20 FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 11)07. 



lake and in two small, short tributaries. No other of the dozen or more 

 streams entering the lake except the main inlet, or Chilkoot River, car- 

 ries red salmon. By far the greater part of the Chilkoot run of redfish 

 ascend the main inlet and apparentl}' do not spawn in the vicinity 

 of the lake, but far up the stream, beyond observation at the time — the 

 glacial turbidity of the water making observation of salmon difficult. 

 At the end of September it did not appear that the height of the 

 spawning season had yet been reached. Near the head of the lake 

 there are considerable springs, making a large pool about 125 feet in 

 diameter, which has admirable spawning bottom and held a few 

 hundred spawning or nearly ripe salmon. These springs deliver 

 sufficient clear w^ater (temperature on September 21, 4H° F., or 2^° 

 colder than the lake) to operate a large salmon hatchery. The 

 shores of the lake or the fev/ spawning pools adjacent do not furnish 

 an adequate supply of ripe salmon, but eggs could be obtained in 

 quantity by barricading the main inlet at or near its mouth and 

 holding the fish to ripen in the lake, whose shores in this vicinity 

 afford admirable seining ground. The current at the mouth of the 

 inlet, however, is strong, and to be efficient a barricade would have 

 to be of the most substantial sort. 



The springs mentioned would not furnish a gravity flow for a 

 hatchery. The supply would, however, probably never freeze. On 

 the w^est (southwest) shore of the lake there are at least two clear 

 streams from which a gravity flow could be obtained through a short 

 conduit; but it is doubtful whether these streams remain open through- 

 out the winter. The spawn would have to be brought from the head 

 of the lake. 



This examination of Chilkoot Lake included a variety of observa- 

 tions on spawning habits, temperature of salmon, hemoglobin con- 

 tent of the blood of nearly ripe salmon, and other records of a miscel- 

 laneous nature, which data will be held for future publication, together 

 with the results of continued studies. 



Dundas Bay. — The success of the season for the cannery of the 

 Northwestern Fisheries Company at Dundas Bay was seriously inter- 

 fered with by a costly accident on August 2, when the main warehouse, 

 in which were stored 14,000 cases of this year's pack, the season's 

 labels and box shocks, also fishing gear, collapsed and fell into the bay. 

 The box shooks, fishing gear, and some of the salmon were saved, but 

 4,000 cases of salmon, mostly pinks, were lost, also all of the labels. 

 The building itself was a total wreck, and two Chinese were dro\\ ned. 



Alsek River. — For some years cannery men, attracted by the Indian 

 reports of large runs of salmon in this river, have cast longing eyes 

 upon it, and several have made short prospecting trips thither. This 

 year a company was organized, composed mainly of Alaskans and 

 known as the Alsek Fisheries Company, and an outfit for mild-curing 



