ALASKA FISHERY AND FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES 107 
tinued through August 2, when the weir was removed because of high 
water and anticipated floods which threatened a loss of materials. 
The total count numbered 169,333 red salmon, 28,319 pinks, and 
2,668 kings. A. W. Tveter carried on the weir operations under the 
direction of Warden William B. Berry. 
SALMON TAGGING 
A salmon-tagging experiment was conducted in southeast Alaska in 
1938 to develop further information concerning the migration routes of 
pink salmon through lower Chatham Strait. Approximately 2,100 
mature pink salmon were tagged from July 7 to Aug. 12, inclusive, 
the work being done at traps in Tebenkof Bay by employees of the 
Division of Scientific Inquiry. Of the total number tagged, 637 
salmon, or slightly more than 30 percent, were recaptured by the 
commercial fishery. It is planned to conduct a similar experiment 
in 1939 to determine any differences in the migration routes of ‘the 
pink-salmon runs in even- and odd-numbered years. 
In the 1938 season, also, a tagging experiment was carried on in 
the Kodiak area to determine the length of time the fish take to travel 
from Alitak Bay to weirs in Olga Bay. As commercial fishing is con- 
trolled by the weir count, it seemed advisable to determine the lag 
between catch and counted escapement. Seven hundred red salmon 
were tagged at the Bun Point trap of Pacific American Fisheries on 
June 28, and 458 were tagged on July 29 at the Miller Island trap. 
The work was done by Associate Aquatic Biologist Joseph T. Barnaby 
and Junior Aquatic Biologist Allan C. DeLacy, assisted by the crew of 
_ the Eider and Stream Watchman Morris Rafn. A red streamer-type 
tag, designed by Messrs. Barnaby and DeLacy, was used for the first 
time in this experiment. The tags were attached to the dorsal part 
of the body just posterior to the dorsal fin and were readily observed 
as the fish passed through the weir. 
Of the fish tagged in the Kodiak area in June, less than 5 percent 
were observed subsequently at the weirs, while nearly 50 percent of 
those tagged in July were counted. A closed period from Aug. 1 to 
12 in the commercial fishing season aided in obtaining a larger escape- 
ment from the latter tagging. 
The fish tagged in June took an average of 7 days to go to the can- 
nery station, and 9 days to the upper station. In the second experi- 
ment, however, the fish took an average of 17 days to go to the 
cannery station, and 11 days to the upper station. No explanation 
can be given as to the relatively short period taken to reach the upper 
station, compared with that taken to reach the cannery station. This 
investigation indicates that the fish arrive at the weirs from 1 to 2 
weeks after they pass the fishing gear in Olga Bay. 
SALMON LIFE-HISTORY STUDIES 
Studies of the life histories and fluctuations in abundance of the 
Pacific salmon in Alaska were continued in 1938 by the staff of the 
Fisheries Biological Station at Seattle, Wash. The major investiga- 
tions of the red salmon at Karluk and the pink salmon at Little Port 
Walter were carried on as formerly. In July 1938 an appropriation 
was made available for a comprehensive and extended investigation 
