220 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
even years from 1922 to 1926. Beginning with 104,140 in 1922 it rose in four years 
to the unparalleled total of 1,435,875 and made Unakwik Inlet one of the most 
productive localities of the sound. Even in the odd years, extraordinary gains were 
recorded as shown by a comparison of the catch of 88,134 in 1923 with that of 392,652 
in 1927, emphasizing again the tendency toward equalization of pink-salmon runs 
in all years. No evidence of depletion is observed in this locality. 
Wells Bay . — These data include a small catch made in 1927 at Fairmont. Situ- 
ated just east of Unakwik Inlet and approached through the same entrance as the 
inlet, it might be supposed that, other things being equal, the rims of salmon to both 
localities would show no conspicuous differences in development, or that the locality 
which showed the larger catch when exploitation began in 1917 would continue to be 
the better field through succeeding years unless it had been overfished and the runs 
depleted. This however, has not been the case. When fishing began in this district, 
Wells Bay produced 15 times as many salmon as Unakwik Inlet, but in 1926, the year 
of exceptional runs on the sound, the inlet produced 54 times as many as the bay. 
From 1917 to 1924, the catch of both pinks and chums dropped with startling abrupt- 
ness and then increased in 1925 only to be followed by another decline in the next two 
years. On the basis of available data, it may be assumed that the runs of both 
species at Wells Bay are seriously depleted. Other salmon have not been taken at 
this locality since 1922. 
Disregarding the individual localities and considering Unakwik Inlet as a district, 
it would seem that, in so far as pinks and chums are concerned, conditions are satis- 
factory, and that reds are barely maintaining an even trend. Yet an examination of 
the data independently for each of the five localities leads clearly to the conclusion 
that the runs to Cedar Bay, Miners River, and Wells Bay are reduced to the danger 
point. The seriousness of the situation at Miners River was recognized in 1924. 
Immediately after the passage of the act of 1924 for the protection of the fisheries of 
Alaska, fishing in the vicinity of this stream was considerably restricted to give the 
red-salmon runs of that region a chance to rebuild themselves naturally. 
GLACIER ISLAND DISTRICT 
This district covers the coastal waters of the sound from Granite Point on the 
west to Point Freeman tie on the east, including Glacier Island. Occasional catches 
were made outside of Long Bay which really harbors the only commercially valuable 
fishery of the district, but for purposes of this review, Billys Hole is considered separ- 
ately because of its early exploitation. The unallocated catch in this district includes 
catches from Columbia Bay in 1917, from Granite Cove in 1922, and from Johnson 
Cove, probably intended for Jackson Cove, in 1927. 
Billys Hole . — One of the oldest known red-salmon streams of the sound enters 
Long Bay from a small indentation on the west shore named Billys Hole. This place 
was fished as early as Miners River and Eshamy Creek, and before 1897 was rated as 
producing annually about 20,000 red salmon. No data are obtainable, however, 
showing the catches of sa l mon at Billys Hole until 1904. In that year, 3,000 reds 
were taken. In 1905, 1907, and 1908, catches were unallocated, but on the basis of 
its reputed value in 1897, it is probable that approximately 5,000 fish were caught in 
each of those years. An increasing yield from then until 1915 culminated in a catch 
of 15,775 in that year which marked the crest of a wave of production that then 
receded through successive years to 1924. The peak production of pinks was reached 
in 1917, that of chums in 1918, but thereafter the catch of both species followed the 
