Figure 1. --Production and value of canned 

 Alaska salmon. 



z 



30 - 



o 



25 - 



o 



5 20 



(/) 



i 15 



10 

 5 

 



TOTAL EMPLOYMENT 



V V 



925 



■40 



'45 



Alaska canned salmon pack for 1958 up to 

 almost three million cases (figure 1) — 20 

 percent over the 1957 production. The num- 

 ber of fishermen employed remained at sub- 

 stantially the same level in 1958 as in 

 1957 (figure 2 and table 1). Areawise the 

 waters of Southeastern Alaska, particularly 

 those at the south end of Stephens Passage 

 and east cLnd west of Ketchikan, produced 

 the greatest volume of pink salmon. The 

 pack in this area of more than 700,000 cases 

 was the best since 1951. Prince William 

 Sound had an oustanding pink salmon fishery 

 this year, producing 300,000 cases for its 

 best record in ten years. Runs into the 

 Susitna, Nushagak, and Unalakleet Rivers 

 were unprecedentedly heavy, and a late pink 

 salmon run appeared at Unalaska for the 

 first time since 1954 and added much to the 

 production of canneries in the South Penin- 

 sula region. In general, the pink salmon 

 runs tended to appear in volume relatively 

 early in the respective seasons and to 

 decline sharply by the time the late runs 

 should normally have appeared. Information 

 is not at hand that would indicate whether 

 or not this was the result of recent general 

 increases in ocean temperature. 



Unlike pink salmon, red salmon, which 

 normally make up one-third of the pack, were 

 low in production in all areas and comprised 

 only 16 percent of the total pack. This 

 decrease can be accounted for principally 

 in the Bristol Bay area where the catch Weis 

 a little more than half that of last year, 

 and in Cook Inlet where the pack of 44,000 

 cases was one-third of the average for the 

 past several years. 



The chum salmon pack was only slightly 

 below the average for the past six years. 

 Chum salmon were well above their average 

 size, a characteristic that prevailed in all 



Figure 2. — Employment in the Alaska salmon 

 fishery. 



five species of salmon this year. 



An unexpected development in the king 

 salmon fishery was the mild-curing of some 

 10,000 of this species at Port Moller prior 

 to the opening of the red salmon season. 

 In addition, the June king salmon fishery 

 on the Nushagak was very successful. In 

 late July and early August a fleet of troll- 

 ers discovered good fishing for both large 

 king and coho salmon near Middleton Island. 

 This extends the present westward limit of 

 the offshore commercial trolling area. 



Floating canneries and freezers all 

 but disappeared from the scene in 1958, 

 their interests being frequently consoli- 

 dated with shore plants. Tenders with 

 chilled brine tcinks sire playing an expanding 

 role in the industry, owing to their ability 

 to hold small quantities of fish over long 

 periods of time so that full loads can be 

 made up. 



The overall outlook for 1959 is for a 

 smaller pack. The Alaska-wide weakness of 

 the odd-year pink salmon runs will probably 

 be reflected in the cyclic return, and 

 Bristol Bay red salmon are not expected in 

 volume greater than the season just experi- 

 enced. 



Southeastern Alaska 



The Southeeistern Alaska fishing area 

 embraces all territorial waters cf the 

 Alaska Panhandle between Cape Fairweather 

 and Dixon Entrance. Four types of commer- 

 cial gear — trolls, gill nets, seines, and 

 traps — harvest the five species of Pacific 

 salmon that populate this area. Seines and 



