10- 



REVIFi OF 1957 ALP.SKAN SAIMON FISHERY 



TJie 1957 Alaska salinon pack was increased considerably in September when fall chums 

 appeared in substantial volume in Southeastern Alaska and contributed an additional 1100,000 

 cases. The pack for 1957 was approximately 2,i»57,000 cases (fig. l). "The catch also 

 included an additional 1,300,000 fish, primarily sockeyes, which were cured or frozen by 

 freezer ships. 



The principal reason for this 

 year ' s poor catch of salmon was the 

 universal "failure" of pink salmon runs 

 throughout the Territory. Although 

 satisfactory escapements occurred in 

 1955 on the south side of the Peninsula 

 and at Kodiak, Port Dick, and the lower 

 portion of Southeastern Alaska, the 

 pink salmon return was disappointing 

 everyvAere. Tiie seine catch of nearly 

 three million fish offshore from the 

 west coast of Prince of Wales Island 

 in late July and early August was an 

 unusual development. Apparently can- 

 petition between gear was so heavy 

 that few seiners mad-e good profits. 

 Figure 2 illustrates the contribution 



of pink salmon to the total Alaskan salmon pack in 1957 (30 percent) as contrasted to the 



long-term average (50 percent). 



2 2 



I I I I I 1 I 



I I I I I I I 



1925 



30 



50 



55 



Figure 1 .- -Production and value of 

 canned Alaskan salmon 



Figure 2. --Contribution of each species to the Alaskan salmon pack; 

 long-term average on left, 1957 percentage on right 



R>rtunately, 1957 was an above-average year for chum salmon, and this helped some- 

 \rtiat to offset the lower abundance of other species in the Nushagak River, South Peninsula, 

 Cook Inlet, Kodiak, Prince William Sound, and some sections of Southeastern. "Biis year's 

 pack was made up of 3^+ percent chums compared to the usual yearly average of 15 percent. 



TSie sockeye catch failed for the second successive year on the Nushagak Fliver, but 

 this was partly compensated by a productive week on the Kvichak starting July 8. The 



