680 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
Table 20 . — Salmon catch and fishing appliances used in the north and northwest coast of Afognak 
Island district, 1907 to 1927 — Continued 
Year 
Coho 
Chum 
Pink 
King 
Red 
Beach seines 
Purse seines 
Gill nets 
Traps 
Shuyak Strait: 
1920 
12, 351 
18 
291 
Number 
Fath- 
oms 
Number 
Fath- 
oms 
Number 
Fath- 
oms 
Number 
Tonki Bay: 1927 
3 
Unallocated: 
1924 
38 
45 
3,001 
4,926 
27, 707 
8, 513 
11,679 
12, 018 
1925 
961 
987 
1926 
5, 890 
121 
898 
12 
1927 
Total: 
1907 
1,800 
30, 000 
22, 444 
84, 577 
43, 285 
20, 103 
77, 778 
92, 707 
118, 635 
73, 307 
1908 
1909 
8, 374 
7, 200 
26,046 
1910 
1911 
1912 
621 
33, 171 
14 
1, 400 
700 
1913 
9; 875 
59, 653 
7 
2 
100 
1914 
2, 170 
150 
7 
700 
2 
100 
1915 
5; 426 
51 
15 
29; 080 
2,292 
77, 590 
47, 749 
56, 422 
38, 921 
7 
1, 050 
1916 
131 
12; 635 
31,750 
7 
700 
1917 
647 
6 
750 
1918 
6 
121 
1 
42; 778 
63, 891 
40, 761 
129, 343 
36, 777 
115, 840 
93, 248 
96, 747 
5 
500 
1919 
35 
540 
49 
700 
1920 
35 
7 
700 
1921 
71 
1, 195 
567 
11, 793 
75, 251 
66, 892 
40, 007 
58, 509 
115, 266 
322, 668 
12 
9 
1, 125 
1, 435 
1, 425 
1, 425 
1, 120 
1,995 
1, 460 
1922 
4, 017 
1,484 
11, 398 
28, 603 
32, 638 
35, 015 
13 
10 
1923 
233 
15 
12 
1924 
424 
324 
11 
1925 
4, 070 
63 
10 
1926 
2 , 252 
59 
16l' 893 
14 
1927 
12; 120 
785 
54; 614 
n 
Note. — The unallocated catches were reported from Afognak Island in 1925, 1926, and 1927, and from the west coast of Afognak 
Island in 1924. 
The catch of pink salmon in this district was fairly constant from 1912 to 1925, 
and is remarkable in that it does not show the marked fluctuations in alternate years 
that are such characteristic features of pink-salmon runs throughout most of western 
Alaska. The record shows no definite tendency toward increased catches in either 
the odd or the even years, although extreme variations in this respect are found on 
Kodiak Island and on the mainland opposite Afognak Island. As will appear later, a 
similar condition exists in Marmot Bay and along the southeastern shore of Kodiak 
Island. 
The fact that in this small restricted district no evidence is found of the 2-year 
cycle leads one to speculate upon the possibility of building up the “off” years in 
those districts where the good runs are confined to alternate years. The ultimate 
causes that originally established the 2-year cycle can not, of course, be known and 
we, at least, do not care to speculate on this, although they were unquestionably 
environmental and possibly associated with conditions in the sea, since conditions in 
fresh water are much more likely to be variable in localities as widely separated as 
those which show this markedly greater abundance on the even years. Whatever 
the cause it must have been extremely widespread, since the cycle as now known has 
prevailed for many years over the whole of central and western Alaska. Almost 
everywhere throughout this vast area there have been good runs on the even years 
and poor runs on the odd years, and only occasionally (as in 1927) has there been any 
tendency for conditions to change and bring good runs on the odd years. The fact 
that the pinks are exclusively 2-years old at maturity accounts, of course, for the 
perpetuation of the 2-year cycle once it was started and, conversely, the rigid main- 
tenance of a 2-year cycle over a vast area and over a long period of time is corrobora- 
tory evidence of the fact that pinks are exclusively 2-year fish. 
