ALASKA FISHERY AND FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES LA 
SALMON TAGGING 
In continuation of the tagging experiment conducted in southeast 
Alaska in 1938 with respect to the pink salmon run in lower Chatham 
Strait, 2,100 pink salmon were tagged in 2 Tebenkof Bay traps in 
1939, the work being carried on during the weekly closed periods 
throughout ihe commercial fishing season by the Division of Scientific 
Inquiry. Of the total number tagged, 684 were recapiured, mostly 
within 5 days from the date of their release and at a distance of 40 
miles or more from the place of tagging. One of the recaptured fish 
had traveled 162 miles. The returns indicated that the general trend 
of migration of the pink salmon entering lower Chatham Strait 1s 
northeast into the inside waters of Frederick Sound, Stephens Passage, 
and the Siikine River region. 
Tagging experiments were carried on also on the south side of the 
Alaska Peninsula between the Shumagin Islands and Isanotski Strait 
to develop further information concerning the migration routes of 
salmon in those areas. 
Analyses of the data with regard to the above tagging experiments 
are contained in Administrative Report No. 39, entitled ‘‘Progress in 
Biological Inquiries, 1939.” 
SALMON LIFE-HISTORY STUDIES 
Studies of the life histories and fluctuations in abundance of the 
Pacific salmon in Alaska were continued in 1939 by the staff of the 
Fisheries Biological Laboratory at Seattle, Wash. The major investi- 
gations of the red salmon in Bristol Bay and at Karluk, on Kodiak 
Island, and the pink salmon at Little Port Walter, in southeast 
Alaska, were carried on as formerly. 
The cutter Redwing was detailed by the U.S. Coast Guard to carry 
on the hydrographic studies in Bristol Bay. These studies are yield- 
ing valuable information on the soundings, currents, temperatures, 
and chemical properties of the waters in the Bristol Bay region of 
Bering Sea. Two large seine-type boats were chartered for experi- 
mental salmon fishing in these waters to determine the migration 
routes, abundance, and availability of the salmon in the offshore waiters. 
An aerial survey was made of the large river systems in Bristol Bay 
in which the salmon reproduce. This survey was made for the pur- 
pose of estimating the potential spawning areas in the streams and 
lakes available to the salmon and the extent to which they were 
seeded. 
The study of the factors responsible for the fluctuations in the 
abundance of the Karluk River red salmon was continued with special 
reference to the influence of predatory Dolly Varden trout on the 
survival of the young salmon during their sojourn in the tributary 
streams and lakes. 
The study of the factors responsible for the fluctuations in the 
abundance of the pink salmon of southeastern Alaska was continued 
at Little Port Walter. During the past year a permanent counting 
weir and small laboratory were constructed at Little Port Walier 
through the cooperation of the United States Forest Service, which 
furnished C. C. C. labor for the construction. 
