ALASKA FISHERY AND FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES, 1925 101 



the upper station 509,700 reds were counted and at the cannery- 

 station 40,910, a total of 550,610. In addition, 107 humpbacks and 

 21,699 cohos were counted through the weirs. These two species 

 spawn chiefly in other waters, so that the counts at the above- 

 mentioned racks should not be considered seriously in estimating 

 the escapement. 



Under the regulations commercial fishing in Alitak Bay was 

 prohibited prior to June 15 in 1925. The run of red salmon was 

 late and only very small catches were made up to the middle of 

 July. All traps and beach seining for reds going into Olga Bay was 

 stopped on August 4, as the commercial catch then exceeded the 

 weir count, and fishing was not permitted again until August 14. 

 Because of low water, the salmon ascended the creeks slowly. Com- 

 mercial fishing in the bay was discontinued September 16, when the 

 reported total catch of reds was 209,161, or about 28 per cent of the 

 total run. 



Homer H. Whitford was in charge of the counting and supervised 

 commercial fishing operations. 



CHIGNIK SALMON COUNT 



A counting weir was erected on the Chignik River in 1925 at 

 approximately the site used in 1924. The work was begun on April 

 28 and, in consequence of the extremely low water, which greatly 

 facilitated the work, the rack was completed by May 20. The river 

 at the rack is normally from 2 to 5 feet deep and 460 feet wide. 



The first red salmon were seen to pass through the weir on June 4 

 and the last was counted on October 3. The total number of red 

 salmon that escaped to the spawning grounds during that period 

 was 1,063,930. At the beginning of the season the bureau directed 

 that a minimum of 1,000,000 red salmon be allowed to escape, but 

 in addition to this number, 919 kings and 53,561 cohos were counted 

 through the rack. The king run lasted from June 18 to August 27, 

 while the coho run began on August 12 and was virtually over when 

 the counting of red salmon was discontinued. 



The three companies that operated in this region began trap 

 fishing on June 15 and stopped on September 10. Six traps were 

 set in Chignik Bay and Lagoon, and one each in Aniakchak Bay, 

 Hook Bay, and Kujulik Bay. The four lagoon traps were closed on 

 July 24 because the commercial catch exceeded the escapement; 

 the two traps in the bay were closed from August 8 to 17, inclusive, 

 but permission was given to reopen them after August 17. Two of 

 the lagoon traps were removed by the companies and the remaining 

 two were reopened on August 24. The total number of red salmon 

 caught in the nine traps was 697,774, about 40 per cent of the total 

 run. Relatively small quantities of red salmon were taken in the 

 three traps outside of the lagoon and bay, the cheaper grades of 

 fish constituting the larger part of the catch there. 



Migrating young salmon were noted going down river during the 

 month of May, but there were no very large schools. A survey of 

 the spawning grounds of the Chignik watershed was begun on 

 September 22, and all important localities, with the exception of 

 Black Lake, were visited. Large numbers of red salmon were 

 observed spawning in almost all the rivers and creeks. 



The season's operations were in charge of Warden Charles Petry. 



