsu catching place.

Looking downstream from Shibetsu fence to lower fence underconstruction.

Pens constructed along side of river to hold chums forspawning, Shibetsu catching place_

Chum salmon in holding ponds, Shibetsu catching place.

Rock placed in long wire cages forms shore bulkhead,Shibetsucatchingplace.

Wirerock-holdingcages,detail.

the fences will be held and sorted at the upper trap for egg taking. The areabetween the fences is expected to hold 20,000 fish. Atpresent,beforethepeak of the run, 1,000 fish per day are being taken and held. It is hoped totake50,000fishthisyearatthiscatchingplace-Le. 25,000 each of malesand females. Mr. Okubo said the plan this year is to take 800,000,000 eggs inHokkaido(twicetheusualnumber}. The prospects look good.

There is concern about construction of more starch plants on theriver and hence even greater pollution. Their answer seems to be to buildmore hatcheries.

InNemurodistricttheNishibetsuRiverhasthelargestruns,theShibetsu next. Mr. Okubo says that "a few" chums spawn between the lowercatchingplaceandtheNakashibetsucatchingplace,butnotinthe lowerreaches which he says are too silty.

(Mr. Okubo says that there are chum runs to rivers in northernHonshu•. The plan this year is to incubate 200,000,000eggsinhatcheriesinnorthern Honshu. Whether these eggs will come from Honshu or Hokkaido riversis not clear.)

Next we drove to IchariHatchery. Ithasanewhatcherybuildingand new hatchery ponds. They have vertical incubator (Burrows) stacks to hold4,500,000 eggs as well as troughs. They run 10 litres/min. of water througheach stack, 10,000 eggs per tray, 10 trays to a stack. The total capacity ofthe hatchery (both old and new) would be 22,000,000 eggs, I think. I saw alsoa new building where the food is prepared. It had an electric grinder forgrinding the frozen blocks of fry feed which are sent from Sapporo. (In thecase of the Burrows trays, the fry are kept in them until the yolk sacs areabsorbed before placing in the feeding ponds. Also it should be. noted thatthe trays are modified from the Burrows type). Well water will be used in thenew hatchery to keep the water temperature up. The pumps are tandem, 10 h.p.each, and are run alternately. TheIchariRiverisasmallstream. (Theareaof the lower Shibetsu is popular with Hokkaido bears - the chief at the catch­ing place is a licensed hunter. The bears take salmon from the rivers andare a menace to cattle.)

We caught the train at Nemurobetsu, returned to Nakashibetsu, thenon to Shibecha, then to Teshikaga, then to AkanLake by bus.

Weare staying at the Yamaura Hotel at Akan Lake, AkanNationalParktonight and tomorrow (Sunday). (Fish treat for today: raw long-finned smelt;caviarofcrabs'eggs.)

Sunday October 25 (Day off). We got up late, then took the cruise boat outonto Akanko (Akan Lake). The snow of the night before had not amounted toanything, but the ground was frozen hard - it was not a summer-day cruise: Wewent to the island where the "marimo" or round balls of green algae are found.Even within Akanko they are found only out to about 200 m from the island.

Icharihatchery,oldbuilding(stillinuse).

Icharihatchery,newbuilding.

Burrows-type hatchery incubators, Icharihatchery.

Plastic hatchery troughs, Icharihatchery.

Water pumps, Icharihatchery.

Vertical stack incubator trays, Icharihatchery.

Vertical stack incubator tray.

Vertical stack incubator tray (note overflow discharge holes).

Nursery ponds (new), Icharihatchery. The pond's overflowdischarges into the IchariRiver.

Nurseryponds(old),Icharihatchery.

Island (AkanLake) where the "marimo" grow.

"Marimo" , Akan Lake.

The largest is about 25 cm in diameter. There were lots on display and smallones could be seen washed up on the beach. (Recently, small ones have beenfound in Chimikeppu, the other original Japanese kokanee lake.) After lunchwe went shopping. The most distinctive aspect of Akan and district are theAinus, which are truly distinct from other Japanese in face and build.

