532 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
In addition to these catches, which were supposedly red salmon except as noted, 
303 cohos were taken here in 1893 and 1,152 in 1895. It was also reported that this 
cannery packed 103,541 reds, 10,825 cohos, and 88,849 pinks in 1896; 64,509 reds, 
8,351 cohos, and 1,942,028 pinks in 1897; and 139,490 reds in 1898. The difference 
between these catches of red salmon and those given in table 14 for the same years 
represents the number of red salmon that came from localities other than Redfish 
Bay. A company operating at Petersburg took 34,000 red salmon from this bay in 
1900. None of these figures appears in table 13, which gives only the catches from 
1904 to 1927. 
For many years the only catches reported from Redfish Bay were of red salmon. 
Since 1912 all other species have been taken but not in sufficient quantities to con- 
stitute important fisheries. With one exception, a catch of 11,619 chums in 1920, 
the number of salmon of each species, exclusive of reds, did not exceed 3,000 fish. 
Fluctuations in the catch of red salmon is shown graphically in figure 29. 
Disregarding the rather large catches in the years immediately following the 
opening of the cannery at Redfish Bay, no marked fluctuations occurred in the catch 
of red salmon until after 1912. From 1913 to 1919, there were 5 years of extremely 
poor catches, and 2 years, 1914 and 1916, of fairly good yields. The catch in 1918 
includes 149 reds reported from Redfish Cape. The next period, 1920 to 1924, 
60 
| 40 
I 20 
Figure 29.— Catch of red salmon at Redfish : 
shows catches which compare favorably with the catches from 1904 to 1912 indi- 
cating that an appreciable run still survives. 
The red-salmon season varies considerably at this bay, the range of the opening 
date being from June 1 to July 29, and the closing date from August 6 to September 
26. In 1924 fishing was prohibited from August 20 to September 9; in the next 
3 years the closed season extended from August 18 to September 14; and in 1926 
the northern part of the bay was permanently closed. The seasonal closing in 1924 
had little or no effect upon the catch as more red salmon were taken that year than 
in any year since 1895, indicating either an earlier or a larger run. In 1925 the catch 
was much smaller due, not necessarily to the longer closed season, but possibly to 
a poor run of salmon. The closing of the northern part of the bay in 1926 easily 
accounts for the small catches in that and the following year. Further commercial 
utilization of the red salmon of Redfish Bay seems doubtful under these restrictions 
as it is not likely that fishing will be profitable in the lower reaches of the bay until 
the run increases far beyond its present size. 
Little is known of the Whale Bay fisheries before 1911, but that locality was 
probably fished as early as Redfish Bay, chiefly for red and coho salmon. The catch 
of these species has always been small, except in 1918 and 1919, when nearly three 
times as many reds were reported taken as ever before or since. No marked reduc- 
tion is indicated by the available statistics, although the regulations of 1924 and 
subsequent years were intended to reduce the catch. The closing of Still Harbor 
