670 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
the catch gives little indication of the size of the run, a fact amply demonstrated by 
the count of cohos through the Karluk River weir from 1923 to 1927 as shown in 
Table 18. 
Table 18 . — Karluk coho salmon run, 1923 to 1927 
Year 
Catch 
Escape- 
ment 
Total 
Percent- 
age of run 
caught 
Percent- 
age of run 
escaping 
Year 
Catch 
Escape- 
ment 
Total 
Percent- 
age of run 
caught 
Percent- 
age of run 
escaping 
1923 
20, 029 
10, 775 
4,750 
34, 337 
(‘) 
16, 445 
54, 366 
36.84 
63. 16 
1926 
14, 013 
14, 344 
18, 254 
18, 281 
32, 267 
32, 625 
43. 43 
43. 97 
56. 57 
56.03 
1924 
1927 
1925 
20, 195 
23. 52 
76.48 
1 No count made. Weir was removed Aug. 21. 
The first recorded catch of pink salmon at Karluk was made in 1901. From then 
until 1910, two years produced a few pinks, one year showed a yield of 233,000, while 
in five years no catch was reported. Beginning in 1910, however, pinks were taken 
each even year in considerable numbers but in negligible quantities in the odd years. 
(See Table 14.) This violent fluctuation is characteristic of the pink-salmon runs at 
Karluk, just as in many other places in Alaska. 
In the early years of fishing at Karluk, pink salmon were not desired and were not 
canned. Untold thousands were taken in the seines with red salmon, hauled on the 
beaches and left there to die. It was said that at times the beaches were covered knee 
deep with dead pink salmon. It is also conjectural whether this tremendous waste 
occurred only in the first 20 years of fishing at Karluk ; perhaps the practice of dumping 
pinks was followed in more recent years. There seems to be no other explanation of 
the total absence of this species in Karluk catches in some years, for in 1900 when 
“humpbacks came in myriads” to Red River, not one was reported at Karluk. It is 
probable, however, that pinks were equally abundant at both places. In the last 
17 years, the fluctuations in catch of pinks has been very pronounced and show a 
marked 2-year cycle with heavy runs on the even years and light runs on the odd — 
the same as in most other localities in western Alaska. In 1916 and 1924, approxi- 
mately 2,500,000 were taken while in all the other even years, except 1926, the catch 
reached fairly high levels. 
The small run in 1926, following the heavy run of 1924, is particularly interesting 
since it was naturally to be expected that the enormous escapement in 1924 would 
have produced a large run in 1926. The run of 1926 was, however, almost as poor as 
the runs of the odd years; the total recorded catch of this species at Karluk was less 
than 90,000 and the escapement at the weir was only about 15,000. The escapement 
of pinks in 1924 was tremendous and, while there was no accurate count, a conservative 
estimate was made that it was in excess of 4,000,000. These fish all entered the stream 
during the later half of July and in August, and by the 21st of August so many had 
died that their dead bodies blocked up the weir and it was impossible to maintain it. 
The number of dead, spawned-out, pinks was so great that their decaying bodies 
apparently so polluted the water that nothing could remain in the stream and survive. 
Unspawned salmon of all species, salmon fry and fingerlings, trout and various 
small fishes were reported to have died in large numbers. The tremendous mortality 
is indicated by the fact that on Karluk Beach the clean bones of the dead salmon that 
had drifted downstream onto the beach were rolled up into solid balls by the action 
of the surf. It was reliably reported that the beach for miles was covered by these 