(Latest fish food item: jellyfish in sea-urchin sauce - ugh:)

Monday October 26. We traveled from Akan by bus to Teshikaga, TeshikagatoHawaya, stopping at Yuo (sulfur) Yama - a terrific sight - the steam and sulfurspouting out of the mountain side. We passed Lake Masyu, a volcanic crater,290 m deep, very clear with no inlet and outlet. Lake Kutcharo is considereda beauty spot; the most remarkable feature is the fact that you can dig withyour hands in the lake-shore sand down to hot water. (The whole area isvolcanic and still peacefully active.) Between Kutcharo Lake and Bihoro, wesaw a penned Hokkaido bear on an Ainu reserve - very large and quite brownparticularly around the muzzle which is longer than in the B.C. black. Wecaught the train to Abashiri at Bihoro, arrived at about 1730 and went to theSansuikaku Hotel. (The taste treat tonight is Hokkaido hairy crab, shuckedby the girl at the table as one eats.)

Tuesday October 27. At 9:00 a.m. this morning we were met by Mr. Hayafune,chief of the Abashiri Hatchery, who took us first to the hatchery. Thisbuilding is about 2 years old, two storeys high, of concrete construction, andvery clean, roomy and well-lit. It houses Burrows-type incubators arrangedIOtraystoastack,ofwhichthereare200. (ThereareIOOoneachfloor.)The capacity is thus 20,000,000 chum eggs. Beside the hatchery itself thereis an office building which probably accommodates some staff family.

The water supply is that of the city of Abashiri. Itcomesfromwells and is piped about40km. It is very clear; the temperature never fallsbelow 7°C. Malachite green is used as a fungicide; it is introduced into thewater supply directly when needed (i.e. it is not introduced to each stackseparately). There ,is a pumping system to increase the pressure in the lines.

The eggs come from the Abashiri River which flows from Abashiri Laketo the sea, a distance I would guess of less than 2 miles. It would seemunlikely that the spawning stock returning to the Abashiri could arise fromnatural spawning alone: the river is not large, it runs its full coursethrough the town, escapees would have to pass through Abashiri Lake ( a largebody of water) to spawn elsewhere.

The chum run to the Abashiri enters from late October until the endof December. These are among the latest spawners in Hokkaido. The spawn fishare collected at a fence within the city limits.

Most interesting perhaps is the fry release. These are kept in thetrays until the yolk sac is absorbed. They are then released (unfed) into a

AbashiriHatchery, Abashiri.

Chief's residence, AbashiriHatchery.

Vertical stack incubators, Abashiri Hatchery. Mr. Hayafune.

Lake Abashiri, with lagoon where fry are released in leftforeground.

AbashiriFisheriesResearchStation.

LakeShikotsu,Tokui'shatcheryontheleft. (Thesmallpatchof stream near the mountain peak comes from an activevolcar.o).

lagoon opening onto Lake Abashiri. The fry remain in the lake up to 3 months,by which time they are about 5-6 cm long, when they migrate to sea. Themortality from egg to released fry is about 20%.

After visiting the hatchery we drove to the top of a nearby mountain,where we saw the lay of the land: the Abashiri River and Lake, the lagoon,Lake Saroma, Lake Notoro, and of course the Okhotsk Sea. We could see alsoLake Tofutsu which is famous for its wild goldfish.

We then drove to the "Okhotsk Aquarium" which is a rather unkemptcollection of some interesting creatures: 2 Hokkaido bears (females about 5years old), sea lions, seals,Hokkaidodeer, and the local fishes.

Next we drove to the Abashiri Fisheries Research Station (Hokkaid 0

Provincial Government). Here we met Mr. S·. Imai, Director, who kindly gave uslunch. The main work at the Station is scallop, oyster and seaweed culture,studies of Alaska pollock, and freshwater pollution.

