alaska department of fish and game

127 Pages·2009·8.08 MB·English

ALASDKEAP ARTOMFFE INSATHN DG AME
ANNRUEAPLFO OR1RT9 57
JUNEAU, ALASKA
COVER: BULL STELLER SEA LION ON
LEWIS ISLAND, CULF OF ALASKA
1957
ANNUAL REPORT
Alaska Fish and Game Commission
and
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Michael A. Stepovich
Governor
Robert C. Kallenberg
Chairman
C. L. Anderson
Director
REPORT NO.9
JUNEAU, ALASKA

To:
THE GOVERNOR OF ALASKA
MEMBERS OF THE TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE AND THE
CITIZENS OF ALASKA
Herewith is submitted the Ninth Annual Report of the Alaska Fish
and Game Commission, created by the 23rd Territorial Legislature and
approved April 1, 1957.
This report covers the activities of the Commission and the Alaska
Department of Fish and Game based on the calendar year January 1
to December 31, 1957.
C. L. ANDERSON, Director
ROBERT C. KALLENBERG, Chairman
ARTHUR H. HAYR . Member
EUGENE TORKILSEN, Member
DOUGLAS BABCOCK, Member
NEIL E. GRANT, Member
JAMES HUNTINGTON, Member
NELS E. NELSON, Member
Although the Alaska Fish and Game Commission and the Alaska De­
partment of Fish and Game was created April 1, 1957, for all practical
purposes they are a continuation of the former Alaska Fisheries Board
and the Alaska Department of Fisheries and accordingly these reports are
numbered consecutively.

