Salmon Fishing Began
At Karluk Yesterday
By Sig Digree
The opening June 1, of the Kar
iuk district for salmon fishing
sounded the kickoff on Kodiak Is
land for the 1956 fishing season.
1956’s crop garnering of the sil
very horde in this once fabulous
productive region is a speculative
quantity. The trend has been
downward, the past few years,
with the fishermen on the one
hand, attempting to make a living,
and the FWS management seeking
to strike a balance which would in
sure them a livelihood and still
preserve for posterity, by means
of escapement, sufficient quanti
ties of the salmon to build up this
great natural resource to some
thing of its once great proportions.
Roy Lindsley, FWS Agent here,
laid before me statistical figures
which graphically illustrate this
downward trend in the numbers
«f fish caught. We could,, of
course, go baek to the turn of the
century, when fishing in this area
was like the early gold rush, and
you could literally walk across
the backs of the salmon proceed
ing up the river to spawn. These
were the colorful days when there
was open warfare between the
many canneries located nearby.
Karluk River today, despite its
lessening in production, is perhaps
the world’s greatest producer of
fish, according to Lindsley, figured
according to size.
We quote a few figures at ran
dom from the statistics compiled
by the FWS. In 1921, a total of
3.143.000 red salmon were record
ed, 1,500,000 of which escaped
to the spawning grounds and
1.843.000 were caught by the fish
ermen. In 1926 there was a greater
yield. 2,553,00 escaped, 2,387,000
were caught for a total of 4,920,000.
We could give you figures for
every year since, but those for
1954 and 1955 illustrate the sharp
NOTICE
Dr. E. E. Bach, Optometrist. will he in Kodiak on June 17 to
21. For appointment for an eye examination call Mrs. Carl
Huer at 4531.
light as a wh isper
The delicate character and
supreme quality of Baranof
Vodka is the result of the
most exacting distilling technique.
Blends so perfectly with
orange juice, vermouth, tonic
or tomato juice.
80 OR 100 PROOF
OISTIU.ED FROM 100% GRAIN NEUTRAL SPIRITS PRODUCT OF U. S. A.
CLEAR SPRING DISTILLING CO.,
division of JAMES B. BEAM DISTILLING CO.. CLERMONT, KENTUCKY
lessening of the yield. Two years
ago the escapement was 326,614
saimon, with 133,660 caught, and
in 1935 385,319 escaped and 20,903
were caught. As you see, we don’t
talk any more in the terms of mil
lions. Now it is only thousands.
iou will note in the above fig
ures the escapement of fish ;otals
50 per cent or more of che total
salmon recorded. This is according
to a law enacted by Congress June
6, 1924. Further, the act provides
for an increased escapement
should the run of fish continue to
diminish.
Fishing for Red salmon, of
course, is only one phase, and the
small one, of the complete salmon
fishing activities. Now we get back
into the millions again. In 1955,
11,478, 121 salmon of all species
were caught and packed in the Ko
diak area. Catching the fish by
seine nets yielded the most fish.
7,803,108 pinks were processed
from this method. 2,672,912 from
traps and 318,144 from gill nets
were garnered. In this year, the
Kodiak area, as is well-known, en
joyed particularly good fishing in
comparison to other regions. As
a comparison with 1954, it might
be pointed out the total yield was
9,851,496 in that year. This is for
all species and include Reds,
Kings, Pinks, Chums and Cohoes.
Though there has been a decline
in the yield hereabouts, the de
cline is not as marked as in ihat
of other fishing areas throughout
Alaska. The rich productiveness of
the Kodiak Island area in the over
all picture is borne out by the fact
that 42 per cent of the Pinks
caught in Alaska were taken front
the waters hereabouts. This region
in the years from 1925 to 1952
averaged about 10 per cent of the
salmon caught in Alaska. The
pink^ over the same period aver
aged 14.2 per cent.
This huge crop is harvested
mainly by manpower from Kodiak
itself and the small villages dot
ting the island, with a percentage
of boats and men from the States.
440 units of seine gear were em
ployed last year. 1619 fishermen
were registered. 939 of these were
residents of the island and 680
were non-residents who come here
yearly to fish. Canneries dot the
island of Kodiak at Uyak, Uganik,
Olga, Karluk, Ouzinkie, to men
tion only a few. Then of course we
have several local canneries—Hal
ferty’s, Island Seafoods and King
Crab, Inc.—the latter two switch
ing over from processing King
Crab. It is estimated that from
2000 to 2500 cannery workers are
employed on the island.
Thus you have a picture of this
huge industry that so vitally af
fects the economy of this region.
It is by no means complete, but
serves to point out the importance
of the silvery horde swirling about
the island waters in their annual
visitation which means dollars to
the merchant, food to the table and
a livelihood to the fisherman and
his family.
No reports have come in so far
GAME night
EVERY
WEDNESDA Y
8:30 PM
HKS
CLUB
as regards the opening day at'Kar
luk, but it is expected to be slow,
gaining momentum as the season
progresses. The red salmon season
ends July 21. The fishing season
in the rest of the Kodiak region
begins July 9, and with closures
in beween, continues until Septem
ber 30.
POLICE SLOGAN
Forethought and care make ac
cidents rare.
NOTICE
Kodiak Saw Service offers a new
kind of service to Kodiak. We shar
pen all types of saws, dado head
ers. planer knives, butcher knives.
We have the machinery to do it
Located on South Brooklyn.
NOTICE
Alaska Transfer Co. has moved
to Taylor Court Apt. No. 11 next
door to the Kodiak Telephone Co. (
Bldg. Phone 2112. tfn
Game Night at VFW Club every
Friday night beginning May 18,
Soft Drinks — Mixers
and
Speed Bar Flavor Extracts
Kodiak Bottling Works
For all your
WELDING NEEDS
or problems
PHONE 2151
KODIAK WELDING WORKS
| THOMPSON TRANSFER ji
; Oldest nil Transfer Cn. j
in Kodiak!
> I
a We limit uur activities to hauling oil '
consequently you can depend upon us
> to serve you. ,
> !;
r ,1
> 'i
> • S
' "Erich Mueller, prop. !'
PHONE 3131 or 4303 >
CAROL’S
MATERNITY WEAR
For the Lady in Waiting
Dresses
Suits
Skirts
Smocks
Slacks
Maternity Bras
Nylon Shorty Gowns
* • '’ : - Length Robes
Shorty Pajamas
Pastel Kid Scuffs
Si
Store Hour* 9-6
Blinn Building
Fridays 9-8
Phone 3192