INVESTIGATION OF THE SALMON FISHERIES OF THE YUKON RIVER. 



By Charles H. Gilbert and Henry O'MALLEf . 

 OUTLINE OF PROPOSED INVESTIGATIONS. 



An exhaustive investigation of the problems presented by the sal- 

 mon run of the Yukon River obviously would require practical and 

 scientific inquiry extending over a series of years. During the few 

 summer months no very ambitious program could be attempted. 

 Many of the most important problems must remain untouched. 

 Time would not permit an examination of the tributaries Avith their 

 spawning beds. No study could be made of spawning habits nor ob- 

 servation of the fate of eggs and fry where these must lie beneath the 

 gravel of the ice-locked streams during the long severe winter and 

 spring. Yet the possible destruction of eggs by freezing may be an 

 important factor in limiting the size of salmon runs in far northern 

 rivers and may, indeed, be responsible for the practical elimination 

 of salmon from the streams that enter the Arctic Ocean. If natural 

 propagation on the Yukon is rendered relatively ineffective because 

 of severe climatic conditions, the operation of hatcheries would here 

 produce proportionately greater results than in more temperate 

 regions. To the extent that natural propagation in any region is 

 wasteful and unproductive do the advantages of artificial propaga- 

 tion appear. 



In a single short season it could not be hoped to carry out more 

 than the following program : 



1. To inspect the spawning runs as these enter the mouth of the 

 river and to ascertain by microscopic examination of the scales as 

 much as this method can furnish of the life history of the Yukon 

 salmon. 



2. To examine the fishery operations carried on by the Carlisle 

 Packing Co., in the Delta of the Yukon, this being the only can- 

 nery which packs salmon bound for the spawning beds of the Yukon. 



3. To investigate the consumption of fresh and dried salmon by 

 the resident population of the Yukon Valley and to estimate the,im- 

 portance to them of this salmon supply. 



4. To draw such conclusions as the facts warrant concerning the 

 magnitude of the Yukon salmon run and its adequacy to support can- 

 nery operations in addition to meetinjr the needs of the local popula- 

 tion and providing a sufficient spawning reserve. 



ITINERARY. 



In carrying out the program above outlined the writers arrived in 

 Skagway on May 12 and crossed White Pass and Lake Lebarge in 

 time to take the first steamer down the Yukon, close behind the 

 running ice of the spring breakup. At Tanana, which was reached 

 May 31, transfer was made to the gasoline launches of the Bureau of 

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