92 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Helm Bay Stream slionkl produce C,000 redflsh annually. 
At the head of the bay is a humpback stream which was examined. Its high 
water mark is on line with the edge of the timber, half a nule beyond the low-water 
mark. Between the two the upper part of the northern side is grassy, while the 
southern is rocky. From the latter, several streams enter which during high water 
fall, by cataracts about 30 feet high, into the bay, and at low water have their own beds 
and join the main stream, doubling its volume. The stream is from 20 to 30 feet wide 
between banks; has much sand and gravel on the bottom, making good spawning-beds 
for humpbacks, and is much choked by drift timber. At the time of our visit the 
water was low; across a riffle, 8 feet wide, it was only 4 inches deep. The banks ai’e 
quite level and heavily wooded and the water is clear. As it was early learned that 
this was not a redfish stream, the headwaters were not examined. At the head of the 
bay on tlie northern side are good seining beaches. 
NAHA BAY. 
ISTalia Bay, an arm of Behm Canal, is on the western side of Eevillagigedo Island 
opposite Helm Bay, and 10 miles within the southern entrance of the canal. Loring 
is a post-office, and is situated on the northern shore of ISTaha Bay. In 1890 it had a 
population of 200, which must have included the cannery-hands (Chinese and others), 
as the permanent population is very small. At the head of the bay a lake or lagoon 
receives the waters of the home salmon stream (Faha Stream), which formerly was so 
prolific that the Indians, in speaking of anything and desiring to express large num- 
bers, would liken it to the salmon in Haha Stream. The cannery buildings, wharf, 
store, etc., are on the eastern point of a small cove on the northern shore, and circling 
this cove are the dwellings of the whites and others. 
The cannery belongs to the Alaska Packers’ Association, and in 1897 it had the 
largest outx)ut of anj^ cannery in Alaska (62,010 cases), though the i)ack consisted 
largely of humiibacks. 
A saltery was in operation here for many years prior to 1888, when the Alaska 
Salmon Packing and Fur Company, of San Francisco, built a cannery which was 
operated by the Cutting Packing Comj)any. A pack has been made here every year 
since. In 1892 it joined with other canneries under the Alaska Packing Association, 
and in 1893, when the Alaska Packers’ Association was formed, it joined that organi- 
zation and has since been operated by it. The cannery originally had a capacity of 
about 400 cases per day. This by better methods was increased to 700, and in 1896 it 
was again enlarged and now has a capacity of 1,800 cases per day. 
The cannery obtains fish from the home stream (Naha), Karta Bay, Kasaan, 
Union, and Helm bays, Moira Sound district. Quadra, Checats, and Ketchikan. The 
stream records are given under the jjroper headings, so far as they could be obtained, 
but the totals by streams will not give all the fish used, because in each district there 
are streamlets from which a few hundred, perhaps a thousand, are taken by the Indians 
and carried to the passing steamers or to the canneries. For instance, the total 
number of redfish used at Loring in 1896, as recorded by streams, is 207,732, while the 
number actually used was 216,000. With cohoes and humpbacks there are still greater 
differences, as cohoes are very much scattered and only a few are taken here and there, 
wdiile the humpbacks run in such numbers and are so cheap that not much attention 
is paid to them, so far as districts are concerned. These fish can therefore only be 
referred to by localities in a general way, except when taken from a regular fishery. 
