28 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Early in July tlie fish-drying frames of the natives on the shores of Cook Inlet are 
red with the flesh of the drying dog salmon, or Hylcn. The natives cut off the head, 
split the fish in halves, and remove the backbone, allowing the two halves to remain 
fastened at the tail. The sides are gashed at short intervals in order to facilitate the 
drying. The fur-traders lay in a large stock of this dried salmon, which is known to 
the trade as ukali. 
The Silver Salmon ( Oncorhynchus kisutch). Plate iv, Fig. 1. 
The silver salmon is considered an excellent fish in the Puget Sound region, but 
is not so highly esteemed in the northern part of Alaska. It is used to some extent for 
canning, but is far less important for this purpose than the red salmon. It reaches a 
weight of about 30 pounds; the average weight in Alaska is less than 15 pounds. In 
Alaska, as in the Puget Sound region, it is a fall-running fish. It does not ascend the 
streams to any great distance, and I have seen spent fish of this species coming down 
alive in the fall to within easy reach of salt water. Whether the species actually leaves 
the fresh water after spawning is uncertain. There is a conflict of observation on this 
subject. Mr. J. W. Clark, agent of the Alaska Commercial Company at Nushagak, a 
very reliable and intelligent man, states that he has seen silver salmon come down the 
river alive in the spring. In some other Alaskan rivers, Capt. Lansburg, superintend- 
ent of the Thin Point cannery, has seen only black and lank-looking salmon of this 
species during the winter. 
At Afognak the species arrived August 5, 1889, but there was no extensive run 
till about the end of the month. A small silver salmon was seen at Karluk August 4. 
The species was not abundant there, however, until early in September, when about 
7,000 were caught at one haul of the seine. It was about this time that one of Capt. L. 
P. Larsen’s men at Karluk hooked a very large silver salmon, probably weighing over 
30 pounds. This species is only an occasional visitor at Karluk. When it runs there 
it generally begins about the last of August, according to Mr. Charles Hirsch. Mr. 
Washburn informed me that it arrives at St. Paul late in August or in September, and 
that there is only one annual run. A few fish of this species are found in the small 
river in Olga Bay, near the cannery of the Arctic Packing Company. It has been 
stated by Mr. Daniel F. Bradford that silver salmon do not furnish 10 per cent of the 
pack at the fisheries. In the river at Thin Point, a small and very shallow but con- 
stant stream, both silver and red salmon are found, the latter predominating. The 
season closes here early in September. 
The silver salmon make their nests among the gravel and stones, from which they 
clean all dirt and slime. They use their snouts in collecting material for the nests, and 
Mr. L. M. Turner states that he has seen them with the snout worn off past the muzzle. 
After the spawning season, and during their stay in fresh water, they continue to be 
very much emaciated and in poor condition generally. 
No decrease has been observed in the supply of this salmon as far as we are 
informed. Its late arrival in most localities limits the season during which it can be 
- caught, and this serves as a sort of protection for the species. 
The Humpback Salmon ( Oncorhynchus gorbuscha). Plate in, Figs. 1 and 2. 
This is the smallest, most abundant, and most widely distributed of the Alaskan 
salmon. Its average weight is about 5 pounds, and individuals weighing 10 pounds are 
very uncommon. It may be recognized readily by its excessively small scales, and, in 
