22 FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1907. 
KING SALMON FISHERY. 
The greater part of May and June were devoted by the agents to 
the fishery for king salmon in southeast Alaska. During the winter 
and spring months this species is to be found feeding upon the herring, 
smelt, ete., in most of the bays, sounds, and straits in this section, 
the one Acar of abundance at this time being Behm and Senne 
canals, Auk Bay, and the neighborhood of Klawak. When the time 
for spawning approaches the fish enter and ascend the Unuk, Stikine, 
Taku and Alsek rivers, and possibly a few ascend some of the other and 
smaller streams. The fish are handled mainly by dealers located at 
Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Douglas, and Juneau. During 
the months of September and October some fishing for feeding kings 
is carried on in Seymour Canal and a few other places. 
There was a very small run of kings in December of 1906. In 
January and February of this year, two of the best months usually 
the weather was so excessively cold, and the ice formed so thick, that 
the fishermen found it impossible to operate their trolling lines. As 
soon as the weather moderated and the ice melted, fishing was 
resumed, but the enforced inaction for two months seriously hampered 
the fishermen and dealers. Several places, particularly Seymour 
Canal, report a late run of kings in the spring, which still further 
decreased the output. 
The Taku River and inlet and the Stikine River were the scene of 
very important fishing operations in May and June, over 100 boats 
being engaged directly in fishing with gill nets on the Taku alone about 
the middle of May, and this number was increased later on. 
King salmon were in great demand at certain times, owing to com- 
petition between the buyers employed by the dealers who shipped the 
fish fresh to Puget Sound ports and by those who mild-cured them. 
About the middle of May the prices prevailing in the vicinity of Taku 
Inlet were as follows: Red-meated kings, 20 pounds and over, 60 
cents each; all under 20 pounds, 35 cents phi white-meated kings, 
30 cents each without regard to size. On June 26 some of the buyers 
were paying $1.25 for large red-meated fish (14 pounds and up), and 
the prices are said to have risen even higher than this in a few 
instances. Very few kings were to be had at this time, however. 
This season for the first time an agent of the Department was on 
the scene of operations during the net fishing for king salmon, which 
is carried on in May and June. Earlier than this, as the kings are 
feeding and do not school, nets are rarely used, but trolling lines in- 
stead, nd the law permits hook-and-line fishing at all times. Most of 
the time of observation was given to the Taku as the most important 
point, where it was found that the fishermen were in ignorance that 
the laws, especially the portion relating to the weekly closed time, 
