Along
The
Waterfront
By Karl Armstrong
Sports fishermen may have a
new specie round these parts to
angle for. According to the Sep
tember issue of the Alaska Sports
man 70,000 Grayling eggs were
shipped from the Fire Lake hatch
ery to Kodiak for stocking in June'.
&
Also according to an item in the
same publication (Whyn’t someone
bother to let the Kodiak Mirror
know about these things anyway?)
“Game Biologist Ron Batchelor of
Kodiak reported that a local pilot
has sighted sixteen mountain goats
in the area where seven males and
11 female goats were released in
1952 and 1953. This is the largest
number of animals observed at one
time since this transplant and in
dicates that it may not be long
before mountain goat hunting will
become a reality on Kodiak
Island.”
&
Talking about transplants . . .
whatever became of the plan to
bring moose and bison to Kodiak?
It seems like a wonderful idea and
maybe these animals would, like
the transplanted Olympic Elk, be
come the giants of their breeds un
der our apparently ideal grazing
conditions. Maybe Kodiak Island
would, within a few short years be
come the “Home of Alaska’s Giant
Game Animals!” While they are at
it perhaps it might be fun to try
out a few walrus. Perhaps there
are good ecological reasons for not
introducing these fine game ani
mals here . . . but it sounds like a
good idea anyway, off hand.
&
Even with an increase over past
years in the number of vessels en
gaged in king crabbing, it is hoped
that there will not be a repetition
of last winter’s disasters when over
20 Kodiak fishermen lost their
lives at sea. The newer additions .o
the fleet are generally considerably
larger in size which adds to the
safety factor (they stifl don’t begin
to compare with the huge Jap and
Russian ships). Not only have the
vessels increased in size, but also
the crab pots are much larger ami
heavier . . . and more expensive.
Some pots now reach the 6’x6’
square size! Fishing with the larg
er, heavier pots in ever-deeper wa
ters brought about general use of
nylon lines . . . and these nylon
lines now cost as much by them
selves as the pots! When a fisher
man loses a pot . . . not an infre
quent occurrence ... it costs
around $200, which doesn’t take
into consideration the loss of fish
ing time until a replacement is
made. In short, everything the
fisherman uses today costs more
than it did before and costs still
keep rising in what is, at best, a
risky and dangerous enterprise.
-9
At the peak of the summer sal
mon, crab, shrimp and halibut sea
son, the small boat harbor had the
appearance of a virtually empty
sports boat marina. But now with
most of the salmon fleet moored
in for the winter and many crab
boats coming and going, it is be
coming apparent that it is just
that ... a small boat harbor . . .
too small. If they already haven’t,
city officials would be well ad
vised to make inquiries with the
various canneries to determine
how many more boats might be ex
pected in addition to the present
fleets.
i
Anchorage Times Correspondent
Elsa Pederson of Seldovia reported
this week that a silver salmon,
tagged east of Kodiak Island and
south of Cape St. Elias, traveled
260 nautical miles to a point be
tween mid-Kalgin Island and the
Kasilof River in a period of 23
days. She further commented, after
noting that the salmon was tagged
KODIAK
FISHERMEN!
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for immediate delivery ... j
•
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SU. 3-9900
Surveyors Appeal
For Slow Down
The Survey Crew operating on
the Base Road has appealed to the
Kodiak Mirror for motorists to pay
more heed to warning and slow
signs where *hey are working.
Surveyors say that drivers
headed for the base have knocked
ddwn the warning signs and have
come perilously close to striking
surveymen.
near our fertile Portlock Banks
fishery, that, “Although the stated
objective of the Russian fishermen
is sea bass, sea perch, and bottom
fish, Alaskan fishermen are in
creasingly resentful of the activi
ties of a foreign fleet in offshore
Alaska waters during times and in
places where American and Cana
dian fishermen are prohibited from
fishing. Alaska fishermen have
noticed that since Japanese and
Russian fishing fleets have been
active in off shore North Pacific
waters the past few years, the sal
mon have been appearing in Cook
Inlet in scattered bunches, rather
than in concentrated schools as in
years past. It is generally believed
that the schools are broken up by
the fishing effort in offshore wa
ters, and that the salmon do not
reschool before approaching the
spawning grounds.”
a*
We note with considerable satis
faction that the U.S. Senate this
past week approved an amendment
to the 1962 trade expansion bill
which would empower the Presi
dent to act to help protect the
American fishing industry from
foreign encroachments. The
amendment, strongly opposed by
some soft-headed state department
striped-pants diplomats worried
about “good relations,” accom
panied a resolution (among whose
sponsors were Alaska’s Senators
Bartlett and Gruening) calling for
an international conference on
fishery resources. Taking note of
the intensive and extensive for
eign fishing fleets in Alaskan wa
ters, Senator Magnuson of Wash
ington stated: “The prospects of
ocean areas being turned into des
erts, in which little or no edible
life exists, should be of particular
concern to nations of the northern
hemisphere.”
Kodiak Gaining
As Halibut Port
Seattle (TP) — Increasing
amounts of halibut are being
landed in Alaskan ports and at
Bellingham, Wash., while land
ings at Seattle are falling off,
according to the Bureau of Com
mercial Fisheries Market News
which reported landings in Se
attle for the first eight months
of the year at 9,100,000 pounds
compared to 11 Vi million pounds
at the same time last year.
But Ketchikan landings re
ported for the same period are
10,200,000 pounds and Belling
ham’s 5,100,000 pounds — both
new records.
The report said that Kodiak,
operating for the first time as a
major halibut port had landings
of near 2,000,000 pounds.
FREE PARKING
At the Rendezvous
Notice
There Will Be A
Meeting of the
United
Fishermen's
Marketing
Association on
Get. 8 at 9 a.m.
Fishermen's Hall
Purpose of the
Meeting to
Discuss
Crab Contract
MECCA WRECKER SERVICE
insured Service
24 hours
Ph. 486—5637 or 486—2255
THOMPSON TRANSFER
URIC MUELLER, Prop.
CLEAN HEAT!
Both Standard Furnace Oil
and Standard Stove Oil
are super-refined to burn clean.
CALL US TODAY FOR PROMPT SERVICE
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE WE HAVE
Automatic Keep-Filled Service
Home and Oflice Standard Plant
486-2300 486-5115
ATTENTION KODIAK OUTDOORSMEN
WIN
A Nylon 22 Rifle or Nice Luggage
, (First and Second Prize)
For largest rack of deer horns (Boone & Crockett) killed this season. To be
eligible, yon must be a member of Kodiak Outdoorsmen, prior to Oct. 2, 1962.
Horns will be checked in at Curley’s Barbershop. Phone 486—2442 or Frank
Kozak, phone 486—2314 within 48 hours after the kill.
Don’t forget that Tuesday, Oct. 2, is regular meeting night and the following
movies will be shown: “Wild Life Big Galle Series” and “Polar Be«r Hunt.” Also
refreshments will be served. The Public is cordially invited to all meetings held on
the first Tuesday of each month at 8 p.m. in the National Guard Armory Building.
KODIAK OUTDOORSMEN
i_ ~ --