PROGRESS IN BIOLOGICAL. INQUIRIES, 19 3 587 



2,000 of these were put on salmon taken from traps in the region of 

 Cape Fox, Sitklan, and Kanaganiit Islands, and the remainder on 

 salmon taken from traps in Clarence Strait both north and south of 

 the entrance of Kasaan Bay. 



The experiments in the Cape Fox district were undertaken at the 

 request of the Canadian fishery authorities and were designed to 

 test the extent to which these traps caught sahiion bound for streams 

 in British Columbia. Those in the region of Kasaan Bay tested the 

 extent to which the traps near the entrance to Kasaan caught fish 

 bound for the spawning grounds contiguous to that bay. 



Approximately 1,000 tags have been returned with data as to the 

 time and place of recapture. These data are now being collated, 

 but the study is still too incomplete for definite conclusions. A re- 

 port covering the results will be presented in the near future. The 

 work was carried out by Frank Hynes of the Alaska service under 

 the general direction of Dr. W. H. Rich. 



During the year a report by Seton H. Thompson, dealing with 

 the tagging experiments of 1929 was published in the Bulletin of 

 the bureau as Document No. 1084. 



Statistics of the Alaska salmon- fisheries. — The study of the sta- 

 tistics of the Alaska salmon fishery has been continued by Dr. W. H. 

 Rich and E. M. Ball of the Alaska service. During the past year a 

 second section was completed and is now in press. The first section 

 published in 1929 dealt with the fisheries of Bristol Bay and the 

 Alaska Pensinsula and the second section covers the territory from 

 Chignik eastward to and including Resurrection Bay. Data are 

 presented showing, as far as possible, the catches in each locality 

 from the beginning of the industry up to 1927. It is not possible 

 to draw any satisfactory general conclusions since each small geo- 

 graphical district represents a separate unit. It is of interest to 

 note, however, that many of the smaller red-salmon streams show 

 extreme depletion throughout the district considered and a more 

 moderate degree of depletion is found in even the large red-salmon 

 streams. With few exceptions there is no evidence from the data 

 presented that serious depletion has affected any of the other species. 



Karlvh red-salmon investigations. — The study of the returns from 

 known escapements of spawning salmon, which has Vjeen adequately 

 described in previous reports, was continued during the year of 

 1930. Data were secured on the return of T-year fish from the 1923 

 escapement, of 6-year fish from the 1924 escapement, of 5-year fish 

 from the 1925 escapement, and of 4-year fish from the 1926 escape- 

 ment. The data are now complete for the escapements of 1921, 1922, 

 and 1923. The escapement of 1921 consisted of about 1,500,000 fish, 

 and the returns were approximately 3 to 1. The escapement of 

 1922 totaled about 400,000 fish, and' the return was approximately 

 5 to 1. The escapement of 1923 numbered 695,000 fish, and the 

 return was approximately 2yV to 1. Valuable as are the results so 

 far at hand, many more data will be necessary before any definite 

 conclusions can be drawn regarding the situation. 



The marking experiments, started in 1926, were continued. Fifty- 

 five thousand red-salmon fingerlings were marked as they were 

 migrating to the sea. The commercial catch was sampled for the 

 return of marked fish from the marking of 1927, 1928, and 1929, 



