50 FISH AND GAME COMMISSION 



they do when they are trj'ing to spawn. "We recommend that the Park 

 Service be requested to close Butte Lake as a fish preserve, 



KLAMATHON SALMON EGG-COLLECTING STATION 



This station was established in 1910 for the purpose of collecting 

 salmon eggs for distribution in the Klamath and Sacramento rivers. 

 The station is subject to seasonal conditions probably more than any 

 other station on the coast. During a season of early rainfall and falling 

 temperatures, the salmon ascend the river in large numbers; during 

 seasons of warm and dry weather in the fall the salmon run in the 

 upper reaches of the Klamath River is light. As far as our observa- 

 tions are concerned and knowing that the run of salmon is not constant, 

 but in the upper reaches of the river is governed by seasonal conditions, 

 we are not prepared to state whether the run of fish has been reduced 

 by excessive fishing in the ocean areas before entering the river or not. 



A comprehensive survey of the river covering a period of years will, 

 in our judgment, be necessary before determining whether the run has 

 materially decreased or not. The movements in the upper reaches of 

 the river fluctuated in the same manner some twenty years ago as it 

 has during the last ten years. 



Following is a table of the number of eggs collected from the Chinook 

 salmon, which clearly indicates the fluctuating numbers of salmon in 

 the runs as they reach the traps at the Kiamathon Station : 



Collection of Quinnat Salmon Eggs from Klamath River from 1920 to 1930, Inclusive 



Kiamathon Station 

 Year Eggs 



1919 4,974,000 



1920 7,110,000 



1921 19,178,000 



1922 20,824,000 



1923 5,762,000 



1924 6,735.000 



1925 18,042,000 



1926 11,797,000 



1927 4,621,000 



1928 5,016,000 



1929 3,103,000 



Total 107,162,000 



All the salmon eggs collected during the last three years have been 

 hatched at Fall Creek station and the resulting fingerlings have been 

 returned to the river. Our opinion, based on over thirty years' study 

 of the fishing conditions in the Klamath River, is that when seasonal 

 conditions change and a period of normal rain and snowfall prevails, 

 the salmon will reach the Kiamathon Station in numbers that will 

 average the same as they have for the last twenty years. The water 

 is held back in the Klamath Lake by the power company during the 

 dry season and has its effect on the salmon run as is definitely proven 

 by the movements of the salmon. 



The Klamath, like all rivers in this state, is heavily fished, but the 

 number of salmon taken, except in the cannery, has no effect on the 

 run on the upper reaches of the river. The cannery, in our judgment, 

 takes only a small percentage of the run as the ocean fishing no doubt 

 is of greater consequence than the operation of the cannery on the 

 salmon that ascend the river. 



