PROGRESS IN BIOLOGICAL INQUIRIES, 1931 479 



looking over Reports of the Commissioner of Fisheries for these 

 years, numerous references were found concerning the enormous 

 quantity of pink sahnon in the territory. Following this period 

 the total yearly packs of pink salmon increased rapidly in the Terri- 

 tory, and it was then that the runs began to come in early. They 

 reached their earliest stage between the years 1914 and 1918, after 

 which their appearance has been increasingly retarded. According 

 to the Reports of the Commissioner of Fisheries, the fishing regula- 

 tions were enforced more and more effectively after 1918 and, with 

 this increased protection, the pink-salmon runs began to build up. 

 This recuperation of the pink-salmon runs is evidenced by the in- 

 crease in the average total catches of the traps in a number of fishing 

 districts during this period. 



It appears that from 1895 to 1909, when the pink-salmon popu- 

 lation in the Territory was at its maximum, in so far as there is a 

 record, the pink-salmon runs were much later than they are at the 

 present time. Then, from 1909 to 1918, when exploitation of the 

 runs was very intensive and the salmon population was greatly re- 

 duced, the runs became early. Finally, when the Bureau of Fish- 

 eries began to enforce the fishing regulations more effectively and 

 impose more adequate regulations in 1924, the pink-salmon popula- 

 tion began to build up and at the same time the runs started to come 

 in later in the fishing seasons. In other words, there seems to be a 

 significant relationship between the size of the pink-salmon runs and 

 the time of their appearance in the fishing seasons. 



STATISTICS OF THE ALASKA SALMON FISHERIES 



Compilation and analysis of the statistics of the Alaska salmon 

 fisheries has been continued by Dr. W. H, Rich and E. M. Ball, of 

 the Alaska division. A second part of this series was published 

 during the past year and covered the district from Chignik to Resur- 

 rection Bay. Part 3, which covers the Prince William Sound area 

 and the Copper and Bering Rivers, has been completed and will be 

 published in the near future. Much of the preliminary work has 

 been done on part 4, which will cover southeastern Alaska and will 

 complete the study of the statistics from the inception of the in- 

 dustry up to and including the season of 1927, from a standpoint of 

 total-catch records. 



ALASKA HERRING 



In September, 1931, a scientific report was submitted to the bureau 

 for publication by Dr. George A. Rounsefell, in charge of the her- 

 ring investigation, and Edwin H. Dahlgren, showing the fluctuation 

 in the abundance of herring in the Prince William Sound region 

 of Alaska. The herring fishery of this region has been marked by 

 fluctuations in the abundance, size, and quality of the fish, which 

 have caused heavy losses to the operators. The stabilization of the 

 yield of this fishery is an important economic problem. This report 

 shows clearly that these changes in abundance are caused by in- 

 equality in the numerical strength of the annual increments to the 

 population proceeding from each year class and by insufficient num- 

 bers of older fish, owing to a too intensive fishery. 