Most of the culture work involves the saltwater lagoon lakes ofNotoro and Saroma. For scallops, the "mother" specimens are brought from theseato the "lake", racks of scallop shells are put out, the larvae settleonthe strung shells and grow for a period; they are then picked off and distri­butedinfavourable areas in the sea. For oysters, spat is brought fromHonshu and suspended in the lake. The small oysters are harvested at the endof the same year (shucking was in progress while I was there). The raw oysterwas tender and delicious; the meat would about cover a 50-cent piece. I did~~~.get details of the seaweed culture but it involves growing in Lake Saroma,

At 1230 we caught the Limited Express to Sapporo, arriving at 1915.We are staying at the Kyosaikaikan Hotel which is operated for Hokkaido civilservants when in Sapporo on business. It is in the western style, veryinexpensive. Its construction cost came from the pay of the civil servants.Such hotels are common in the larger cities of Hokkaido (ref. Ueno).

Wednesday October 28. Today I went to the headquarters of the HokkaidoSalmon Hatcheries Branch of the Japan Fisheries Agency. Thestation,whichison the outskirts of Sapporo, consists of the administrative headquarters ofthe Hokkaido hatcheries and the laboratories of the associated research arm ofthe Hatchery Branch. Mr. Mihara is the director; he met with me for a decentinterval, then went on to other business. The vice-director is Mr. Hemmi, whoseems to be interested in the culture of pinks. He says that pink hatcheryproduction in Hokkaido is about 20,000,000 fry per year which is much reducedfrom what it was previously. They are attempting to improve hatchery cultureof pinks; in their opinion the pinks do not thrive under the hatcheryprocedures which seem so effective for chums. Mr. Hemmi says that in naturethe pink and chum fry go to sea at about the same time; when raised togetherin hatcheries the pinks go to sea earlier. In other words, the pinks don'tseem to delay their departure to take advantage of the feeding hand-outs as the

chums do. Hence they also go to sea smaller. Hemmi also speculates that pinksand masu are more seriously affected by pollution.

I raised the now mouldy question of what proportion of the salmonspawners are taken for hatcheries. With protestations of qualification, thoseassembled finally brought forth the following estimates:

MasuPinkChum

Total escapement

150,000200,000

600-750,000

Proportion takenfor hatcheries

30%60%60%

For chums and pinks, this would leave 40% of the chums and pinks to spawnnaturally and to satisfy poachers.

I have already described the (different) procedure forcultivati ngchumfryatAbashiri,wheretheyarereleasedintothelakeinsteadofrearedin ponds. I now learned more about the lake: in earlier days, chums spawnedin the tributary Memambetsu and Abashiri Rivers (early)andintwo areas onthe lake bottom (late). Apparently the spawners swam up to the lake from thesea (about 2 miles) and either proceeded through the lake to the t ributariesor lake-spawned. Now, the lake itself has a large volume of about one-halfbrackish water beginning at about9mdepth (total depth 16m). Thebrackishwater contains large amounts of H2 S. Salt water, at very high tides, slidesup the river from the sea and intrudes into the lake. The upper layers ofwater are rich and produce very abundant plankton from May to JUly. Icethickness in winter is about 50 cm. There are no kokanee. No attempt hasbeen made to raise either sockeye or kokanee in the lake. Iwasveryconsciousof the possibilities of the lake as a test area for feasibility studiesof"Seymour-Belize"projects.8

When I met Dr. Sano at Obihiro I asked him to pump his RussianvisitorsaboutthepinktransplantsfromSakhalintotheWhiteSea. He hadsent the little information he had got back to Hemmi to pass to me; it wasdifficult to understand. I think that the gist was that the fish were largeduring the large return of 200-500,000; that in the other and subsequentyears when the returns were small, the adults were small.

Mr. Kobayashi described the tests of hatchery success that are beingconducted. Fry released from hatcheries are being marked for later recoveryin the coastal fishery and at the hatchery catching places. Good numbers ofrecoveries are being made. It is proposed to test the effectiveness of allchum hatcheries by this method eventually; a good start has been made. Wild

8About 1961 it was proposed that a large salt-water inlet (Seymour­Belize Inlet, B.C.) might be dammed off, freshened, and converted into asockeye-producing lake.

stocks are not being marked (to compare hatchery production against wild).

Dr. Hikita described his work in crossing chum and pink salmon. Theyhave recovered the hybrids as returning adults (external appearanceamixture,2yearsold,andlargerthanapink). They have not had time to recoverprogeny (if any) ofF1 crosses; Dr. Hikita is hopeful of carrying outback­crosses later. The Russians have been crossing chums and pinks for sometime.I think Dr. Hikita said that the cross of the ~ pink with the if chum gavebetter returns.

