THE SALMON AND SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 
67 
The following table shows the packs at Metlakahtla for 1890 and 1897 : 
Speciea. 
1896. 
1897. 
No. of 
cases. 
Number 
of fish 
per case. 
Value' 
per 
case. 
Date of packiiij;. 
No. of 
oases. 
Date of packing. 
Kedtisli 
Cohoe.s 
Humpbacks 
Do-overs 
8, 280 
1, 500 
7,420 
450 
*12 
Oar 7 
21 or 22 
$3. 80 
3. 40 
2. 40 
3. 00 
July 1 to Sept. 5 
Aug. 1 to .Sept. 10.. . 
July 21 to Aug. 22 .. 
July 1 to Sept. 10 
7, 000 
840 
7,200 
300 
July 8 to Sept. 2. 
July 20 to Sept. 2. 
July 20 to Aug. 26. 
17, 650 
15, 490 
* Qiiadr.i redfisli ran 8 to tlie case; those from Moira Sound, 15 to the case. The average was about 12. 
The gill nets were not very successful, the failure being attributed to a too large 
mesh. Mr. Duncan thinks that 5 and 5^ inch mesh might have done better work. Gill 
nets have been tried all over Alaska and are now used with success only where the 
water is discolored; if the water is clear the lish see the net and the catch is small. 
In some places, where the waters are discolored, gill nets only are used. Of these 
places, there may be mentioned the mouths and approaches of the Unuk, Stikine, Taku, 
and Chilkat rivers in southeast Alaska, Copper Kiver, Cook Inlet, and the Bering 
Sea district. Fish can be taken in gill nets in other places, but where the water is 
clear other tishing methods are far more successful. 
The Metlakahtla cannery pays for redflsh, according to locality, from $5.50 to $7 
lier 100; for cohoes, from $10 to $14 per 100, and for humpbacks, $1.50 per 100. These 
prices are unusually high. The redfish is, of course, the species most sought for, but 
as the canneries increase in number and the output becomes larger, more humpbacks 
and cohoes are packed to fill up the cannery quota. 
The home stream at Metlakahtla lies about 2 miles north of the anchorage, inside 
of Copper Point. It is about 1^ miles long, 90 feet wide, and 12 to 15 inches deep, and 
flows in numerous rapids of easy ascent from the lake of which it is the outlet. The 
lake is about 3 miles long, half a mile wide, and has connected with it other smaller 
lakes, but does not appear to have any inflowing stream, being fed by falls and 
cascades. The banks of both stream and lake are wooded. The outlet is very rocky, 
and the lake is deeji without much shelving; from report it has no extensive spawning- 
ground. 
The average number of redfish taken iier year from around the mouth of this 
stream, for six years, was 8,000; the average time of the catches, from July 8 to August 
11; average weight, from to 4 pounds. A few hundred cohoes are taken from July 
22 to September 1. 
Off the mouth of the river, and well out in the bay, there seems to be a schooling- 
ground for humiibacks, of which the average catch for four years was 38,000 per year, 
the run extending from July 27 to August 30. A considerable number are furnished 
for local use. 
On the eastern side of Annette Island, and opposite Mary Island, is another 
schooling-ground for humpbacks. In 1893 the Metlakahtla flshermen took from this 
locality, between August 1 and 26, 140,000 humpbacks; in 1896, between August 3 and 
22, 68,000; and in 1897, between July 27 and August 7, 29,000. 
The cannery at Metlakahtla has received redfish from Quadra and Kah-Shakes 
also, though the latter stream furnished none here in 1896 and 1897. 
