FISHERIES OP ALASKA IN 1910. 37 



These opportunities which the peculiar specialized habits of the 

 red salmon afford for perpetually exploiting them commercially 

 without depleting their abundance should be utilized. The packing 

 industry would greatly profit in the end and the Alaska fisheries 

 would enhance in value as a national asset. At present the law 

 does not provide power to establish such a system of fishing, but 

 it would permit a trial in a suitable region by mutual agreement 

 between the packers concerned and Federal authority. 



EXPLORATIONS OF LAKE ALEKNAGIK. 



During the summers of 1908 and 1909 every stream tributary to 

 Lake Aleknagik, which gives rise to Wood River, was examined by 

 the agent. During the current summer Mr. W. T. Bower, of the 

 Division of Fish Culture of the Bureau, spent the period from July 17 

 to July 27 in explorations of the lake and streams. By means of 

 these observations the streams have been thoroughly prospected 

 with reference to spawning salmon and hatchery possibilities. Two 

 suitable and feasible hatchery sites have been selected, and on either 

 a properly equipped expedition, arriving as soon as navigation 

 opened, could erect a hatchery in time to obtain a portion at least 

 of the same season's spawn. 



Such a hatchery could be located on the lake shore and be accessible 

 directly from tidewater for light-draft boats. No single stream of 

 the lake would afford eggs enough to fill a large hatchery, and col- 

 lections would have to be made over the whole lake in some seasons. 

 There is, however, no more suitable location in the Bristol Bay 

 region for accessibility and proximity to large spawning grounds. 

 The second lake could be drawn upon for eggs if necessary. There 

 is no hatchery in western Alaska, a region which furnishes some 63 

 per cent of the total pack of Alaska red. 



THE COD FISHERY. 



All but one of the firms and individuals [John H. Nelson, of 

 Squaw Harbor] operating in the district for cod exclusively 

 have their headquarters at San Francisco, Cal., or Seattle, Ana- 

 cortes, or Tacoma, Wash., at which places, or in their immediate 

 vicinity, the cured fish are received and prepared for marketing. 

 About half of the operators have shore stations located at favorable 

 places in central Alaska, on the Shumagin and Sannak Islands, and 

 Unimak Island. From thence the dory fishermen carry on their 

 operations, bringing in their catch daily, and when they have accu- 

 mulated enough to form a cargo a vessel is dispatched from the home 

 port or else a fishing vessel completes its fare from the station 

 catch and carries the fish to the curing establishments in the States. 

 59395°— 11 21 



