REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. CLXV 



The pelagic sealiug' industry declines steadily from year to year, as 

 well as the sealinj^' industry conducted on the Pribilof Islands under 

 the direction of the United States (rovernment. The continuation of 

 the former, with its indiscriminate methods of seal killing, is directly 

 responsible for the reduced condition of the latter. Since 1896 the 

 catch of superfluous male seals on the Pribilof Islands has been: 1890, 

 28,964; 1897, 20,890; 1898, 18,032. From 1871 to 1889 the islands 

 yielded an average of 100,000 surplus males a year. The pelagic catch 

 from the American herd has of late years decreased as follows : 1894, 

 61,838; 1895, 56,291; 1896, 43,917; 1897, 24,322. 



Pelagic sealing oft' the Asiatic coast has been i)ractically abandoned 

 by the Canadian fleet, the Asiatic herd having become so reduced that 

 good catches can no longer be made. 



SALMON FISHING IN THE YUKON RIVER. 



The fishery resources of the great Yukon Eiver, hitherto never drawn 

 upon except by native tribes, now give promise of some development. 

 It has long been known that there was an important run of salmon in 

 this river, but little information existed as to the range and abundance 

 of the different species in the region of the boundary between Alaska 

 and the Northwest Territory. The information at hand respecting 

 the fishing operations now conducted by whites is fragmentary, but it 

 appears that salmon are sufficiently abundant along the middle Yukon 

 to be considered available as part of the food supply of the country. 



Late in July king or quinnat salmon are common in the ujjper river 

 beyond the boundary, being found in the middle and lower waters a 

 month earlier. During the i)ast summer a number of fishermen 

 employed gill nets at Dawson, Kortliwest Territory, readily taking king 

 salmon of large size. Many fish were found weighing 40 pounds and 

 over, while the prices received for them were so high as to make the 

 business quite profitable. This point is 1,300 miles from the sea. A 

 letter received from Mr. Bernhard Thiele, formerly a seaman on the 

 Fish Commission steamer Albatross, and now engaged in salmon fish- 

 ing on the American side of the boundary, gives the average weight and 

 length of salmon taken by him as follows: Silver salmon, 8i pounds, 27 

 inches; dog salmon, 10 pounds, 29 inches. These species were taken in 

 the vicinity of Fort Yukon in August and September. They were more 

 abundant and remained longer than the king salmon. Red salmon and 

 humpbacks are also found during July and August. 



Other food-fishes common in the Yukon are whitefish, pike, grayling, 

 trout, suckers, and the ling or lake lawyer {Lota maculosa). The last- 

 named reaches a length of 4 or 5 feet. Some of the whitetishes also 

 grow very large, and with the Ling are taken chiefly during the winter 

 in traps set under the ice by the natives. 



The fish supply of the Yukon is destined to prove of great value to 

 the large mining and trading population now in the middle and upper 

 sections of the valley, especially as there is abundant means of trans- 

 portation by steamboats during the summer months. 



