THE SALMON AND SALMON FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 
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Ivarluk, where two streams fall iu cascades over a bluff; and from Northeast Harbor, 
a small iudeiitatioii a few miles eastward of the Waterfalls; but these hsh all belong 
to the Karluk school. Some years ago a few were taken at Little Kiver, which is inside 
and a little westward of Cape Ugat, and from Kaguyak and Kukak,ou the maiidand. 
But all these places supply but a very small percentage of the Karluk pack. Occa 
sionally, when there is a slack in the run at Karluk, one or the other of these places 
may be visited by the cannery steamer. Before the cannery at Uganiik was built the 
stream at this place was also hshed by the Karluk canneries. 
TIME OF TUE SALMON RUNS. 
The time of run is no less remarkable than the numbers of fish. The canneries 
count for a certainty on obtaining fish from the middle of June to the middle of Sep- 
tember. Some years the packing has commenced the latter part of May, and again 
it has continued into October. Some cannerymen state that the Karluk packing 
season is from -June 1 to September 30. It is true that the records show long runs of 
redfish iu Cook Inlet, Copper Eiver, and Ohilkat, but the early runs iu these localities 
are straggling fish, and were it not for the king salmon no attempt would be made to 
take the redfish at the earliest dates. It appears that the redfish run earlier to the 
westward than in southeast Alaska. At Attn it is said they run May 1. While the 
run probably commences to the westward, yet the great difference in time shown by 
the records is not, in my opinion, altogether real. There are undoubtedly straggling 
redfish very early in all localities in Alaska, and iu a iilace like Karluk, with a catch 
of nearly 2,000,000 fish, these early stragglers must come in sufficient numbers to war- 
rant commencing cannery operations, while at a stream having a production of 30,000 
to 40,000 fish they may be represented by only a few individuals. Proximity to the 
sea is, no doubt, also favorable to early runs. The late runs may be accounted for by 
similar reasoning. It is said that the fish iu the late runs are iu excellent condition. 
It is a question whether the fish that school around Karluk all belong to the 
Karluk Eiver; that is, whether they would all go up that river to spawn. For some 
unknown reason large schools of fish come in from the sea and, finding conditions 
favorable, school around the vicinity of Karluls, and from there distribute themselves 
in schools along the islands, the rivers on the southern side of the peninsula, and go 
as far as Cook Inlet. 
ILLEGAL FISHING. 
Sharp competition has caused most of the streams iu Alaska to be excessively 
fished; it is also more or less responsible for the great amount of illegal fishing 
carried on in the past and at present. When, however, it is considered that the 
canneries iu Alaska have been striving each season to increase the packs over those of 
the year preceding, and have resorted to every means to obtain the highest pack, it 
will be seen that even a person willing and anxious to comply with the law and to fish 
in a manner not injurious to a stream would soon be forced to abandon his ground. 
It is only fair to state that most caunerymen are willing to comply with the law regu- 
lating the fisheries. But where a few individuals evade the law iu every possible 
manner, using methods which will eventually injure the fishery, and persist from year 
to year with impunity, there is little or no incentive for others to observe the law. 
It is claimed that for a number of years fishing iu the river has been limited. 
Competition has not yet wholly ceased, and frequent seine hauls are made in tlie 
river and many salmon taken which would have reached the spawning-grounds iu the 
