34 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



SoiitJtcafif Aldfika. — In the southorn district the arrival of tho run of 

 pink salmon was considerably later than usual, few lish appearing; 

 until late in 'luly, when they stiuck in alon": the Cape F\)x and Knna- 

 <j:unut Island shores in unprecedentcnl nund)ers and continued to run 

 heavily until after the close of commercial operations. In the fore 

 part of the season pinks were unusually small, but toward the middle 

 of August their size increased, although the average size for the year 

 was below normal. Fair runs occurred along the shores of Duke, 

 Annette, and Gravina Islands, through Behm Canal, and along Cleve- 

 land Peninsula, although not approaching the volume of the Cape Fox 

 run. A heavy rainfall early in September was of inestimable value, 

 as vast schools of salmon had collected about the mouths of streams 

 since the middle of August, all but the larger rivers being so low that 

 fish could not ascend to the spawning grounds. During most of 

 September conditions were ideal for spawning, but toward the end of 

 the month and in the first few days of October the rainfall was exceed- 

 ingly heavy and raised the streams far above normal, no doubt causing 

 loss of eggs in certain areas, although heavy seeding in many streams 

 probably compensated in large measure for such loss. 



Nearly all of the streams along the entire west coast of Prince of 

 Wales Island had very satisfactory escapements of salmon. In this 

 region, as in the southern district, the runs were later than usual. 

 The runs at Klawak Inlet, Staney Creek, Hunter Bay, and in most of 

 the large streams in this district were greater than for several years 

 past. An unusually dry summer created a serious condition in some 

 localities for a time, as loss of fish occurred because of insufficient 

 water in a number of salmon spawning streams. This condition pre- 

 vailed for about three weeks prior to September 15, after which heavy 

 rains made it possible for the salmon to ascend to the spawning areas. 



On the east shore of Prince of Wales Island the run was light until 

 late in the season, but after the close of commercial fishing good runs 

 occurred in all of the streams from Moira Sound northward, particu- 

 larly heavy escapements being noted in streams tributary to Lake 

 Bay and the head of Whale Passage. The run was generally good 

 throughout Ernest Sound, Sumner Strait, and Wrangell Narrows, 

 although more irregular than in the southern streams, some sections 

 having heavy escapements while others were inadequately seeded. 



In the Icy Strait and western districts the pink-salmon run was 

 comparable to that of 1929, while in the eastern district an enormous 

 run of this species occurred — probably the largest recorded for that 

 section. Red salmon were distinctly more numerous in all three dis- 

 tricts than in the preceding year, but the runs of chums and cohos 

 were light throughout the season. In the Yakutat district reds and 

 cohos were unusually abundant, but the runs of kings and pinks were 

 very light. 



Southeastern Alaska as a whole had a satisfactory escapement, more 

 salmon reaching the spawning grounds and under better conditions 

 than in any recent year. The run of pinks was exceptionally large, 

 reds showed a substantia] increase over the average for recent years, 

 cohos and kings w^ere fairly abundant except in a few sections, while 

 chums were below normal. 



Prince William Sound and Copper River region. — Good runs of all 

 species of salmon occurred in Prince William Sound. That they ar- 

 rived somewhat later than usual and continued well beyond the close 



