246 
BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP FISHERIES 
is the outlet of a few small lakes and also receives much of the discharge from the 
western part of Bering Glacier. About midway between the source and the mouth 
of the river is Bering Lake, a shallow body of water having an area of about 20 square 
miles. The lake is subject to tidal influence and is not regarded as an important 
spawning ground of red salmon, though it is probably used rather extensively by 
cohos. This district is shown in Figure 9. 
Fishing began in this district in 1889 when two canneries were built on Wingham 
Island. Though both plants had abandoned this location by 1891, one going to 
Thin Point and the other to Kokinhenik Island at the mouth of Copper River, it is 
not likely that fishing at Bering River was discontinued. No records are available, 
however, to show that salmon were taken here before 1896, yet it seems very probable 
that the locality was fished regularly after canneries were once established, even in 
the years from 1907 to 1911, inclusive, when, according to records now obtainable, 
no catches were made. If the companies at Odiak and Orca found it profitable to 
fish this locality in 1904 and 1906 and since 1911, there is no reason to suppose that 
salmon were not obtainable there in commercial quantities in the intervening years. 
Such catches were undoubtedly reported as Copper River fish. 
A cannery was built on Bering River in 1916, primarily to pack Bering and 
Copper River salmon. The district was also visited by fishermen from canneries 
more recently established at Cordova and was fished somewhat regularly by them 
for several years. 
Prior to 1918, no restrictions on fishing in Bering River were imposed other than 
those provided in the general law. In that year a regulation was made effective 
which closed Bering Lake and the river above a point a few hundred feet northwest 
of the mouth of Gandil River, an eastern tributary of the Bering. This prohibition 
was continued through 1923. Under the law of 1924, restrictions were increased by 
an order extending the weekly closed period to 60 hours and prohibiting the use of 
staked nets more than 600 feet in length. In 1925, fishing was prohibited before 
May 26, and also from July 11 to August 19. From June 1 to July 10, the weekly 
closed period was extended to 48 hours; nets with mesh less than 8% inches stretched 
measure were prohibited before June 1 ; and only drift gill nets not more than 200 
fathoms in length were permitted at any time. Modifications were made in 1926 
whereby the prohibition against fishing prior to May 26 was removed, the closed 
season was extended from July 10 to August 10, ending nine days earlier than in 
1925. After August 10, each fishing boat was allowed to carry 350 fathoms of net. 
All fishing in the Bering River district was prohibited in 1927. 
Table 12 gives a detailed statement of the catch of all species of salmon reported 
from the Bering River district from 1904 to 1926, consisting chiefly of red and coho 
salmon, though small numbers of kings were caught in several years. Occasionally 
pinks were taken in small quantities, but chums are practically never taken. It is 
evident from the number of nets operated from 1896 to 1915 that the district was 
not fished intensively. But the season of 1916 marked the beginning of an increased 
fishing effort, which reached a peak in 1918 but declined approximately 50 per cent 
in the following season. Thereafter it fluctuated considerably but rose again in 1922 
almost to the level of 1918. The fishing effort in 1920 and 1921 resulted in exactly 
the same average catch per fathom of gill net in both years, which was 28.7 red 
salmon per unit. In 1917, 1918, and 1922, the years of maximum effort, the aver- 
age catch per unit was only 13.9 red salmon. The largest catch of reds was made in 
1923 when little more than half the gear used in 1918 produced approximately 90 
