FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1910. 



33 



SIGNIFICANCE OF WOOD RIVER DATA. 



The spawning run up Wood River again shows a loss in comparison 

 with the preceding season. The total was 670,000 in 1910, as against 

 893,000 in 1.909. The commercial catch of Nushagak Bay also fell off, 

 being 4,400,000 in 1910 as against 4,900,000 in 1909. The Wood 

 River run in 1910 was 75 per cent of the 1909 run; the Nushagak Bay 

 catch in 1910 was 89.8 per cent of the 1909 catch. Thus in each of 

 these years the Wood River spawning run has declined much more 

 rapidly than the catch in the bay has declined. The following table 

 shows the numerical results in round numbers for the three years of 

 Wood River investigations. The last column gives the sum of the 

 bay catch and the Wood River run, this total constituting far the 

 greater part of the whole run into Nushagak Bay. 



Spawning Run in Wood River, 1908, 1909, and 1910. 



The commercial catch for the whole bay has fallen off since 1908 by 

 two annual losses of H millions and | million, respectively. The 

 corresponding loss to the Wood River tally was in 1909 numerically 

 even greater than the loss on the catch, while in both 1909 and 1910 

 the percentage loss in Wood River was greater than on the catch. 



According to observations in the river and the head of the bay, and 

 the reports of the packers, the run up the main river was unusually 

 large this season, evidently greater than the Wood River run. By 

 taking the latter as a minimum and twice the number as a maximum 

 for the main river run, and estimating otherwise on the same basis 

 as in previous seasons, about 6,400.000 is obtained as the estimated 

 run for the whole bay in 1910, which in view of the maximum error 

 probable may be accepted as within one-half million of the actual 

 run. Of this estimate over 79 per cent, or more than 5 million fish, 

 are fish actually counted in Wood River by the observers and in 

 Nushagak by the commercial fishermen. 



The total escape to the spawning grounds for the whole Nushagak 

 region during the current season lies between 25 per cent and 36 per 

 cent of the total run, with 31 per cent probable. In other words, the 

 industry took between 64 per cent and 75 per cent of the whole run, 

 and probably took about 69 per cent. 



As bearing on the rate of increase the figures for the season corrob- 

 orate broadly the conclusions reached the year previously and tend 



