northern squawfish (Ptychocheilus oregonen- 

 sis ). In several hundred squawfish stomachs 

 examined, fish made up 83 percent of the con- 

 tents by volume, and 31 percent of the fish 

 were young sockeye, Ricker (1941) stated that 

 young sockeye ■were an important food of 

 predators in Cultus Lake, British Columbia. 

 Predatory species included northern squaw- 

 fish, Dolly Varden ( Salvelinus malma ), cut- 

 throat trout (Salmo clarki ), young coho 

 salmon (O. kisutch ), and sculpins ( Cottus spp.). 

 In general, consumption of young sockeye was 

 proportional to their abundance. Predators 

 consumed other foods in greater proportion in 

 years when sockeye were scarce. Foerster 

 (1944) reported that reduction in numbers of 

 predator fish by gill netting in Cultus Lake 

 resulted in an appreciably higher capacity for 

 sockeye. More specifically, Foerster and 

 Ricker (1941) found that reduction of preda- 

 tors by persistent gill netting in the lake 

 increased survival of sockeye 3-1/3 times 

 over prior average survival. 



LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION OF STUDY 

 AREA 



Kitoi Bay, on Afognak Island, was chosen as 

 the study area, prinnarily because it was near 

 several lakes, which range between 5.2 

 and 144 hectares in surface area (fig. 1, 

 table 1). Only one of these. Little Kitoi Lake, 

 has a natural run of salmon. Big Kitoi Lake 

 contains a few landlocked sockeye (kokanee). 

 These fish are evidence that the lake, which 

 is impassable to upstream migration of fish 

 because of two major falls inthe outlet stream. 



Table 1. — Surface area, volume, and depth of 

 lakes in the vicinity of the Alaska Depart- 

 ment of Fish and Game Kitoi Bay Research 

 station 



[present studies limited to Little Kitoi, 

 Ftuth, and Midarm Lakes] 



The volume and depth of Big Kitoi Lake 

 have not been determined. 



Figure 1.— Kitoi Bay area, Alaska, showing location of 

 Research Station of Alaska Department of Fish and 

 Game and lakes where young sockeye were studied. 



was once accessible to anadromous fishes. 

 The remaining lakes in the area have no 

 salmon because of barriers to spawning or 

 the absence of suitable spawning conditions. 

 The lakes are all within a few miles of the 

 research station and are accessible by skiff 

 and overland trails. 



Kitoi Bay is on the southeast coast of 

 Afognak Island, about 48 km. (kilometers) 

 north of the City of Kodiak, Kodiak Island. 

 The coastal fringe is for the most part low-- 

 generally less than 150 m. (meters) above sea 

 level. It is covered with a dense growth of 

 Sitka spruce ( Picea sitchensis ) and an under- 

 growth, primarily devil's club ( Oplopanax 

 horridus) , huckleberry ( Vaccinium sp.), and 

 salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis ). A few alders 

 (Alnus tenuifolia ) grow on the steeper slopes 

 and along the creek banks and deltas. The 

 forest floor and the crotches and larger limbs 

 of the spruce trees are heavily matted with 

 sphagnum moss. Growth of the moss was 

 stimulated by a 10- to 15-cm. (centimeter) 

 layer of punnice that was spewed over the 

 adjacent mainland and islands in 1912 during 

 the eruption of Mt. Katmai (located on the 

 mainland of the Alaska Peninsula about 1 20 km. 

 west of Kitoi Bay). This pumice layer is 

 readily observed in the shallow areas of the 



