SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 
27 
to the headwaters of the stream it moves rapidly until it finds suitable gravelly bottom 
in clear water. No food is taken in fresh water. When a barrier to its ascent is met 
I am told that the fish charges at it repeatedly and persistently without regard to the 
consequences to itself. The nest-building habits have been so often described that it 
is unnecessary to repeat them here. The spawning takes place, as before remarked, 
near the headwaters of streams in clear, shallow rapids. As far as we can learn, only 
those fish that ascend the streams short distances return to the ocean after spawning, 
and September is the month in which the spent fish go down to the sea. Mr. Turner 
mentions a female weighing 38 pounds, which had spawned and returned to the sea 
and was caught at Unalaska, September 25, 1878; it was in fine condition for eating. 
There is no reason why the king salmon should not return down the Karluk, as 
the distance is very short and the fatigue of the journey upstream is very slight. 
There is ample testimony of a conclusive nature to the effect that after a king salmon 
ascends 500 miles from the sea it never returns to it alive. 
Mr. Charles Hirsch says that the Karluk natives watch for the king salmon in 
May, and set up a great shout as soon as they discover it. Like the other species, it 
can be seen about 1J miles off shore in great schools, but before coming nearer the 
schools break up. There is no salt-water fishery for this salmon in Alaska, except 
along the beaches. 
No falling off has been observed in the supply of the king salmon; in fact the 
number used is very small in comparison with thalt of the red salmon. 
The Dog Salmon ( Oncorhynchus lceta). Plate hi, Fig. 3. 
This is one of the. least important of the Alaskan salmon to Americans, but one 
of the most valuable to the natives. Its flesh is comparatively pale, and it deterio- 
rates so rapidly in fresh water as to prove very unattractive to white people. Mr. 
Daniel F. Bradford states that after remaining in fresh water twenty -four hours the 
fish turn black, become covered with slime, and are unfit for food. The jaws become 
enlarged and distorted, and the flesh unpalatable. In the fresh-run condition the 
flesh has a beautiful red color, resembling that of the red salmon, but not so brilliant. 
Early in July the red color of the skin is somewhat remarkable in being interrupted 
at intervals along the sides, causing a sort of resemblance to bands. The average 
weight is about 12 pounds, but some individuals reach 20 pounds. 
This species is found chiefly in the small rivers and creeks, and is usually very 
abundant in all parts of the Territory as far north as Hotham Inlet, and probably 
Point Barrow. In the rivers of California and British Columbia it is said to appear 
seldom or never in the spring, but in Alaska it makes its appearance on the coast in 
great schools about the middle of June and continues abundant for nearly a month, 
after which it decreases rapidly in numbers, disappearing usually about the time of 
the forming of the ice. 
In the small streams falling into Alitak Bay, with only a few exceptions, this fish 
and the little humpback are the principal salmon, and the natives dry them for winter 
use in large quantities. The Sturgeon River, according to Mr. Charles Hirsch, never 
contains any but dog salmon and humpbacks. In the Karluk River the dog salmon is 
ouly an occasional visitor. At St. Paul, Kadiak, Mr. Washburn says that the Eylto 
arrives about July 1, and there is only one annual run. On the 30th of August, at 
Karluk, a haul of a large seine yielded forty dog salmon and only one red salmon. 
