104 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



August 1. It was then too early to observe the full extent of spawn- 

 ing, but a few red salmon were seen in the lakes and in the small 

 creeks flowing into them. The chief purpose of the trip was to de- 

 termine the practicability of erecting counting racks at the outlets of 

 the lakes. They are of glacial origin, and the water was found to be 

 so turbid that the fish could not be seen clearly enough to be counted. 

 Mr. O'Connor again visited the Chilkoot district on October 2 and 

 3 and reported a good escapement of red salmon to the spawning 

 grounds in the lake, upper river, and tributary creeks. 



Prince William Sound district. — A trip up the Copper River and its 

 tributaries was made by Howard H. Hungerford from July 10 to 

 September 6, for the purpose of collecting data in regard to the escape- 

 ment of red and king salmon to the spawning beds of the Copper 

 River system. Apparently there had been a very good escapement 

 of king salmon, but in some places the red salmon had failed to appear 

 and in many others they came in smaller numbers than usual. These 

 conclusions were confirmed by the results of commercial fishing off 

 the Copper River, where the pack of red salmon equaled only a small 

 fraction of the quantities packed in previous years. As a result of 

 additional restrictions on operations this year, there was a very 

 satisfactory escapement of salmon to spawning grounds of streams 

 in Prince William Sound proper. 



Cook Inlet district. — Stream guards visited the spawning grounds 

 of streams entering English Bay and Chinik Inlet. An excellent 

 escapement was reported at English Bay, where ascent was easy; but 

 it was observed that not more than one-third of the salmon that 

 attempted to ascend Chinik Creek could pass the falls and reach the 

 spawning grounds. A channel over these falls will be constructed. 

 A large number of red salmon entered the Kenai and Kasilof Rivers. 

 Considerable work was done to facilitate the ascent of salmon in 

 streams in this district, and in this connection, with the approval of 

 the Bureau of Biological Survey, a number of beaver dams were 

 destroyed. 



Alaska Peninsula district. — Assistant Agent L. G. Wingard, who 

 had charge of the Alaska Peninsula district, made careful observa- 

 tions of the salmon escapement in all the principal streams in the 

 region. Compared with the size of the run during the season, which 

 was considered to be below average, a fair escapement occurred in 

 every locality. As it was the offyear for humpback salmon, there was 

 virtually no run of that species in the district. A special investiga- 

 tion of the lakes at the head of the Bear and Sandy Rivers was made 

 from August 18 to 23. These lakes receive a large part of the red- 

 salmon run in the Port Moller district. Mr. Wingard 's report on the 

 investigation is as follows: 



We made two trips to the mouth of the Bear River from Port Moller on the gas 

 boat Auk, and on the second trip (August 17) the boat crossed the bar and en- 

 tered the inner channel without mishap. A three-quarters size eastern dory, 

 equipped with a Johnson outboard motor, was used to ascend the river, and 12 

 hours were required to reach the lake. Owing to its draft, the dory occasionally 

 struck sand bars and riffles, which delayed its progress. 



On reaching Bear Lake (August 18) , a base camp was established near the outlet 

 close to two old barrabaras (native huts) and several fish racks. From this base 

 the survey of the lake was made, and later the trip to Sandy Lake. 



Bear Lake was examined on August 19. We made a circuit of the lake in the 

 dory and stopped at numerous small creeks and spawning areas. Three 

 streams of importance flow into Bear Lake. Red salmon ascend these streams 



