486 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
catches of pink and chum salmon until the supply was seriously reduced by over- 
fishing. Freshwater Bay is approximately 13 miles in length and receives one red 
salmon stream through Pavlof Harbor and several pink salmon streams near its head. 
The Admiralty Island shore of Chatham Strait is very regular from Funter Bay 
to Kootznahoo Head, a distance of 50 miles which is broken only by Hawk Inlet at 
the southern end of Mansfield Peninsula. South of Kootznahoo Head are five 
indentations which have yielded moderate catches of salmon. These bays are 
successively smaller as the south end of the island is approached. 
The west coast of Kuiu Island is extremely irregular. It is broken by Bay of 
Pillars and Tebenkof Bay, both rather deep indentations and once important pro- 
ducers of salmon, and by several small bays of lesser importance. In describing the 
territory fished by the Baranof Packing Co., whose cannery was located at Redfish 
Bay, Moser (1898, p. 117) reported in 1897 as follows: 
The streams are scattered over a territory fished by no other cannery and range on the outer 
coast from Cape Ommaney to Cross Sound and on both sides of Chatham Strait from Icy Strait to 
Cape Ommaney. It is one of the hardest fishing routes in Alaska. The streams all lie in unsur- 
veyed districts and as a rule are small and uncertain. A stream that yields 4,000 to 5,000 redfish 
one year may not have enough the next to feed a native family. A stream in Chatham Strait, 
fished by this cannery, was prospected secretly and independently one year with great success by 
different parties. The following year they met at the mouth of the stream with big outfits, neither 
previously knowing the other’s intentions, and where there had been thousands of fish the year 
before, there was not enough to salt a dozen barrels. 
He was speaking of a time when only red salmon were wanted and his observa- 
tions applied to streams used by that species. It would be interesting now to know 
the stream to which he referred and to review the history of the fishery at that local- 
ity through the 30 years that have intervened since his investigation, but unfortu- 
nately he did not record the name of the stream. It appears, however, that even 
in the early years of salmon exploitation in this district, runs were erratic, and a year 
of comparative abundance might be followed by a year of great scarcity, a condition 
which in no way could be attributed to overfishing, as the field had hardly been 
explored at that time. 
Commercial fishing in Chatham Strait seems to date from 1889 with the building 
of canneries at Pavlof Harbor and at Redfish Bay though it is probable that the Lynn 
Canal canneries took fish from the upper part of the strait before that year. The 
canneries in the neighborhood of Sitka may also have taken salmon from Chatham 
Strait, but there is no positive proof that their operations were extended far bejmnd the 
immediate location of the canneries. Apparently the supply of salmon in the northern 
part of the strait was considered insufficient for the profitable operation of a cannery, 
or else it was found that a larger supply was more easily obtainable in the southern 
part of the strait, as the plant at Pavlof Harbor was moved in 1890 to Bay of Pillars. 
This cannery was burned in 1892, leaving the cannery at Redfish Bay in sole posses- 
sion of the field until 1900, in which year a few salteries were opened. Through the 
next several years, however, the number of canneries gradually increased, though the 
old plants had been abandoned or had been destroyed, until at one time there were 
13 canneries located within the district and fully as many more in other districts were 
taking salmon from its waters. Along with the establishment of more canneries there 
came a considerable shift in fishing methods, changing from movable gear to fixed 
appliances. Fishing in the bays continued to be largely in the hands of Indians 
operating seines, while that in the open waters of the strait was carried on almost 
