Recent analysis of the salmon population in the Klamath River by the California Department of Fish and Game may be a positive indicator for the year to come.

In the weeks since Aug. 6, a crew operating six days per week on the lower Klamath has counted 274 adult fall chinook salmon harvested below the state Route 96 bridge in Weitchpec and 76 harvested below the U.S. Route 101 bridge.

The total Klamath basin quota for 2008 is 22,500 fish.

“The adult chinook are starting to come in,” said Sara Borok, associate fisheries biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, who also runs the Klamath River Project, which has served as the creel census since 1978.

“We have a lot more jack salmon,” Borok said. Jack salmon are fish under 22 inches, while adult salmon extend more than 22 inches.

When there are a lot of jacks, the next year will result in third-year followed by fourth-year salmon, which are harvested, she said.