Table 1.— Morphometric measurements of Chignik and Black Lakes and Chignik Lagoon (from Dahlberg 



1973). 



Chignik Lagoon (12 km long) is a nearly enclosed estu- 

 ary having a sandy or muddy, flat bottom with scattered 

 patches of algae and extensive areas of eel grass 

 (Zostera). Water covers about 42 km^ at high tide, and 

 about half that at low tide. Low and high tide salinities 

 range from 10 to 17%. in the upper lagoon and from 30 

 to 32%. at the sand spit near the outlet. The importance 

 of the estuary as a secondary rearing area for juvenile 

 sockeye salmon has been investigated by Phinney (1968); 

 large catches of postsmolt sockeye salmon have been 

 taken by beach seine and surface trawl in the lagoon 

 during June and July (Narver and Dahlberg 1965; Phin- 

 ney 1968). 



The Climate 



The climate of the region is strongly maritime because 

 the Alaska Peninsula is a comparatively small body of 

 land between two large water masses, the North Pacific 

 Ocean and the Bering Sea. The weather conditions re- 

 ported by Atwood (1911) and Knappen (1929) remain 

 typical. The summers are short and cool; although there 

 may be many days of wet weather, the rainfall is seldom 

 excessive. A great many overcast days occur. Violent 

 winds often exceeding 161 km/h (100 mph) have been 

 recorded. Winter temperatures are more moderate than 

 those in Bristol Bay; recording thermometers left in 

 cabins over the winters of 1961-67 showed a low of -27°C 

 (-17°F). Ice breakup on the lakes occurs in April or 

 May, much earlier than in the lakes of the Bristol Bay 

 district. Long-term weather records are not available for 

 the immediate area; Kodiak Island (270 km to the north- 

 east) is the nearest location with extensive weather 

 records, although some data are available from nearby 

 Port Heiden on the north side of the peninsula. 



History of the Commercial Fishery 



Cannery operations. — Commercial exploitation of 

 Chignik sockeye salmon began in 1888 when the Fisher- 

 men's Packing Company of Astoria, Oreg., sent a crew to 

 Chignik Bay to prospect for fish; they returned in the fall 

 with 2,160 barrels of salted salmon. In 1889 canning 

 operations were started in plants of the Fishermen's 

 Packing Company, Chignik Bay Company of San Fran- 

 cisco, and the Shumagin Packing Company from 

 Portland, Oreg. (Moser 1899). Operating agreements be- 

 tween the companies proved so successful in 1890 and 

 1891 that they joined the pool of canneries of the Alaska 



Packing Association in 1892. In 1893 they all became 

 members of the Alaska Packers Association, and only one 

 cannery was operated as a result of increased operation 

 efficiency (Moser 1899). 



The ease with which fish were captured at Chignik at- 

 tracted more investment into the fishery; in 1896 Hume 

 Brothers and Hume, and the Pacific Steam Whaling 

 Company each built a cannery (Cobb 1930). In 1901 

 these companies became part of the Pacific Packing and 

 Navigation Company, which in turn became part of the 

 Northwestern Fisheries Company in 1905. In 1910 the 

 Columbia River Packers Association built yet another 

 cannery in the area. Competition was intense until 1914 

 when the three companies then operating — Alaska 

 Packers Association (APA), Columbia River Packers As- 

 sociation (CRPA), and Northwestern Fisheries Company 

 (NFC) — agreed to an equal division of the catch (Rich 

 and Ball 1930). 



Industry relationships remained static until 1926 when 

 H. W. Crosby operated a floating salmon cannery, 

 Salmon King, for one season. In 1932 Crosby returned 

 and built a land-based cannery; the same year, CRPA, 

 NFC, and APA made a combined pack at the APA can- 

 nery. The following season, 1933, Pacific American Fish- 

 eries (PAF) acquired the Northwestern Fisheries Com- 

 pany, and the PAF, APA, and CRPA combined canning 

 operations. The APA acquired the Chignik interests of 

 PAF and CRPA during the ensuing years and continues 

 to operate their cannery at Chignik (Pacific Fisherman 

 Yearbook 1915-67; National Fisherman Yearbook 1968, 

 1969; Pacific Packers Report 1970-76). 



Crosby changed the name of his operation to Chignik 

 Lagoon Packing Company in 1936, and after two other 

 changes gave it the name Chignik Fisheries Company in 

 1947. Beginning in 1953, APA and Chignik Fisheries 

 Company entered into an agreement to can all fish in the 

 APA cannery; the cannery of the Chignik Fisheries Com- 

 pany serves as a base of supply and operations for its 

 fishing fleet (Roos see footnote 7). In 1968, Columbia- 

 Wards Company purchased the Chignik Fisheries can- 

 nery and has continued operations under the same 

 arrangements with the APA (Pacific Packers Report 

 1976). 



Fishing gear. — Pile traps (Scudder 1970) were the 

 principal fishing gear, and beach seines took a small part 

 of the catch before 1900. The water at Chignik was too 

 clear and the channel too narrow for effective gillnetting 

 (Moser 1899). The number of units of gear operated in 



