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ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME
HEWS IffiLEASE October 15, 1963
Completion of the Frazer Fishway on Kodiak
Island has made accessible to salmon one of
the greatest potential red salmon producing
areas in Western Alaska, according to an
announcement by waiter Kirkness, Commission^
er of the A laska Department of Fish and
4iGame.
The fishway, constructed around the 33-foot
Frazer Falls, opens up a 5,000-acre rearing
acre in the 72 square mile Frazer Lake water
shed. The falls had been an impassable
barrier for salmon to the large fallow basin
Biologists of the Department estimate that
the once-barren waters could produce as many
'ah three million red salmon a year if all
optimum conditions were met. It is expected,
however, that the average yearly production
will fall somewhat under this figure even
‘after a population of optimum numbers of
spavining salmon have been built up. This
will probably take a period of years.
The structural phases of the fish laddering
project was completed by the Arndt Bros.,
contractors of Homer, on July 26 and accept
ed by the State of Alaska on July 31.
The.“portable aluminum steeppass used on the .
project was developed by Gil Ziemer,
*■ '
../iSfrecJor of Engineers for the ..laska Deoart
ment. It was the first practical application
of the adaptation of a lightweight shop pre
fabricated fishway that could be flown out
'!to a remote area and bolted.together on the
spot, E par
DEPARTMENT biologists have stocked Frazer
Lake since 195-1, 12 years prior to the
construction, by various methods including
eggs and ,'spawing adult salmon. To date,
the transportation of adult fish from Red
I iver Lake has proven the least expensive
and most feasible method. The adult fish
which returned to Frazer this year were the
result of plants of eyed-eggs- obtained from
Karluk Lake five years ago.
The purpose of the egg plants, was twofold;
(a) to determine whether Frazer.Lake could
raise, red salmon satisfactorily;, and (b),' '
to build up a brood stock that would, be . . ..
established by the-time money was available
for laddering the falls v The topographic
survey to select the .best route for ladder
ing the falls was .made by Ziemer in Julv.
1957. : U;
Two steeppass fishways designated as A and
C were installed side by side so that a
comparison could be made of their overall
performance. The a type with vertical
baffles was first developed by Ziemer in
1957. It produces a cascadeing tumbling
type of water action somewhat slower than
G1s which produces a streaming type flow
over baffles that have a 30 per cent slope,
even without the completion of the effective
leads to guide the salmon into the ladder,
which are scheduled for completion, next
spring, the fishpass was ascended by 2,500
red salmon and 3,000 pink salmon into Frazer
Lake during 1963. Of the red salmon, 65 per
cent preferred the A and 35 percent the C.
Sixty-eight percent of the pinks used the
C and 35 percent the A.
The original concept for a steeppass of this)
type was developed in Europe, Ziemer said, j
i
(Continued on -age ^ . j
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