64 SALMON AND TROUT IN ALASKA. 



the fibers, and the feeding appearance will return.'* It is probable 

 that the sea habitat of salmon will be ultimately disclosed, if at all, 

 by a study of their food and its distribution. 



KING SALMON. 



In recent years it has been learned that schools of king salmon feed 

 in the channels and bays of Alaska during the winter. In 1903 they 

 were first observed off Naha Bay late in December. Their presence 

 was apparently due to the presence of a large shoal of herring, upon 

 which they were feeding. The stomachs contained only herring, in 

 one case 9 full-sized fish being counted in the stomach of a salmon 

 that was still hungry enough to take the troll. Since the above date 

 a valuable winter fishery for king salmon has been established.^ Pre- 

 viously they had been taken only at the time the herring were ap- 

 proaching their spawning beaches, about April and May, continuing 

 to a greater or less extent throughout the summer in various regions. 

 Their movement apparently depends entirely on that of the herring, 

 which in turn may be supposed to be governed at other times than its 

 spawning season by the abundance of its food; it is well known to be 

 erratic in its appearance. The problems of the food supply of the 

 herring in Alaska have not been considered. 



The appearance of the salmon in Monterey Bay m the spring has 

 been taken to be of the same character, i. e., a moving inshore with 

 their food, which here consists of sardines, anchovies, smelts, and 

 other small fishes, squid, and Crustacea.'^ It has been assumed 

 incidentally that these fish are also on their way to the Sacramento 

 to spawn. It does not appear that any careful study of their food, 

 condition of maturity, or even species has been made. 



The facility with which the king salmon is taken with a troll, and 

 the consequent interest of anglers, may account for the fuller knowl- 

 edge of the winter habits of this species. Of the other four species, 

 only one takes a troll, namely, the coho. 



THE COHO. 



Little is known of the food of the adult coho. Its habit of approach- 

 ing the rivers late, when almost sexually mature, and running at once 

 into the stream, makes it difficult to study in this regard. The food 

 contents of the immature cohos taken in Puget Sound have not been 

 reported. The adults are known to take the troll readily, which indi- 

 cates that the}^ feed on small fishes.'' Their early exhibition of this 



oRutter, Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission, vol. xxii, 1902, p. 126. 



b See footnote d below. 



c Annual Report of the Department of Fisheries of Oregon for 1902, p. 69-78. 



<i " Since 1904 during the winter fishing for king salmon numbers of cohos also have 

 been taken. Up to 1907 only troll lines have been used, but traps have been pre- 

 pared for use during 1907-8." (Fassett.) 



