132 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. / 
INVESTIGATION OF INTERIOR WATERS. 
ALASKA. 
In the last report reference was made to the organization of an ex- 
ploring party in charge of Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, for the investigation 
of certain Alaskan salmon rivers, in pursuance of an act of Congress 
approved March 2, 1889. This act was based upon the representations 
of persons interested in the preservation of the important industries 
which have been developed on the Pacific coast, and made provisions 
both for the protection of the salmon and for the study of the natural- 
history and industrial features relating to the fisheries. The party 
consisted of Dr. Bean, ichthyologist of the Commission; Mr. Livingston 
Stone, superintendent of the Fish Commission salmon station in Cali- 
fornia; Mr. Franklin Booth, topographical engineer, of the University 
of California, and Mr. Robert E. Lewis, rodman and general assistant. 
The instructions called for observations respecting the habits, distribu- 
tion, abundance, ete., of the salmon and associated species; the phys- 
ical characteristics of their environment; the methods, statistics, and 
conditions of the fishery, and the necessities and advantages of Alaskan 
waters for the artificial propagation of the salmon. 
The first steamer by which the party could reach Kadiak did not 
leave Port Townsend until July 19, arriving at the former place on the 
28th of the same month. The season suitable tor fieldwork was thereby 
greatly shortened, and it became necessary to restrict their operations 
to the islands of Kadiak and Afognak, where, however, the principal 
salmon fishery in Alaska was then being conducted, the catch on Kar- 
luk River comprising about one-half the entire yield of the territory. 
No examination has been made of Cook Inlet, but in 1890 the steamer 
Albatross visited the fishery at the head of Bristol Bay and obtained 
some important information respecting the methods there employed, as 
explained below. Kadiak Island, however, afforded the means for mak- 
ing avery satisfactory study of the problem, and the results obtained, 
combined with previous observations, especially on the habits of the 
salmon, have enabled Dr. Bean to report in full upon the questions 
proposed by Congress.* 
Examinations were made of Karluk River and Lake, ineluding the 
open bay into which the former empties; of Uyak Bay adjacent to Kar- 
luk, on the northern side of the island; of Alitak and Olga bays at the 
southeastern end of the island, and of Afognak Bay on the island of the 
Same name, including in the case of each bay the small salmon rivers 
which empty into them. 
* Report on the salmon and salmon rivers of Alaska, with notes on the conditions, 
methods, and needs of the salmon fisheries. By Tarleton H. Bean. Bull. U.S. Fish 
Comm., 1X, 1889, pp. 165-208, pls, XLV-LXXIX. 
