SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 11 



COPY OF ORDERS. 



U. S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, 



Washington, D. C, June 3, 1889. 

 Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, 



Ichthyologist, U. S. Fish Commission, 

 Dear Sir: You are hereby charged with the investigation, during the summer 

 of 1889, of the salmon rivers of Alaska, authorized by the following act of Congress, 

 approved March 2. 1889 : 



That the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries is hereby empowered and directed to institute an 

 investigation into the habits, abundance, and distribution of the salmon of Alaska, as well as the 

 present conditions and methods of the fisheries, with a view of recommending to Congress such addi- 

 tional legislation as may be necessary to prevent the impairment or exhaustion of these valuable fish- 

 eries, and placing them under regular and permanent conditions of production. 



Your party will consist, besides yourself, of the following-named persons : Mr. 

 Livingston Stone, Capt. B. P. Herendeen, and Mr. Robert Lewis. 



Instructions for the conduct of the work are herewith inclosed. You will arrange 

 to leave San Francisco at the earliest date possible, and will proceed directly to the 

 island of Kadiak, where your explorations will begin. 



As you will have only a comparatively short season during which to carry on these 

 investigations, it will be necessary to limit your operations to a few regions, of which 

 Kadiak Island (Plate xxxv), Afognak Island (Plate xxxv), Cook's Inlet, and Bristol 

 Bay are the most important. They should be visited in the order named, unless, 

 after your arrival at Kadiak, you should find that the salmon fishery interests of Bris- 

 tol Bay have greater need of attention than those of Cook's Inlet, in which case the 

 Bristol Bay region should be taken in hand next after Kadiak and Afognak. This is, 

 however, on the supposition that you will not have the time to visit all of the regions. 



You will pay most attention to those rivers in the districts mentioned where the 

 fishery is now being prosecuted with the greatest activity, and also those which, from 

 their location and the abundance of salmon, are likely to attract the canning interests 

 at an early day. Upon your arrival at St. Paul, Kadiak, you will probably obtain the 

 information necessary to enable you to map out the course of your explorations. 



It is on the short rivers, and especially those on Kadiak and Afognak islands, as 

 well as those on the adjacent coast of the peninsula, that the greatest fishery abuses 

 are said to exist, and the dangers from injudicious fishing are most imminent. This 

 class of rivers should, therefore, be carefully studied ; and you will also seek to locate 

 all the prominent salmon rivers in each district, ascertaining their chief characteristics, 

 even though you may be able to do this, in many cases, in only a superficial way. 



Your observations should all be made with a view to their bearing upon the prac- 

 tical question, as to how the salmon interests can best be protected, and to presenting 

 to Congress a clear and succint report upon the entire subject. 



Three subjects are presented by the investigations in question, namely : First, 

 the natural history of the salmon and the physical characteristics of their environ- 



