38 nSHERIES OF ALASKA, 1908. 



abundant gill-net catch they were furnisliing more fish than could be 

 used. There was little need to depend on traps, as the gill nets filled 

 by far the greater part of the pack. 



EXPERIMENTAL COUNT OF WOOD RIVER RUN. 



As an indirect result of the order closing Wood and Nushagak 

 rivers, a joint investigation of the abundance of red salmon escaping 

 to the spawning grounds through Wood River was undertaken by the 

 Alaska Packers Association, of San Francisco; the Alaska-Portland 

 Packers Association, of Portland, Oreg. ; and the United States 

 Bureau of Fisheries. The immediate and specific object was an 

 actual count or accurate estimate of the number of red salmon enter- 

 ing Lake Aleknagik, the first of the Wood River series of lakes, during 

 the season of 1908. An informal agreement was made whereby the 

 two associations should furnish the boats, gear, etc., required in the 

 work of barricading the stream, and the labor necessary throughout 

 the season, while the Bureau, through its representatives, should 

 attend to the tally of salmon. The work was understood on both 

 sides to be an experiment, the outcome of which was fairly doubtful. 

 Despite the occurrence of difficulties both expected and unexpected, 

 the project was carried out much as planned and for the season was 

 brought to a successful conclusion. 



The procedure consisted, in brief, of placing a rack of trap web 

 across the foot of Lake Aleknagik, at a constriction in the lake contour 

 something more than 200 yards wide, for the purpose of intercepting 

 all salmon entering the lake and passing them tlirough gates or 

 tunnels at such a rate and in such a manner that an accurate estimate 

 of their numbers could be obtained. In this way a tally w^as made of 

 2,600,000 passing up during the period from the earliest arrivals about 

 June 14 until August 10, when the run had dwindled into insignifi- 

 cance. As the accuracy and value of these figures depend on the 

 methods used in obtaining them, a description of the gear and the 

 manner of counting the fish will be given in some detail. The tally 

 was in charge of the salmon agent and Mr. Claudius Wallich, field 

 superintendent of the Bureau of Fisheries. The latter was present at 

 the counting station at the foot of the lake through most of the 

 season and was visited at frequent intervals by the agent. Mr. 

 Wallich devised the method used in counting the salmon during the 

 heavy portion of the run and made the daily tally, temperature 

 records, and many other observations. 



Location and construction of the rack. — The selection of a favorable 

 point at which, with a minimum of trouble and expense, to establish 

 the web firmly and compel the salmon to pass in shallow water in 

 plain sight offered some difficulty. The season was one of unusually 

 high water, and the depth and current, therefore, militated against the 



