CHUM SALMON RESOURCES OF ALASKA FROM 

 BRISTOL BAY TO POINT HOPE 



by 



Chester R. Mattson 



Fishery Research Biologist 



Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 



U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 



Auke Bay, Alaska 



ABSTRACT 



A literature survey was conducted to determine the importance and utilization of 

 chum salmon, Oncorkynchus keta, from Bristol Bay to Point Hope, Alaska. This 

 species is the most abundant and economically important to the welfare of the local 

 residents within this vast area, except for the Bristol Bay area where sockeye sal- 

 mon, Oncorkynchus nerka, far outnumber chum salmon. The Yukon River system pro- 

 duces the greatest number of chum salmon of all the areas covered here, with 

 catches ranging from 500,000 to nearly 1,000,000 fish annually. The Kuskokwim 

 River system follows, with annual catches averaging over 500,000. Ranking third in 

 production is the Bristol Bay area where commercial catches range as high as 

 400,000. The rivers and streams entering Kotzebue Sound from the base of Seward 

 Peninsula northwest to Point Hope rank fourth in importance, annual catches being 

 estimated in excess of 264,000. 



INTRODUCTION 



Although chum salmon (Oncorkynchus keta) are 

 the most abundant species in the rivers and 

 streams ranging north from Bristol Bay and 

 extending as far east as the Mackenzie River 

 in Canada (fig. 1), very few data are available 

 on their abundance in this vast region. Abun- 

 dance of chum salmon in the Bristol Bay 

 region, where they follow sockeye salmon 

 (O. nerka) in importance, can be determined 

 quite accurately for the past several decades 

 from commercial catch records. 



Considerable interest in this valuable but 

 biologically unexplored resource has been 



aroused within the past few years as a result 

 of the intensive Japanese high-seas salmon 

 fishery. Information of a general nature, in- 

 cluding distribution in the region and impor- 

 tance in the native economy, has been available 

 for the two major river systems, the Yukon 

 and Kuskokwim. The need for more specific 

 information prompted the Bureau of Com- 

 mercial Fisheries in Alaska to conduct a 

 reconnaissance survey in 1957 (Raleigh, 1958). 

 Brief surveys were made of many of the sal- 

 mon rivers and streams between Cape Newen- 

 ham and Point Hope, but the Yukon River was 

 excluded. A survey of the salmon fisheries of 

 the Yukon River was made, however, during 

 the summer of 1958 (Knapp, 1958). 



