chum salmon were dried for human consump- 

 tion and dog food. Annual estimates of chum 

 salmon taken by local residents were made by 

 agents of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries for 

 many years. These estimates are given in 

 table 4, as are the numbers of fish wheels 

 and fathoms of nets used in the fisheries 

 from 1922 through 1943. The salmon were re- 

 ported in tons of dried fish, which have been 

 converted into numbers using a conversion 

 factor of 1.2 pounds of dried salmon to one 

 whole fresh fish. The average annual catch 

 for the period was calculated at 465,700 fish. 



In the 1928 annual report of the Alaska 

 fishery and fur-seal industries (Bower, 1929), 

 mention was made of the decline in demand 

 for salmon as dog food, brought about when 

 dogs were replaced by airplanes in transport- 

 ing fur catches to Fairbanks and Anchorage. 

 Chum salmon continued however to be impor- 

 tant in the livelihood of the native residents 

 of the Kuskokwim River area, for some of the 

 largest annual catches were made after 1928 

 (table 4). 



The survey of Raleigh (1958) estimated the 

 recent annual average chum salmon catch at 

 511,820 (table 3), which compares closely with 

 the calculated average of 465,700 for the period 

 1922-43. The natives along the Kuskokwim 

 River continue to have a high dependency on 

 salmon. Raleigh found that in the 27 villages 

 surveyed, 15 had a high dependency, 10 a 

 medium, and only 2 a low. He rated the de- 

 pendency as follows: "The degree of dependency 

 of a village upon the salmon resources was 

 estimated by dividing figures for the total 

 people + (total dogs x 0.7) of the village into 

 the total salmon catch estimate for the village. 

 A village utilizing salmon at a ratio of 100:1 

 or greater per year on this basis was desig- 

 nated as high, one utilizing salmon at a ratio 

 of from 50 to 99:1 as medium, and less than 

 this as low." The locations of the villages on 

 the Kuskokwim River surveyed by Raleigh 

 are shown in figure 5. The dependency on 

 salmon resources is greatest in villages 

 located along the lower river and least in 

 villages in the upper reaches of the river. 



Raleigh further noted the demand for salmon 

 by the natives of the Kuskokwim River system 

 as follows: 



From the Territory of Alaska Department of Vital 

 Statistics it was learned that the population of the study 

 area is increasing. Birth and death records for the 

 area from the United States Department of Health, 

 Education and Welfare indicate that a substantial in- 

 crease in population has occurred since the 1950 

 census. Also from the same office it was learned that 

 welfare fund payments in the study area have increased 

 steadily in the past five years. Among the factors listed 

 as contributing to the need for welfare aid were inade- 

 quate employment opportunities and the occasional 

 failure of the salmon runs to provide enough fish for 

 a winter's food supply. The increasing population, along 

 with the decreased value of furs, has probably made 

 the local people more dependent upon the salmon re- 

 sources than they previously had been. L. G. Wingard 

 (Bower, 1923) states, ". . . it seems that the natives 

 of the Kuskokwim River do not depend upon dried 

 salmon for their winter food supply in by any means 

 as large a ratio as do the natives of the Copper River 

 region." In more recent reports there frequently occur 

 notations concerning villages dependent upon the fish 

 resources that have had dog teams starve to death and 

 local people in serious need due to lack of sufficient 

 dried salmon supply to carry them through the winter 

 months. For example: Mrs. Pentecost, principal- 

 teacher for the village of Tuluksak states in her Annual 

 Survey of Native Foods Report (1954), "The food sup- 

 ply for the coming winter is very inadequate. There 

 was a poor run of silver [coho] and dog [chum] sal- 

 mon .... Some fresh fish will be available during the 

 winter, but the quantities available are usually quite 

 limited and therefore should not be counted as an im- 

 portant source of food supply. The major food is the 

 dried salmon. Last year this was inadequate, and this 

 year there is only about one-half the amount there 

 was last year." 



COASTAL, AREA FROM 

 KUSKOKWIM TO YUKON RIVER 



The coastal area between the mouths of the 

 Kuskokwim and Yukon Rivers is composed of 

 low, flat tundra with a number of small, 

 rather short rivers (fig. 4). Although there 

 are several streams in this area, only one, 

 the Tooksook River, was rated as appearing 

 suitable for salmon according to Raleigh, who 

 made aerial surveys over the larger streams 

 of this area. The majority were muddy tundra 

 streams of dubious value to salmon. Although 

 there is no estimate given for the Aphrewn 



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