Mr. Kobayashi demonstrated a scale reading apparatus similar to theone used at Nanaimo; I think he made copies of the projected images by usingalready calibrated sensitized paper.

The laboratory facilities at this station would appal our relativelypampered investigators - the quarters are small, dark, cluttered and cold.Theworkers,however, appear keen, and are extremely interested in our work.They have a minimum of sophisticated equipment.

After lunch we went and clapped our hands at the carp pond, butnothing appeared. Apparently, when they are less sluggish (in warmer weather),the carp will congregate to be fed at the signal.

Mr. Tokui then took me by Agency car to the Chitose Hatchery, whichis the original salmon hatchery in Hokkaido. The original hatchery bUildingstill stands; it was built in 1889 from the plans of a Maine hatchery and isnow a museum. Mr. Ishikawa, the Director, showed me the brood stock ofrainbow trout kept at Chitose, and I saw Q. rhodurus in the flesh - it Q.Qtilook different, with distinct red spots. The hatchery was conventional, andspring fed. There were the usual extensive rearing ponds.

We then drove onto Lake Shikotsu to Tokui's kokanee hatchery, andhad a quick glance around before dark. We will see it tomorrow again.

Tonight we are staying at the Shikotsu-kanko Hotel. Tokui hasprovided the hotel with fresh kokanee, taken at the hatchery for spawning. Sofor dinner we have kokanee-tempura style, raw, and baked.

Thursday October 29. About 0600 we were off to see the catching of kokaneeat the mouth of the very small stream at the Shikotsu Hatchery. A small seineis used within a sheltered area at the creek mouth shielded by a rock jetty.The catch was small. The fish are held for ripening in quite small ponds.

The story of kokanee in Japan, as I get it from Tokui, is quiteinteresting. They are recorded historically only in Lakes Akan andChimikeppu •TokuibelievesthatsockeyeonceinhabitedHokkaidoandthatkokaneeinthesetwo lakes are remnants of earlier anadromous sockeye stocks cut off from thesea by volcanic eruption. There are no extant records of sockeye stocks;Tokui believes however that isolation of the sockeye from the sea occurredonly a few hundred years ago.

Seining kokanee at the mouth of the small stream at Tokui'shatchery.

LakeShikotsukokanee, Tokui'shatchery.

Chitosecatchingplace.

Fish-wheel,Chitosecatchingplace. Mr.Shiroshiga.

Fish-wheel, Chitose catching place.

Theoriginalkokaneestockshavebeentransplantedtomanyotherlakes in Japan. They have prospered in about 20 in Honshu and 5 in Hokkaido.The original donor lakes now have very few. The transferred stocks may wellnot be pure, however, because kokanee were probably also brought in fromSakhalin or Siberia as welL Pity:

FishingforkokaneeinLakeShikotsuisunregulated,unlicencedandfree. A fisherman may take as many as 600 in a day. Small flies, several onaline, are used. The outlet ofShikotsu is fenced topreventkokanee"smolts" from going downstream from the lake.

I am bringing several of Tokui's reprints back with me for McCart.

Later in the morning we went on to the Chitose catching place. Herethere is a conventional fence in the river, except that it has a fish-wheelinserted in it to capture the upstream-moving chums. The spawners so takenare held in pens at the side of the river. Mr. Shirashiga, the chief of thiscatching place, showed me the egg-taking procedure earlier described at theChiyodasite.

Tokui then drove me to Chitose airport where we had a bite of lunch.After many expressions of mutual appreciation, I left Tokui, Ueno and thedriver,caughttheaircraftatl230, arriving at Haneda at 1340. Mike andPeter Miyake met me at the airport.

October 30 to November 17. INPFC matters in and around Tokyo.

Pr1ntedinCmada b7 theCaned1anGovernmentPrlntlngBureau forth.excluslvedlstrlbutlonbf Flsherle8

ReseBrch Board of CSDBda.Nanaimo,B.C.,Canada