474 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
smaller catch in 1927 is not necessarily indication of extreme depletion since the 
escapement was said to be good. 
In general it may be said that there was a marked upward trend of the red 
salmon catches until 1914, of cohos until 1916, and of pinks until 1917, but since 
these years the trend has fallen abruptly, its decline being accentuated by the eco- 
nomic depression of 1921. Recovery has been less abrupt than the decline, yet the 
gains in recent years have been substantial and indicate an eventual rebuilding of the 
fishery to its original strength. 
LYNN CANAL 
The Lynn Canal district covers all territorial waters north of a line from Point 
Couverden eastward to the point at the south side of the entrance to Fun ter Bay, 
thence along the watershed of Mansfield Peninsula, northward to Point Retreat, 
thence to the north end of Shelter Island, and thence to a point on the mainland 
shore 2 miles north of the mouth of Eagle River. The boundaries of the district 
are shown in figure 14. 
Lynn Canal is a narrow body of water extending northward from the east end 
of Icy Strait for a distance of approximately 90 miles. It has two important tribu- 
taries — Chilkat River and Chilkoot River — both of which enter their respective inlets 
near the head of the canal. Other localities of the district are of slight importance, 
except possibly the Mansfield Peninsula shore north of Funter Bay which has been 
a favored locality for traps, intercepting, as they did, not only the runs of salmon to 
the Chilkat and Chilkoot Rivers but those to Taku River, a tributary of Stephens 
Passage, 50 miles southeasterly from Point Retreat. 
The history of the Lynn Canal fisheries dates from the opening of a salmon 
cannery on Chilkat Inlet in 1883. In a few years four canneries were operating in 
the district, and the runs of salmon at both Chilkat and Chilkoot Inlets were exploited 
simultaneously. As the industry developed, the field of operations was extended 
until salmon caught in Icy Strait were being packed at the Chilkat canneries, and 
fish from Lynn Canal were being canned in the packing plants of Icy Strait, Stephens 
Passage, and Chatham Strait. Fishing in Chilkat Inlet was done largely by drift 
gill-netting, but large catches were also made by Indians fishing with gaffs in both the 
Chilkat and Chilkoot Rivers. In time, traps were located at points along the east 
shore of the canal and all tributary bays were prospected. Beach seining was tried 
at the mouth of Chilkoot River, due to its clearer water being less affected by glacial 
drainage than Chilkat River, but with little success, as the beaches were too rough. 
Gaffing in the river and set nets in both the river and the lake in the hands of natives 
probably accounted for the greater part of the salmon taken here during most of 
the earlier years. 
The statistical data here presented were derived from three sources. For the 
first 11 years the catches were determined by using the pack figures reported by 
Moser (1902) and assuming 11 fish per case. There is no means of ascertaining the 
number of salmon of each species used commercially in these years, as Moser’s figures 
give only the total pack of all species; but the entire catch has been considered to 
have been red salmon, though it is not at all improbable that both cohos and kings 
were included. If so, however, they certainly constituted only a very minor part of 
the pack. Moser (1899, p. 126) says, in writing about Taku River, that “As soon 
as the ice breaks up in the river (usually about May 25) the fishing for king salmon 
commences and all that are packed at Pyramid Harbor are taken in the Taku, except 