FOREWORD
The 1957 session of the Legislature enacted Chapter 63, S.L.A. 1957,
which repealed Chapter 68, S.L.A. 1949, which created the Alaska Fisheries
Board and the Alaska Department of Fisheries. Under the new act, all
duties and powers of the Alaska Fisheries Board were relegated to an
Alaska Fish and Game Commission, to be composed of seven members,
viz., three commercial fishermen, one processor, one hunter, one sport
fisherman and one trapper. The four commercial fishery members of
the old Board were automatically made members of the new Commission.
The functions of the Alaska Department of Fisheries were transferred
to the new Alaska Department of Fish and Game, with fur and game
activities being added. This change became effective on April 1, 1957.
The Biological Research Division continued research in 1957 on red,
king, silver and pink salmon as well as trout, king crab and shrimp. A
tagging and recapture technique on the Taku River fish wheel demon­
strated its potential as a service for measuring spawning escapement of
adult salmon as they enter a muddy, glacial river. The validity of spawn­
ing ground surveys was checked again with a weir on the Taku and it
was verified that small salmon and jacks are not observed in the usual
river bank survey.
A very high survival of red salmon fry planted in a lake cleared of
all resident fish was achieved at the Lake Kitoi Research Station. Studies
in the troll fisheries indicated a build-up of blood lactate in troll-caught
salmon and possible high, delayed mortalities in such fish that escape
or are returned to the ocean.
The use af algae to show potential lake productivity was studied
with encouraging results. Salmon eggs were incubated and hatched in
stagnant cultures of algae, indicating possible future hatchery designs
for closed water systems with effective temperature controls.
An extended retention of rotenone toxicity was demonstrated in
Princess Bay Lake, under conditions of high acidity and cold temperature.
This lake was treated in early spring and did not lose its toxicity until
late fall.
Various tagging techniques were tried on king crab to develop a
method for releasing large numbers in the studies of growth rates, inte­
gration patterns and other life history information.
Exploratory fishing trips for shrimp were made in the Kodiak region
with encouraging results.
Scientific papers were presented by members of the research staff
at various meetings. The research library continued to catalogue and
disseminate pertinent scientific literature to the staff and to the public.
The Division of Predator Investigation and Control continued studies
of the beluga, sea lion and harbor seal and also conducted control activities
on harbor seals in the Stikine, Taku and Copper River areas. Some wolf
control was done in Southeastern Alaska and a wolf investigation was
initiated.
The Division of Fur and Game was organized and its program planned.
No field work was undertaken.
The Commercial Fisheries Division added one new District Biologist,
stationed at Homer on Kenai Peninsula, making a total of five districts
that have resident biologists. Adult red salmon from planted eggs returned
again to Frazer and Laura Lakes in the Kodiak district. The first return of
silver salmon entered the Ketchikan Hatchery through the use of the
newly created fishway. King salmon studies on the Nushagak River were
intensified and data of management significance was secured in relation
to escapements.
The Sport Fish Division continued its program of lake investigation,
lake rehabilitation and trout stocking. The Fire Lake Hatchery near
Anchorag;e was provided with an additional sixt"'en troughs which brought
the total units at this station to its full complement of forty troughs. Four
new lakes with a combined surface area of 172 acres were treated with
rot2none to kill the scrapfish.
A new prefabricated steel warehouse, 32 feet wide by 40 feet long,
was constructed at the Fire Lake Hatchery site. Much needed storage and
b�d-weather work area will be provided by this building.
The program of the Inspection Division was carried on about the
same as in previous years except that the temporary inspectors were
requ;rcd to check for Territorial licenses, not only for sport fishing as
they had done in the past, but also for hunting. The 1957 Legislature
passed a new license act, Chapter 122, Session Laws of Alaska 1957, which
provided for a new scale of licenses for sport fishing and a hunting license
as well. Chapter 93, Session Laws of Alaska was repealed by the new Act.
The Engineering Division constructed a fishway and holding tank at
the Deer Mountain Hatchery, Ketchikan, and a fishpass weir on a branch
of the Taku River. The Bakewell Fishway project was put under contract.
Several minor projects were processed.
With funds provided by the 1957 Legislature, the Education and
Information Division now has one full-time employee. Conservation films,
press releases to newspapers and radio stations and illustrated lectures,
along with the Dzpartment's annual bulletin, were utilized to inform
Alaskans about their fishery resources and the work being done to
conserve and utilize them on a sustained yield basis.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Foreword 5
Fish and Game Commission __________ ___ __________________________ 9
Administration ____________________________________________________ 23
Biological Research __ __________ ___ _ ____________ _ _ _ _ _ ______________ __ 24
Taku River Investigations ____________________ _________________ 26
Kitoi Bay Research Station --------- ------------------------- 30
Silver Salmon Investigations ___________________________________ 39
King Crab Investigations ______________________________________ 41
General Research Section ______________________________________ 42
Engineering Division ________ ____ ___ ___________ __ __ ______________ ___ 45
Inspection _________________________________ __ __________ ____________ 48
Education and Information ________________ ________________________ 49
Predator Investigation and Control _________________________________ 50
Seal Control -------------------------------------------------- 51
Harbor Seal Investigation _________ ________ _____________________ 52
Wolf Control and Investigation --------------------------�------ 53
Sea Lion Investigation ----------------------------------------- 54
Beluga Investigation ____________________________ __ ______________ 57
Commercial Fisheries __ _ ______________ __ _ __ ____________ ___ _ ________ 60
Ketchikan District ___ _ __________ ______________________________ 61
Kodiak District _______________________________________________ 65
Wrangell-Petersburg District _____ ______________________________ 70
Bristol Bay District ------------------------------------------- 79
Homer District _______________ ___ ____________ _____ _____________ 86
Sport Fish -------------------------------------------------------- 89
Financial Report, July 1, 1957-June 30, 1958 ______________________ 114
Statistics
Table 1. Comparative Value of Canned Salmon
by Species, 1948-1957 ---------------------------116
Table 2. Number of Canneries and Salmon
Pack, 1948-1957 _________________ ________________ 117
Table- 3. Salmon Catch by Species,
Gear, and District, 1948-1957 _____________________ 118
Table 4. Poundage and Value of Alaska
Fisheries Landings, 1948-1957 ____________________ 119
Table 5. Poundage and Value of Alaska Fishery
Products Prepared for Market, 1948-1957 _________ 120
Looking Forward --------------------------------------------------121