18 ALASKA FISHERIES AND FUR INDUSTRIES IN 1917. 



The Territorial treasurer advises that the above collections closely 

 approximate the amount of taxes due for the fiscal year 1917. Under 

 the provisions of the Territorial tax law of 1915 the total collections 

 reported for the two years 1915 and 1916 amounted to only $62,145.69. 

 Thus the Territorial tax collected in 1917 is nearly four times the 

 Slim similarly collected for the two preceding years. 



WOOD RIVER CENSUS. 



A count was made in 1917 of the salmon ascending Wood River to 

 spawn. With the exception of 1914, similar counts have been made 

 in previous years beginning with 1908. The rack across the outlet 

 of Lake Aleknagik, the lowermost of the Wood River series of lakes, 

 was put in order in June. The counting of salmon began June 26 

 and was continued daily until August 1. The census was taken by 

 Kenneth P. Hutton, fish-culturist at the Yes Bay station, tempo- 

 rarily detailed for this duty. 



In this connection it may be stated that in the Bristol Bay region 

 the salmon were several days later in arriving than in 1916, which 

 circumstance caused the packers some concern over the probability 

 of a light run. There was no obvious reason for the delay in the run. 

 Although the previous winter had been exceptional in many respects, 

 sudden freezes and high winds being followed by equally sudden 

 thaws and heavy snows, it broke about the usual time and on June 

 1 Lake Aleknagik and Wood River were free from ice. And with 

 the extreme high water in the rivers, resulting from the spring thaw, 

 conditions were such as to presage an early appearance of the salmon. 



The first large count at the Wood River rack was made July 6, 

 when 79,707 salmon entered the lake. The largest count of the 

 season occurred on July 11, at which time 180,683 salmon passed 

 through the rack. The heavy run continued nine days, from July 

 6 to 14, the count on the last day of this period being 104,000. On 

 the following day, July 15, only 7,706 were counted. From July 18 

 to 21 the run increased shghtly, 72,258 being counted July 19, but 

 thereafter it declined rapidly, and counting was discontinued August 

 1, which was 11 days earlier than in 1916. From July 11 to 14 a 

 total of 529,538 salmon were counted as passing into Lake Alek- 

 nagik; this is almost equal to the number admitted during the entire 

 season of 1916. It is probable that in proportion to the size of the 

 run a larger number of salmon escaped the nets of the fishermen in 

 1917 than in the preceding season, as a result of the storms which in- 

 t-*^rrupted operations during the summer. 



The total count in 1917 was 1,081,508. Corresponding figures for 

 previous years are as follows: In 1916, 551,959; in 1915, 259, 341; in 

 1913, 753,109; in 1912, 325,264; in 1911, 354,299; in 1910, 670,104; 

 in 1909, 893,244; and in 1908, 2,600,655. The taUy of salmon at 

 the Aleknagik rack in 1917 is shown in detail in the following table: 



