INTRODUCTION 



Japanese interests, in 1930, extended their offshore fishing opera- 

 tions for bottom fish and shellfish to the eastern, or Alaskan, side of 

 the Bering Sea v^here the extension of the continental shelf provides con- 

 ditions suitable for the growth and development of large populations of 

 crabs and bottom fisho The edge of the continental shelf extends north- 

 westerly from Unimak Pass, in the Aleutian Islands, nearly to the Siberian 

 coast (see figure I). All the waters east and north of this "line" are 

 less than 100 fathoms in depth whereas those west and south of the line^ 

 except in the proximity of the islands of the Aleutian chain^ the Koman- 

 dorski Islands and the Siberian coast, are quite deep, ranging up to 2200 

 fathoms. Thus practically one-half of Bering Sea - comprising an area of 

 one-quarter of a million square miles - is part of the continental shelf. 

 The area extending from the Pribilof Islands eastward to and including 

 Bristol Bay and from the Alaska Peninsula northward to Nunivak and 3t, 

 Matthew Islands is especially productive of bottom life such as crabs^ 

 codfish, and flounders. 



At first, Japanese interests confined their activities to the taking 

 of crabs, with a small operation for bottom fisho However, it was appar- 

 ent by 1937 that they intended to extend their activities to include the 

 taking of salmon. Positive eiddence was obtained by officials of the 

 Fish and Wildlife Service and by members of the Bristol Bay salmon industry 

 that Japanese vessels were engaged in salmon fishing. This discovery 

 aroused such a storm of protest from the Pacific Northwest th5.t the Uo 3. 

 Department of State protested to the Japanese Government. In addition, 

 funds were made available to conduct a series of investigations on the sub- 

 ject of offshore fishing in these waters. 



These investigations covered a variety of related subjects such as 

 the migration routes of salmon as determined by tagging experiments, type 

 of food organisms utilized by salmon, the currents, temperature, and 

 chemical composition of the waters of eastern Bering Sea, etc. 



This paper deals vdth the life history of the salmon, the salmon 

 fishery as carried on by United States nationals, the regulations imposed 

 on the fisheries of Alaska by the United States Government, and the re- 

 sults of the experimental offshore fishing carried on by the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service during the years 1939, 19U0, and 19)41. 



LIFE HISTORY OF SALMON 



There are five species of salmon on the Pacific Coast of North 

 America, all belongLng to the genus Oncorhynchus . In the order of their 

 commercial value (in Alaska) they are as follows: red or sockeye, 0. nerka i 

 pink, 0. gorbuscha; coho or silver, 0. kisutch ; chum, 0. keta ; and king or 

 Chinook, 0. ts chawvts cha . 



