CHIGNIK TO RESURRECTION BAY SALMON STATISTICS 
645 
CHIGNIK 
The salmon fishery at Chignik began in 1888 when 2,160 barrels of salted salmon 
were packed. In 1889 canning operations were begun and have been continued 
without interruption to the present time. A few fish have been salted at various 
times but the bulk of the catch has been canned. The fishery has been restricted to 
a relatively small area within a few miles of the mouth of Chignik River and draws 
mainly upon the runs of salmon which spawn in this stream. As a result, the fishery 
has been very intense, and the competition between the several operating companies 
was keen. After various changes in the companies the situation finally became stabil- 
ized in 1914 when the three companies then operating — the Alaska Packers Associa- 
tion, the Columbia River Packers Association, and the Northwestern Fisheries Co. — 
agreed to an equal division of the catch. This resulted in a much more efficient conduct 
of the fishery, although its intensity and the drain upon the runs was to no extent 
reduced. There has been no material change in the fishery since that time except 
as effected by the regulations imposed under the authority given in 1922 by the Execu- 
tive order establishing the Alaska Peninsula Fisheries Reservation and the act of 
June 6, 1924. (See Part I, pp. 51 and 52.) 
No regulations of consequence were imposed in 1922. In this year, however, 
a counting weir was established in the Chignik River for the purpose of ascertaining 
the number of salmon that escaped from the commercial fishery and passed on to the 
spawning grounds. This weir has since played an important part in the control of 
the fishery, as will be seen. In 1922 the escapement was 428,976 red salmon, 58,300 
cohos, and 241 kings. Pinks and chums were not counted, but the escapement was 
estimated at 15,000 and 1,200 respectively. The commercial catch of red salmon in 
1922 consisted of 1 ,403,701 fish, 76.6 per cent of the total run. In 1923 the catch and 
the escapement were both so low that commercial fishing was stopped on August 21, 
but in spite of this the catch was again in excess of 75 per cent of the total run. The 
act of June 6, 1924, specifically required an escapement of not less than 50 per cent of 
the run “in streams where counting weirs are maintained,” and this has materially 
affected the commercial fishery. Furthermore, beginning with 1925 it has been 
required that the minimum escapement shall be not less than 1,000,000 and this 
requirement has been practically met in each subsequent year. These regulations 
have had a marked effect upon the catch, and it will be necessary to bear them in mind 
in order to interpret properly the fluctuations in the catch that appear in the table. 
In the earlier years, the fishery at Chignik was confined exclusively to Chignik 
Bay and Chignik Lagoon. In 1913 a small catch was made in Hook Bay, and in 1917 
operations were extended to include Aniakchak and Kujulik Bays (fig. 1). The 
catch in these three minor districts has been largely composed of pinks, chums, and 
cohos, and this extension of the Chignik fishery was interrupted in 1921 owing to the 
depressed market for the cheaper grades of canned salmon. (See p. 43, Part I.) 
It was resumed again in 1924 and has continued to the present time. 
The figures for the salmon catch at Chignik are given in Table 1 . The data for the 
years 1888 to 1904, inclusive, have been adapted from Moser 3 and from the various re- 
ports of the Treasury agents on the salmon fisheries of Alaska for the years 1892 to 1904. 4 
3 The Salmon and Salmon Fisheries of Alaska, by Jefferson F. Moser. Bulletin, U. S. Fish Commission, Vol. XVIII, 1898 
(1899), pp. 1-178, Washington. 
Alaska Salmon Investigations in 1900 and 1901, by Jefferson F. Moser. Bulletin, U. S. Fish Commission, Vol. XXI, 1901 (1902), 
pp. 173-398, Washington. 
* These reports appeared regularly, except for 1893, during the interval covered and were published as Treasury Department, 
Senate and House Documents. The one for the year 1892 was by Max Pracht; those for 1894 and 1895 by Joseph Murray; that for 
1898 by George R. Tingle, and those for the years 1894 to 1904, inclusive, by Howard M, Kutchin, 
