ALASKA FISHERIES AND FUR INDUSTRIES, 19U. 

 Reports of the Alaska Fisheries in 1911 — Continued. 



a Represents 81,823 skins. 

 b Represents 1,124 skins. 



c Represents 24 skins. 

 d Represents 12,145 skins. 



: Represents 837 ! 



SALMON INDUSTRY. 



The season of 1911 was an excessively dry one, a condition which 

 the fishermen generally regard as favorable for them. It did not 

 prove so in western Alaska, however, as the catch of salmon in 

 Bristol Bay was quite light. 



In southeast Alaska, south of Wrangell Narrows, the run of hump- 

 back and dog salmon was very heavy and much more than made up 

 the shortage in western Alaska. This appearance of an extraordinary 

 run is doubtless accentuated by the high percentage that was caught. 

 During a dry season, in consequence of low water in the streams, the 

 salmon do not make the ascent at once, but play about the mouth of 

 the stream for a varying time, thus permitting a very eflfective use 

 of purse seines and small gear operated in the vicinity of stream 

 mouths. It may well be deduced, however, from the fact of the 

 traps shovtdng correspondingly large catches of humpbacks, that the 

 main reason for the increased number of this species taken lies in the 

 size of th.e run itself. 



CATCH AND THE APPARATUS USED. 



Following is a table giving the number of salmon caught in 1911, 

 by apparatus and species, and by species alone, for each geographic 

 section. In southeast Alaska there was a very large increase over 

 the 1910 catch; in central Alaska a small increase; and in western 

 Alaska a considerable decrease. In 1910 the total catch was 

 33,679,254 fish, while in 1911 it amounted to 43,975,873 fish, an 

 increase of 10,296,619. In all species, except red salmon, there were 

 increases over 1910, the catch of humpback salmon more than 

 doubling. 



