ALASKA FISHERY AND FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES, 1929 



273 



Bristol Bay Area. — A heavy early run of red salmon in Bristol 

 Bay gave promise of an unusually good season, which, however, was 

 not fulfilled by later developments. While the run as a whole was 

 considerably smaller than in 1928, it compared favorably with the 

 average for recent years and exceeded that of 1924, from which it 

 was chiefly derived, the normal Hfe cycle of the Bristol Bay salmon 

 being five years. The greatest gain was made in the Nushagak 

 and Egegik districts, with the Kvichak and Naknek districts about 

 on a par with the previous cycle. The number of salmon ascending 

 the Ugashik River has been falling off for several years and showed 

 a further decline in 1929. While the escapement in general through- 

 out the Bristol Bay area was fair in comparison with the run, it was 

 not nearly sufficient for adequate seeding of the extensive spawning 

 grounds. 



As in preceding years, Agent Dennis Winn made an examination 

 of the lliamna-Lake Clark region, where conditions seemed to be 

 much the same as those observed in 1924. A report of his observa- 

 tions is printed elsewhere in this document. 



HATCHERIES 



EXTENT OF OPERATIONS 



Salmon propagation in Alaska was carried on at tw^o Government- 

 owned hatcheries (at Afognak and McDonald Lake) and at one 

 privately owned hatchery — that of the Northwestern Fisheries Co. 

 at Hugh Smith Lake. 



Operations of Federal and private hatcheries in Alaska in 1929 



Location of hatchery 



Red or sockeye salmon 



Eggs taken 

 in 1928 



Salmon lib- 

 erated in 

 1928-29 



Eggs taken 

 in 1929 



Afognak 



McDonald Lake 



Hugh Smith Lake (Quadra) 



Total 



20, 442, 925 

 24,036,000 

 20, 310, 000 



18, 700, 000 

 20, 440, 000 

 19, 340, 000 



64, 788, 925 



58, 480, 000 



1 22, 000, 120 



2 16, 095, 000 

 11,760,000 



49, 855, 120 



> Shipped 4,553,200 eyed red-salmon eggs to Seattle in October. 



2 Also 150,000 steelhead-trout eggs and 2,650,000 pink-salmon eggs were collected. Of the latter 1,021,000 

 eyed eggs were shipped to Seattle in October for delivery to the State hatchery at Auburn, Wash. 



AFOGNAK 



The Federal salmon hatchery at Afognak produced and liberated in 

 Litnik Lake and its tributaries 18,700,000 red-salmon fingerlings No. 1 

 from the 20,442,925 eggs collected in 1928, the loss on the take being 

 8.5 per cent. 



The collection of red-salmon eggs began on August 5, 1929, and 

 ended on September 24, with a total take of 22,000,120. Of these, 

 4,553,200 eyed eggs were shipped to Seattle in October for distribution. 



Persistent effort has been directed toward the extermination of 

 Dolly Varden trout in Litnik Lake for the past several years and as a 

 result the number of these predatory enemies of the salmon now in 

 evidence is negligible. 



