THE SALMON AND SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 
9 
Humpbacks may be said to run in southeast Alaska, where the principal i)ack of 
humpbacks is made, from July 15 to August 15, though some years they may be a 
week earlier, and at some canneries these hsh are packed until September 1. In 
Prince William Souiul they seem to be about a week earlier. It is said that they are 
ill good condition for packing only about one moiitli. Late in the season the meat 
seems watery, and it is difficult to prejiare a can of full weight. 
Hog salmon are not very numerous, and as they are not used for commercial pur 
poses no record concerning their run is available. At Chignik in 1897 the run was at 
its height August 1, forming at that time 5 iier cent of the catch ; at Ugaiiuk, Kadiak 
Island, the tish were dead and dying in the streams on August 12; at a cannery in 
southeast Alaska a few were packed from July 17 to August 6; at Hunter Bay the 
run is said to last from August 1 to October 1, which is doubtless an error; at Tolstoi 
it is said they run with the humpbacks, which is probably more nearly correct. They 
are, however, taken scatteringly throughout the season. Along the Alaskan Peninsula 
and the Aleutian Islands they are preferred by the natives for their winter supply of 
“ ukali.” 
No definite information about steelheads was obtained. They are nowhere very 
abundant, are not used except for local purposes, and probably run when the canneries 
are closed. At Ketchikan it is said they run from the middle of May to the last of 
June, though some seasons they are seen as early as the middle of Ai)ril. At Tolstoi 
it was claimed they run from November to April, but are taken about every month in 
the year in various conditions of spawning. 
SPAVINING AND OTHER HABITS. 
Little is known of the sea habits of salmon, and it may therefore seem useless to 
speak in this report of beliefs and impressions which have been acquired in various 
ways and through different agencies. It is quite generally supposed that salmon 
return to the streams in their fourth year, and that they run to the same waters in 
which they were hatched, but these theories are questionable. Fishermen state 
that every four years there is a big run of fish and cite one or two instances to 
prove it, but this will stand little investigation. If the four-year theory Avere 
correct, the progeny of the big runs Avould return fully matured four years from the 
time the parent fish entered the sHeam to spawn. The fish that enter the streams 
