THE SALMON AND SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 
129 
PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND AND COPPER RIVER REGION. 
After leaving Cliilkat there are no eaiiueries until Priuee William Sound is reaelied, 
or, as the locality is sometimes called, the Copper Eiver Delta. As plenty of capital is 
ready to be placed iii canneries, this long stretch has iirobably been well investigated. 
The absence of canneries would seem to imply the absence of llsh, but the inaccessi- 
bility of the region probably accounts for the slight development of its lishery resources. 
The district has contributed G.6 per cent of the cannery output of Alaska since 
1889. Its share in 1897 was 5.7 per cent. 
The Albatross called at Yakutat to make inquiries relating to the fisheries, but 
little information could be obtained. This village contains about 300 Indian inhabitants, 
and lies on the seaward slope of the great Fairweather Eange and the St. Elias Alps. 
The Indians obtain all their fish suiiply here, from a few small streams in the vicinity. 
They speak in glowing terms of the abundance of fish, but without any conception as 
to the numbers necessary for commercial purposes. There are several glacial streams 
emiitying into Yakutat Bay, and all are said to carry king salmon. The fisheries are, 
however, entirely undeveloped, and it would take at least a season’s work to make 
even a partial examination of the waters. 
About 00 miles east of Yakutat the Alsek Eiver empties through a delta into 
Dry Bay. According to the Indians, this river carries a large number of king salmon, 
redfish, and cohoes. Between the Alsek and Yakutat four smaller rivers empty into 
lagoons or inside channel-ways which communicate with the sea through shallow 
channels, and all are said to contain many salmon in season. It is said that a canoe 
can be carried through these inside channels from Yakutat to the mouth of the Alsek, 
but there is no entrance seaward for a vessel. The combined catch of these rivers 
would perhaps be sufficient to supply a cannery, but their inaccessibility is an obstacle 
to success. 
Little is known of the fishing resources from Yakutat to Cape Suckling. Several 
streams flow into the sea along this line of coast, but they are probably inaccessible. 
In 1889, when twenty additional canneries were built in Alaska, four were located in 
the vicinity of the Copper Eiver Delta, but only two arc now in operation. 
LITTLE KAYAK ISLAND. 
' In 1889 a company known as the Central Alaska Company built a cannery on 
Wingham or Little Kayak Island (also known as Mitchell Island), about 15 miles west 
from Cape Suckling. The cannery made a pack of 1,600 cases that year, and the 
following sxiriug it was moved to Thin Point, on the southern side of Alaska Penin- 
sula. It operated during 1890 and 1891, and was absorbed by the Alaska Packing- 
Association of 1892 and closed, and in 1893 it joined the Alaska Packers’ Association, 
but was no longer operated. In 1895 the available machinery was moved to Koggiung, 
on the Kvichak Eiver, in Bering Sea, and utilized as a part of the plant of the Point 
Eoberts Packing Company. 
The Peninsula Trading and Fishing Comiiany built a cannery on Little Kayak 
Island in 1889 and packed 2,540 cases that year, and 14,200 cases in 1890. In the 
fall of 1890 and spring of 1891 it was moved to one of the sloughs of the Copper 
F.G.B.,1898— 9 
