THE FISHES OF ALASKA. 245 



This is a salmon of wide distrilnition. It occurs on Ixith coasts of the Pacific from Monterey Baj' and 

 China north into the Arctic Ocean, ascending all large streams. The most southern point on the Califor- 

 nia coast for which we have definite records is Monterey Bay, but its southern range doubtless extends 

 somewhat farther down the coast. There is a record, on wtiat authority we do not know, of its occiu-rence 

 in the Ventura River, 300 miles south of San Francisco. However that may be, this important salmon is 

 not uncommon in Monterey Bay, where considerable numbers are caught in spring and summer by 

 trolling. In tlie Sacramento and Columljia rivers it is the j)rincipal salmon, far outnumliering all 

 other species. It occurs in some numbers in other streams of Oregon and Washington, and is not uncom- 

 mon in Puget Sound. It runs somewhat sparingly in the larger streams of British Columbia and 

 Southeast Alaska, particularly the Fraser, Skena, Nass, Stikine, and Taku. 



Throughout Southeast Alaska the king salmon is probably not uncommon, although the catch has not 

 been consideralile until recently. It is said that this fish can be taken by trolling any month in the year 

 about Admiralty Island, particularly in the vicinity of Killisnoo. In 1905 and again in 1906 it was par- 

 ticularly common about Ketchikan and inTongass Narrows, where it was taken in seines. It is also taken 

 near Chilkat and Chilkoot. Usually the king salmon make their appearance at the time of the run of the 

 herring, upon which they largely feed, and they follow up the smelt also, being found wherever that 

 species occurs in numbers. The principal river in Southeast Alaska into which the king salmon run is the 

 Taku, and the salmon taken in the various places mentioned above probal)ly enter that stream for spawn- 

 ing purposes. 



In 1906, from .July 15 to 20, 100 king salmon were taken in gill-nets operated by an Indian in the 

 vicinity of Burroughs Bay. They were all very large, some of them reaching a weight of 89 pounds. It 

 is said they can be taken in that locality as early as May 15. Usually the Wrangell cannery counts on 

 getting 4,000 to 8,000 king salmon from the Stikine River each year. 



In 1897, 350 king salmon averaging 16 pounds each were salted at Killisnoo. 



In Copper River, which flows into Prince William Sound, and the larger streams tributary to Cook 

 Inlet, there is a consideral)le run of king salmon. They are said not to run in Alitak Bay, on Kodiak 

 Island. They are, however, taken at Karluk. and other places on Kodiak Island and also on Afognak 

 Island and the islands of the Alaskan Peninsula, though at no place in any al>undancc. In Xelson 

 Lagoon, in 1906, those first caught were taken June 15. They continued to run until July 18, July 1 to 18 

 being the height of the season. The fish caught there ran 15 to the barrel. 



In the Ugashik River, in 1906, those first caught were taken June 4. The king, red, and dog usually 

 come together. The run of that season , as for five seasons past, was poor. 



The king salmon occurs, though not abundantly, in the Nushagak River. In 1906 it was first seen 

 on June 7, and the run for the year was greater than usual and the fish were larger. Small king salmon 

 are here sometimes put up under coho labels. They also occur in consideralile numbers in the Yukon. 

 Important fisheries supplying the local demand are operated at Dawson, Eagle City, and Rampart. 

 Rampart is 900 miles above the mouth of the Yukon, and the run was on at that place September 10. 

 Several were taken , each weighing 20 pounds or more. They were full of spawn. 



Late in July king salmon have become common in the upper Yukon beyond the boundary, being 

 found in the middle and lower waters a month earlier. During the summer of 1897 a number of fishermen 

 employed gill-nets at Dawson, Northwest Territory, readily taking king salmon of large size. Many 

 fish were found weighing 40 pounds and over, and the prices received for them were so high as to make 

 the business quite profitable. This point is 1,300 miles from the sea. They are said to run up the 

 river at least as far as Caribou Crossing, 2.000 miles from the sea. Mr. Hess found them in China Slough 

 of the Tanana for seven to nine days toward the end of July and in the Tanana itself for three weeks. 

 On July 14, 1904, he observed the first king salmon at the Central Telegraph Station cjn Goodpaster 

 River, 63 miles below its head. They are said to go 25 miles farther up this stream and to be very 

 abundant later in the season. Nelson says (1887): 



This species is taken along the shores of Norton Sound immediately after the ice disappears in 

 spring, my earliest date being June 6, 1877. On the lower Yukon, up, at least, to Anvik, the largest 

 of these salmon jun during the few days just preceding and following the breaking up <if the ice and 

 thence on to the end of the season they decrease gradually in size and quality. * * * \i Anvik 

 they begin running about the 12th of June and the sea.son is virtually over by the middle of July. 1 was 

 told that one example was taken at Anvik that weighed 140 pounds and that they sometimes weigh a 

 third more than that. 



