THE FISHES OF ALASKA. 253 



Washington; At one time this was said to be an excellent blueback stream, able to supply to the In- 

 dians of the Quiniault Reservation a large part of their food. It is said that there is still a small run 

 here. There is also a small run in Ozette Lake, just south of Cape Flattery. 



Of the streams tributary to Puget Sound the only ones in which the sockeye, as this salmon is usually 

 called in thai region, is known to run are the Lake Washington system of lakes, the Skagil and, pos- 

 sibly, the Snohomish, the Stillaguanush. and the Nooksak. The only one of these, however, in which 

 there is any considerable run is the Skagit, which the fish ascend to reach Baker Lake for spawning 

 purposes. Doubtless the greatest of all the sockeye streams is the Fraser River. Ever since the 

 early days of the salmon canning industry on our western coast the Fraser has I n famous Eor the enor- 

 mous run.- of sockeyes which ascend thai great river to the lakes at its headwaters. 



Going northward from the Fraser we find several streams in British Columbia in which the sockej es 

 run in considerable numbers. The principal of these are the Skeena, Rivers Inlet, Naas Lowe fnlet, 

 Dean Channel, Namu Harbor, Holla Coola. Smith fnlet, Alert Bay, and Alberni (anal. It is by far 

 the mosi abundant and most important salmon in British Columbia waters. In Alaska, where it is 

 known as the redfish, red salmon, or sockeye, ii is abundanl and run- in greal numbers in all 

 suitable streams. In Southeast Uaska the following are the most important rod salmon streams: Naha, 

 Boca de Quadra, Yes Hay. Nowiskay, Keegan, Peter Johnson, Klawak Hi a Eetta, Hunter I 

 Chilkat, Taku. Chilkoot, Kan a. Thome Bay, Stikine, etc.; in Central Alaska, Usek, Copper, Vfog 

 Karluk, Alitak, Chignik, Knik. and Sushitna; in the Bristol Bay region, the Ugashik, Naknek, 

 Kvichak, Nushagak, and Wood. The red salmon is said to ascend the Yukon, at leasl tot aribou 

 Crossing, bul we have seen no specimens from that riverand do not know whether there is any con- 

 siderable run in it. Nor do we know whether the species occurs in the Kuskokwim, the ECobuk, or any 



stream ih of the Nushagak. On the Asiatic side the red salmon is known i :cura1 Bering Island 



and in all suitable streams south to Japan. 



This species of salmon is peculiar in thai it rarely or never ascend not om or 



more lakes at its headwaters. Its spawning beds are invariable in small streams tributary to lakes 



or. rarely, in the lakes themselves. No rod salmon is known to have spawned in an) stream n 



nected with a lake Some have boon seen occasionally in the lower part oi i which had no 



lake in its course, but it is believed such individual.- soon discovered their mistake and promptly 

 returned downstream in search of the proper water. The only instances of this Kind which I 

 ooino under the personal observation of the senior author are the following: In Augu I I 103 while 

 at Sitka, he saw a red salmon speared by an Indian in Indian River near the bridge, which, howi 



is only a short distance above the mouth of the stream; it is underst I there Is no lake in this stream. 



The other rase is that of Gold Fork, a tributary oi Payette River, Idaho. While at Payette Lake in 

 September, L894, ho learned, on what ho believes to be entirely trustworthy o\ idence, that rod salmon 

 are sometimes soon in the mouth of that stream, but that they soon return and ascend the main fork 

 of the Payette, which comes from Big Payette Lake, in whoso inlet then- were formerly important 

 spawning bods. The origin and significance of this peculiar habit arc not known. The problem is 

 one worthy of investigation. 



The red salmon is the neatest and most symmetrical of the salmon. In the sea, or when fresh 

 run. it is clear sky blue on the back and upper part of the sides, shading to clean silvery white below 

 and on belly. Soon after entering the river for the purpose of spawning, the color of the head changes 

 to a rich olive, the back and sides to crimson ami finally to a dark blood red. richest in the males, and 

 the belly a dirty white. Some of the scales become dark edged and the middle of the side shows the 

 darkest roil, but unevenly. At the same time the flesh becomes spongy, the scales embedded, the 

 back somewhat humped, and the jaws hooked and otherwise distorted. 



The run of the n.l salmon in Alaska begins usually in June: in Bering Sea and Central Alaska 

 early in June or even in May, while in Southeast Alaska it is one to tine,- weeks later. The earliest 

 recorded date we have is May 6, for F.yak and the Topper River region. In Bering Sea the run is 

 usually over by the end of July, in Central Alaska and Prime William Sound by the end of August. 

 and in Southeast Alaska by the 10th of September or earlier. The period of the run of red salmon in 

 different parts of Alaska, so far as the records show it, is given in the table on page 254. 



