ALASKA FISHERY AND FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES 103 
July 15. Chum salmon came into the river at the same time, and the 
runs of both species were unusually heavy. Beluga whales were 
more numerous than for many years and did considerable damage to 
salmon nets. Several of these whales were taken by the natives to 
supplement their regular supply of food. 
As a result of the excellent runs of king and chum salmon and the 
good weather for drying fish, natives on the lower river had all the fish 
they needed for winter. The catches at camps in the upper reaches, 
however, were not uniformly good. In some places the catches were 
above average and in others very poor. An explanation for the light 
catches of kings at certain points was that the fish seemed to follow 
the main channel up the river and did not strike in close to shore, so 
they were not taken in the wheels and nets. 
There was a marked shortage of salmon on the Tanana River, and 
the only camp which had any success in fishing was one about 8 miles 
from Tanana, where fair catches of cohos were obtained from the last 
week of August until the middle of September. Very few of this 
species were taken along the Yukon because of high water and heavy 
driftwood. Asa result of storms in August the Tanana River was at 
flood stage from about the 10th to the end of the month. 
Products of the Yukon and Tanana fisheries, including those shipped 
to the outside market, were as follows: 280 cases of king salmon canned ; 
198 tierces of mild-cured kings; 17,300 pounds of dry-salted kings; and 
213 tons of dried chums. Apparatus consisted of 194 wheels, 88 gill 
nets of 2,100 fathoms, 3 motor vessels of 43 tons, 1 launch, 9 gill-net 
boats, 1 scow, and miscellaneous small boats. There were 11 whites 
and 382 natives engaged in the fishery. 
WEIRS FOR COUNTING SALMON ESCAPEMENT 
The maintenance of weirs through which the escapement of brood 
fish may be counted provides information of value in the study of the 
life history of the salmon and in the regulation of commercial opera- 
tions to prevent any impairment of the runs through inadequate 
seeding of the spawning beds. 
Eleven weirs were operated in representative streams of Alaska in 
1938, and a count of salmon was again made at the Kalgin Island 
stream without the use of a rack. It was the purpose, also, to re- 
establish the weir in Chignik River, which had been operated each 
season since it was first placed there in 1922, but unusually high 
water for a prolonged period made all attempts to construct 1t 
unsuccessful. ; 
Reports of the weir operations and the counts of salmon in 1938 
were as follows: 
AuiTak Bay 
Two weirs were again established on Olga Bay, tributary to Alitak 
Bay, construction of the cannery station weir being completed on 
May 26 and the upper station weir on May 29. At each place the 
counting of red salmon began on the day the weir was ready and was 
continued until the structure was removed on August 29. The total 
count for the season at the upper station weir consisted of 616,064 
red salmon, 3,371 pinks, and 9,085 cohos. Corresponding figures for 
the cannery station weir were 97,455 red salmon, 23,701 pinks, and 
371 cohos. 
