ALASKA FISHERY AND FUR-SEAL INDUSTRIES, 1934 21 



KAFIJA BAY 



Tho Kaflia Bay weir, located between the second lagoon and the 

 first lake at the head of the bay, was installed on June 9, and the first 

 count of salmon was made on that day. The run w^as very light until 

 June 29, when a heaYy rain raised the river 16 inches. At that time 

 all the fish that had been collecting in the lagoon went up the river. 

 The peak of the run occurred in the first week of July, after which it 

 tapered off gradvudly. \Mien the weir was removed on August 9 

 tlie total count nunibcrcd 13,295 red salmon and 375 pinks. This 

 weir was in charge of Joe Zimmerman, who also acted as watchman in 

 the bay, under the direction of Warden Charles P. Turner. 



KARLUK RIVER 



Construction of the Karluk w^eir was begun on May IS and, being 

 facilitated by good weather and a low stage of the river, was com- 

 pleted on May 22. While this work was under way a number of red 

 salmon were already ascending; to the spawning grounds, and natives 

 had made some good catches in the lower lagoon the previous week. 

 The escapement w^as very light, however, until a heavy rain on June 

 3 caused the fish to move upstream. On the following day 113,421 

 red salmon w^ere counted, which was by far the largest escapement for 

 any one day during the season. The largest weekly escapement of 

 red salmon \vas 220,828 for the week ending June 23. Tliroughout 

 July and August the run was light. 



The run of pink salmon began about the middle of July and reached 

 its peak in the w^eek ending August 11. Spent pinks began to come 

 dowTistream in large numbers on August 18, when the river w^as 

 rising as a result of heavy rains. On August 20 it was necessary to 

 install additional gates in the w'eir to allow the dead pinks to pass 

 through, and on August 22 half of the structure was removed, as the 

 <!rew was unable to handle the increasing number of spent fish. The 

 river at this tune was 20 inches above its normal summer level. It 

 was not until September 17 that the weir was reestablished, and only 

 a small escapement occurred thereafter until the weir was removed 

 on October 5. 



During the period in which the w^eir w^as in operation — from May 

 23 to August 21 and from September 18 to October 5, inclusive — 846,- 

 299 red salmon, 978,171 pinks, 9,579 kings, and 6,141 cohos were 

 counted through the gates. It was estimated that 300,000 red 

 salmon ascended to the spawning grounds in the interval from August 

 22 to September 17, inclusive, which would bring the total escapement 

 of that species to 1,146,299. The reported commercial catch of red 

 salmon from Cape Karluk to West Point was 928,502, indicating 

 that 45 percent of the Karluk run was caught and 55 percent escaped 

 to the spawning grounds. 



Young red salmon migrating seaward were seen in the river from 

 May 21 to June 15. Fifty thousand red-salmon fingerlings were 

 marked at Karluk during the season. 



Morris Rafn was in charge of the Karluk weir, under the direction 

 of Warden Charles F. Turner. 



