34 
FISHERIES OF ALASKA IK 1909. 
southeast Alaska — and planted salmon fry as follows : From Afognak, 
39,325,870 red salmon fry and 10,000 humpback salmon fry; from 
Yes Lake, 48,653,000 red salmon fry and 9,900 coho fry; a total of 
87,998,770 fry for both hatcheries. 
OBSERVATIONS ON WOOD RIVER. 
THE ORDER CLOSING WOOD AND NUSHAGAK RIVERS. 
The order of December 19, 1907, closing Wood and Nushagak 
rivers, in western Alaska, to commercial fishing was strictly enforced 
during the two past seasons, and no trap was operated or other form 
of fishing carried on in either river. There were 10 fish traps in 
operation on the bay during the whole or a part of the season just 
past, but 2 of these had very small takes. This number is 1 trap 
fewer than in 1908. 
It is plain that the great variation from year to year in the pro- 
portion of the annual run taken by the fishermen is unfavorable to 
uniformity in the run and that the lesser runs are much more heavily 
fished than the greater, a condition which in the Nushagak region 
certainly tends to overfishing. The order closing the rivers provides 
a partial check on overfishing and is especially useful in seasons of 
small runs. During the season of 1908 it had no effect in limiting 
the catch, since the packers had little difficulty in completely filling 
their packs from the fishing in the bay. In 1909, however, the run 
was much smaller, and not all the canneries completed their packs* 
Had traps been permitted in the rivers they would have secured a 
large number of the relatively few fish which, as it was, succeeded in 
escaping to the spawning grounds by way of Wood River. When 
runs occur large enough to fill readily the whole pack provided for 
by the cannery men, the order has no restrictive influence on the catch, 
but is not oppressive, since at somewhat greater trouble all the fish 
necessary may be obtained from the bay. 
Under the present system of fishing the order is a necessary pro- 
tection to the fisheries, and is a wise exercise of the power conferred 
by the Alaska fisheries law. 
COUNT OF THE BREEDING RUN IN WOOD RIVER. 
The counting investigations begun in 1908 were continued on sub- 
stantially the same basis during the season of 1909. A rack was 
placed across the foot of Lake Aleknagik and an actual tally was 
made at the three gates provided for the purpose of all red salmon 
entering the lake during the season. The total run into the lake fell 
far short of the preceding season, being 893.000, as against 2,600,000 
in 1908. 
