SAGA OF KODIAK
(Reprint from Juneau Daily Alaska
Empire, Oct. 13.)
SAGA OF KODIAK
Part I
A glaring spotlight has recently
been focused on the Kodiak Is
land group which rides like a great
aircraft carrier in the blustry
North Pacific Ocean 75 miles south
west of the Kenai Peninsula.
The cluster of fjord-indented is
lands which includes Afognak
measure 50 by 100 miles in dia
meter.
The beam of the spot centers on
a sea drama being enacted by a
large Russian fishing fleet that has
moved down out of Bering Sea to
exploit with ruthless tactics the
traditional fishing grounds of Uni
ted States Nationals on Kodiak’s
continental shelf.
The Russians have aroused the
anger of the residents of Kodiak by
plowing their otter trawls destruc
tively through the nests of Aferi
can crab pots apparently with
scant regard for human rights or
property
Sea Otter Skins
The curtain rose on the Kodiak
drama 179 years ago in 1784 when
the Russians from Kamchatka es
tablished a company’s fur trading
settlement based on the taking of
6ea otter skins on Three Saints
Bay. This was the first settlement
in Alaska.
Three Saints served as the head
quarters for the company’s fur
trade during the following eight
years. In 1792 it was moved to the
present site of the City of Kodiak
by the notable Alexander Baranof.
Kodiak served as headquarters
for the Russian-American Company
from 1792 to 1804 when Baranof
again moved headquarters, this
time to Sitka.
Kodiak jogged along in sleepy
obscurity until the purchase of
Alaska by the United States in
1867. From 1867 until World War
II it remained a small trading and
fishing village with a population of
around 500.
The establishment of a Naval
Station with its avalanche of bull
dozers and construction workers
provided the spark that aroused
the slumbering village and sent it
DON'T PUMPER
YOUR WIFE
Let Her Winterproof
the Porch with
FLEX-O-GLASS This Year
Any little lady can enclose a
porch or breezeway with Warp’s
FLEX-O-GLASS. It’s so easy!
Just cut with shears and tack
over screens. Makes a warm,
sunlit room, flooded with
healthful Ultraviolet rays,
where the children can play all
winter long—or use as an extra
Store-room. Genuine, crystal
clear FLEX-O-GLASS lasts for
years at a fraction the cost of
glass. Only 87* a sq. yd. at your
local hdwre. or lmbr. dealer.
skyrocketing into an awakened
metropolis of several thousand per
sons.
The Fishery
The second phase of its rocket
growth was the discovery and de
velopment of the king crab fish
ery. For years Kodiak’s economy
was almost entirely based on the
short seasonal salmon fishery with
its great yearly fluctations. How
ever, the development of the
steady year-round king crab fishery
and later shrimp, has proven a
boon to the economy, not only
greatly increasing the income of
the people, but stabilizing it. The
apparent resurgence of the pink
salmon population, especially in
1962, which was one of the largest
on record, has also assisted.
Aside from the contribution of
the Naval and Coast Guard instal
lations, the larger percentage of
the population in Kodiak and the
outlying villages are dependent on
its fisheries. The number of fish
ermen harvesting the bounty of the
sea are fewer than the more nu
merous shore workers in Kodiak
and the smaller island communi
ties who handle and process the
catch.
The first Kodiak Island canner
ies were built on Karluk strip on
the south end of Kodiak specifically
for the processing of red salmon.
In the early twenties this area had
a half dozen canneries operating.
Pink salmon were not caught in
any numbers until the late twen
ties. In the mid-ithirties, the pink
pack rose to 600,000 cases, then
joined the alarming economic to
boggan with the rest of the Alas
kan fisheries. The biggest harvest
in late years was under statehood
in 1962 when 16 million pinks were
caught by fishermen which pro
duced a pack of 565 thousand cas
es. The sum paid to the fishermen
for the raw fish was equal to the
purchase price of Alaska.
Why Smaller Fish?
The Alaska Department of Fish
and Game regional supervisor at
Kodiak, Bob Simon, believes that
this was probably the greatest
number of pinks taken in the his
tory of the fishery. But because
of the small size of the fish the
pack was not as large as in a few
other years. The number of pinks
to the case through the years has
averaged 18.3, whereas n 1962 it
took from 21 to 22 fish to make a
case of 48 one-pound tails.
Fish and Game biologists are at
a loss to understand it. The prog
enies of these fish had averaged
15.86 fish to the case. The run had
entered the sea as big fry pro
duced by big parents. Simon, in try
ing to fathom this biological mys
tery, conjectures that it might be
some condition at sea or perhaps
the pink had migrated to poorer
feeding grounds. The pinks are
known to feed off the drop of the
Continental Shelf many miles south
and west of Kodiak.
Unlike the Bristol Bay reds, who
create international problems by
swimming far westward beyond
the 175th parallel to be gill-netted
by the hungry nets of the Japan
ese, tagging programs indicate the
Kodiak pink salmon are homebod
ies who stay closer to the shores
of North America. They migrate
os far south in some years as San
Fi ancisco and Monterey, and then
return north on their homing mi
gration to Kodiak. Even the Kodiak
(Continued on Page 7)
Party
Ready for fun and festive occasions, these Fenton
pieces add sparkle and distinction to your table, and
speak of your good taste in glassware. The sheer
beauty of clear crystal edging combined with Milk
Class will add pleasure and styling to your table on
all occasions.
America’s
—finest glass
in Color!
k. I
Fridays
Open ’Til 9 p.m.
pur future
, so ...
'mwm&mmm . ,,, ,
'•"< ■ . ■ . -
“OFFICE”
Best Food in Town
(by Clay and Helena)
CAFE HOURS:
(Lunch 11:30 ’til 2
Dinner 5 P. M. on
SUNDAY: Prime Rib of Beef
AND
THE FINEST
Potables
by Sid, Martin and Tony
The
Commissar
Sez:
AT KODIAK ELKS LODGE 1772’s
ANNDAL CHARITY
[Purple Bubble [BalP
* ^ ce.
Semi-Formal
Saturday, October 26
DINNER FROM 6 TO 9:30 P.M. DANCING FROM 10 P.M.
ELKS HALL
0
For Reservations Phone 6-2666 or 6-5222
(For Elks, their Ladies, Emblem Club Members and Escorts)