256 



SALMON OF THE KARLUK RIVER, ALASKA 

 Table 20. — Returns from escapements of Karluk River red salmon 



The escapement of 1922 (400,000 fish) was very poor. However, this escapement 

 produced a fair-size run because the ratio of return to escapement was exceptionally 

 high both in the spring and fall. 



The escapement of 1923 (694,579 fish), although it produced a good ratio of return 

 to escapement, produced only a moderate run because the size of the escapement 

 itself was below average. 



The escapement of 1924 (1,109,161), while considered satisfactory in size, pro- 

 duced a very poor return. In fact there were fewer fish in the return than in the 

 escapement. This was due probably to the tremendous escapement of pink salmon 

 in the Karluk River in 1924. Normally, the pink salmon spawn in the lower half of 

 the river, but in that year, because of population pressure, large numbers of this 

 species continued up the river and occupied the red salmon spawning grounds. Quot- 

 ing from a report made by Fred R. Lucas in 1924 (Gilbert and Rich 1927): 



... On August 21st hundreds of thousands of fish died in the twenty miles of river between the 



