SALMON-TAGGING EXPERIMENTS IN ALASKA, 1927 AND 
1928 1 
■jA 
By Willis H. Rich, Ph. D., In charge, Pacific Coast Fishery Investigations 
Frederick G. Morton, Warden, Alaska Fisheries Service 
U. S. Bureau of Fisheries 
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CONTENTS 
Page 
Introduction 1 
Southeastern Alaska, 1927 2 
Icy Strait 4 
Chatham Strait : 7 
Frederick Sound 10 
Stephens Passage 13 
Sumner Strait 13 
Page 
Southeastern Alaska, 1927 — Continued. 
Cape Decision 15 
Clarence Strait 17 
Conclusions 18 
Uganik Bay, 1927 18 
Nicholaski Spit, 1928 21 
INTRODUCTION 
The series of salmon-tagging experiments in Alaska, which was begun in 1922, was 
continued during the two years covered by this report. In 1927 a number of ex- 
periments were conducted in southeastern Alaska and one in Uganik Bay, Kodiak 
Island. In 1928 an experiment was carried out at Nicholaski Spit on the Alaska 
Peninsula. The experiments in southeastern Alaska were designed to fill in some of 
the gaps in the information that had been secured from previous experiments in this 
district. The other experiments were designed to settle specific questions that had 
arisen in connection with the administration of the fisheries. Although many details 
of the salmon migrations yet remain to be discovered, it is our opinion that the 
general features are now well enough known so that there is little need to continue 
general tagging experiments of the nature of those performed in southeastern Alaska 
in 1924 to 1927. It is planned, therefore, to use the method of tagging in the future 
only in connection with specific problems, such as those at Uganik Bay and Nicholaski 
Spit, which are covered by this report. 
The method of tagging and the results of the earlier experiments have been covered 
adequately in previous reports. 2 The experiments in southeastern Alaska in 1927 
were conducted by the junior author, who also collected and tabulated the data. 
1 Submitted for publication Mar. 8, 1929. 
2 Experiments in Tagging Adult Red Salmon, Alaska Peninsula Fisheries Reservation, Summer of 1922. By Charles H. Gil- 
bert. Bulletin, U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, Vol. XXXIX, 1923-24 (1924), pp. 39-50, 1 fig. Washington, 1923. Second Experiment 
in Tagging Salmon in the Alaska Peninsula Fisheries Reservation, Summer of 1923. By Charles II. Gilbert and Willis H. Rich. 
Ibid, Vol. XLII, 1920 (1927), pp. 27-75, 12 figs. Washington, 1925. Salmon-Tagging Experiments in Alaska, 1924 and 1925. By 
Willis H. Rich. Ibid, pp. 109-146, 1 fig. Washington, 1926. Salmon-Tagging Experiments in Alaska, 1926. By Willis H. Rich 
and Arnie J. Suomela. Ibid, Vol. XLIII, 1927, Pt. II (1929), pp. 71-104, 17 figs. Washington, 1927. 
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