24 FISHERY AND FUR INDUSTRIES OF ALASKA IN 1912. 



Examination of the above tables reveals a continuous and, since 

 1908, steady decline in the percentage of escape, thereby testifying 

 to the effectiveness of the present-day fishing methods. In 1908 

 nearly a third of the fish known to have entered Nushagak Bay 

 reached the spawning grounds of Wood River in spite of the fact 

 that nearly a third of the total catch for Bristol Bay was made in 

 Nushagak waters. In 1911 under a sunilar ratio of catch in Bristol 

 Bay only 11 per cent of the Nushagak fish escaped the nets, and in 

 1912 when less than a fifth of the Bristol Bay catch was made in 

 Nushagak waters less than 8 per cent reached the lake. 



The 1912 red salmon run in Bristol Bay was peculiar in that, 

 although there was a remarkably heavy run on the south side, from 

 Ugushik to the Kvichak, the number entering Nushagak Bay was 

 somewhat fewer than in 1910. In 1908, as between the Nushagak 

 and the Naknek-Kvichak regions, about 40 per cent of the catch was 

 made in the former section, whereas in 1912 only about 22 per cent 

 of the catch was made there. This is the more remarkable as the 

 prevailing winds, southerly and southeasterly, were supposedly 

 favorable. Dr. C. H. Gilbert, who in 1903 conducted investigations 

 in the Bristol Bay region, makes the following comments relative to 

 the shifting of runs in this region: 



On all the streams good years and poor years alternate, and have always done so. 

 Furthermore, although the mouths of these streams are in such close proximity, they 

 may differ widely in abundance of fish during any one year. The present year 

 showed a very heavy run on the Kvichak, a rather poor run on the Nushagak, and 

 very light runs on the Ugushik, Igigik, and Naknek. In 1902 the case was very 

 similar, but in 1901 and 1900 there were very heavy runs on the Nushagak and very 

 light runs at Koggiung. The fact that the principal streams, the Kvichak and the 

 Nushagak, do not have heavy runs the same year suggests the theory that all the 

 Bristol Bay streams draw from a single school of salmon which may chance to run 

 most heavily in one or the other river in any given year. I have heard it stated that 

 the smaller streams, Ugushik, Igigik, and Naknek, have good seasons when the Nush- 

 agak has, and poor seasons when the Kvichak is full of fish. The Kvichak enters the 

 extreme head of Bristol Bay. If a single school supplies all these streams it may be 

 that during some seasons the greater part of the run may proceed directly to the head 

 of the bay and up the Kvichak, while in other seasons the run may turn principally 

 into the side streams (analogous shiftings occur yearly in each stream). An alterna- 

 tive theory would be that each stream had its separate supply determined in ad- 

 vance, the run consisting of fish which had been spawned in that stream. In order 

 that we may deal effectively with the salmon problem in Bering Sea it is important 

 that these alternative theories be thoroughly tested. No facts are now at hand bearing 

 upon them, but the question could probably be settled by tagging adult fish atthe 

 beginning of the run and setting them free well away from the mouths of the rivers. 



Nothing is known concerning the life of the adult salmon in the sea, nor do we 

 know the direction from which they approach Bristol Bay. They appear suddenly 

 off the mouths of the rivers. During some seasons they appear in quantity first in 

 the Nushagak, in other seasons they run heavily in the Kvichak a few days before they 

 run in the other streams. It is frequently, if not universally, noted that the stream 

 having the heaviest run in any year has also the earliest run. We are ignorant of 



