550 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
extent they may have originated in the exploitation of the runs for commercial 
purposes. 
The catches reported from this locality in some of the later years were not taken 
entirely from the immediate vicinity of the stream as they include salmon that were 
captured by a trap near Point Barrie which took fish from the runs to the eastern 
waters of Sumner Strait. To what extent these data are affected by the inclusion of 
trap catches cannot be determined, but it may be assumed that the record is fairly 
accurate in respect to red salmon. The small catches of king salmon at this point 
presumably came from the Stikine River runs as no kings had been taken in this 
locality before traps were used. The increased catches of cohos after 1921 may be 
accounted for in the same way. 
The east coast of Kuiu Island is indented by four bays — Port Beauclerc, Reid 
Bay, Seclusion Harbor, and Three Mile Arm — all of which have made fair contribu- 
tions to the catch of salmon in this district, chiefly pinks and chums. In each locality 
wide fluctuations in catches have occurred. At Port Beauclerc, by far the most pro- 
ductive field, all good catches of pinks were made on the odd years although not con- 
secutively. The catches in the intervening seasons, ranging from 1 to 5 years, were 
undoubtedly comparatively small, indicating either less intensive fishing or smaller 
runs, but there can be no doubt that, in general, the pinks in this locality show a defi- 
nite 2-year cycle with the large runs in the odd years. There is no evidence of a 
diminishing supply. In respect of chums, the variation in catches was not pronounced 
after 1915 until 1927 when the catch dropped far below any level reached since 1914. 
With this exception, the records of Port Beauclerc show no apparent reduction in the 
runs of chums. Coho and red salmon, while never abundant in this locality, are still 
taken in numbers comparable to those of earlier years, the catch of both species in 
1927 having been exceeded only a few times. The situation at Reid Bay and Se- 
clusion Harbor differs little from that at the other localities on this shore of Kuiu 
Island although the catches have been relatively much smaller; yet in 1925 both 
places show catches which had been exceeded but once in the history of their fisheries. 
No salmon were reported from Seclusion Harbor after 1925 and none from Reid Bay 
after 1926, due undoubtedly to the regulation of 1925 prohibiting fishing within 1,000 
yards of the mouths of the streams of both bays. 
On the east side of Sumner Strait, indenting the west coasts of Kosciusko and 
Prince of Wales Islands, are three bays that rank among the best areas in this district. 
The run of red salmon to Shipley Bay was among the earliest to be exploited in south- 
eastern Alaska. Available records show that it was fished as early as 1892, wholly for 
red salmon, as no other species was reported from its waters until 1904. Unfor- 
tunately, data are incomplete for these earlier years, although it is reasonably certain 
that salmon were taken here even in the years for which records are not obtainable. 
Moreover, the catches shown may be only those made by one company so that the 
full yield is now unknown. From 1904 to 1927 catches were recorded for each year 
except 1905 when for some unaccountable reason the bay was not listed by any of the 
packers submitting reports of catches in that year. The production of red salmon 
held a fairly even level until 1914 when it dropped abruptly to approximately one 
tenth of the average it had maintained for the preceding decade. No noticeable im- 
provement in the catch was apparent until 1923, 9 years later, when it again ap- 
proached the level of the earlier productive period. A still better catch was recorded 
in 1924; but in 1925 it dropped sharply again and shows a progressive decline reaching, 
in 1927, the lowest point in production of red salmon in the history of the fishery, only 
