southeastern part of the State. They were funded by fish 

 canneries and reared primarily sockeye salmon. The first 

 hatchery in the State was a co-op built in 1891 by sev- 

 eral canneries in Karluk, Kodiak Island. This was not an 

 auspicious beginning for salmon culture in Alaska as the 

 hatchery stopped production after only 1 yr because of 

 violent disagreements among the canneries' personnel 

 over fishing rights in the area. 



By the early 1900's private hatcheries were in opera- 

 tion on Kodiak, Kuiu, Baranof, Etolin, Revillagigedo, 

 Chichagof, and Prince of Wales Islands, as well as on the 

 mainland. These facilities operated for varying periods of 

 time through 1936. The world's largest and most costly 

 facility to that time, the Fortmann Hatchery, was con- 

 structed in 1901 by the Alaska Packer's Association at 

 Loring, Revillagigedo Island. It had a capacity of 

 hatching 110 million eggs. 



From 1893, when records were first kept, to 1912, re- 

 leases of fry increased from 600,000 to a maximum of 156 

 million, and then declined to 32.5 million in 1936 when 

 the last facility closed. During the peak years, from 1905 

 to 1912, the private hatchery annual releases averaged 

 over 106 million fish. Although most of the fish were 

 sockeye, a few pink salmon were released from several of 

 the facilities. 



Until 1900, the operation of private hatcheries was vol- 

 untary. Thereafter, a Congressional Act required salm- 

 on canning companies in Alaska to operate hatcheries 

 and, each year, release four sockeye salmon fry for each 

 adult salmon of any species taken during the previous 

 year. In addition, the companies were required to keep 

 records of the numbers of fish spawned, eggs taken, per- 

 centage hatched, fry planted, and release locations. In 

 1902, the release ratio was increased to 10 fry for each 

 salmon taken. Most companies either ignored the re- 

 quirement or found it impossible to follow. Because of 

 this, the regulation was modified in 1906 to reduce li- 

 cense fees and taxes for complying companies. 



In 1905, the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries erected Alaska's 

 first Federal hatchery on Yes Bay near Ketchikan. This 

 station, along with another Bureau hatchery on Afognak 

 Bay, Afognak Island, hatched and released primarily 

 sockeye salmon along with a few pinks, coho, and steel- 

 head trout fry. Numbers of fish released ranged from 6 

 million in 1906 to 142 million in 1910 and then declined 



to 22 million in 1928. In addition, these two hatcheries 

 shipped at least 150 million eyed eggs to Oregon, Wash- 

 ington, and the New England States including Maine, as 

 well as the Province of British Columbia. The two hatch- 

 eries operated until 1933 when, because of the De- 

 pression, funding at Federal hatcheries was cut by 40%. 

 All over the country, rearing programs were cut back and 

 nine hatcheries, including the two in Alaska, were shut 

 down (Leach and James 1934). 



Little effort other than some experiments with 

 planting eyed eggs was expended on anadromous salmon- 

 id production between 1936 and 1955. In 1955, the Deer 

 Mountain Hatchery at Ketchikan hatched and reared 

 coho and sockeye salmon. Some of the eggs for these 

 plants, as well as those for some chinook salmon plants in 

 1965-66, came from the Green River in Washington. A 

 hatchery near Fairbanks and the Deer Mountain Hatch- 

 ery, as well as one operated on the Karluk River by a 

 sports group, released fall chinook salmon and steelhead 

 trout during the late 1950's. Fire Lake Hatchery, near 

 Anchorage, opened in 1956. While this facility mainly 

 reared trout for planting into lakes for resident fisheries, 

 steelhead trout were also included in its program. Be- 

 sides releasing a small number of steelhead trout fry, the 

 hatchery also supplied eggs to the Fairbanks facility. All 

 these hatcheries except Fire Lake have ceased anadro- 

 mous rearing operations. Since 1960, one additional 

 hatchery, Crystal Lake, and four experimental rearing 

 facilities (one rearing pond and three saltwater net pens) 

 have become operational (Table 3). Of the six, five are 

 operated by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game 

 (ADFG) and one by the National Marine Fisheries Serv- 

 ice (NMFS). Four are located in southeastern Alaska and 

 two are near Anchorage (Fig. 1). 



In addition to these rearing stations, ADFG also oper- 

 ates several chum and pink salmon incubation facilities 

 which release unfed fry. One, Kitoi Bay Hatchery on 

 Afognak Island, has been in operation since 1953 and has 

 also released large numbers of sockeye salmon fry. Others 

 have been constructed in the past 3 yr by ADFG Fisher- 

 ies Rehabilitation Enhancement and Development 

 (FRED) Division using special monies appropriated by 

 the State legislature. These incubation stations are being 

 built to offset dramatic drops in Alaska's fish stocks 

 (Alaska Department of Fish and Game 1976). 



Tabic .'!.— Anadromous fish rearing facilities— Alaska, 1960-76. 









Operating 



Species reared 



Anadromous 



Year anadromous 





Facility 





General location 



agency ' 



during year span - 



releases in 



1976 



operation began 



Funding agency' 



Hatcheries 



















Crystal Lake 





Petersburg 



ADFG 



sc. co, sh 



Yes 





1972 



ADFG. Anadromous 

 Fish Act 3 



Fire Lake 





Anchorage 



ADFG 



sc. CO 



Yes 





1956 



ADFG 



Ponds and net pens 



















Halibut Cove Lagoon net pen 



Homer 



ADFG 



sc. CO 



Yes 





1972 



ADFG 



Little Port Walter net 



pen 



S.E. Baranof Island 



NMFS 



sc. co, sk 



Yes 





1967 



NMFS 



Mendenhall Pond 





Juneau 



ADFG 



sc. co 



Yes 





1972 



ADFG 



Starrigavan net pens 





Sitka 



ADFG 



SC. CO 



Yes 





1971 



ADFG 



ADFG = Alaska Department of Fish and Game. NMFS = National Marine Fisheries Service, 

 -sc = spring chinook salmon, co = coho salmon, sh = steelhead trout, sk = sockeye salmon. 

 - Fish and Wildlife Service monies. 



