FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 70. NO. 1 

 Table 9. — Freshwater scale characters of Asian stocks of sockeye salmon (from Krogius, 1958). 



The circuli of the first ocean zone of the scales 

 from the Asian fish are average (some broken, 

 some regular, see p. 255, Mosher, 1968) and more 

 or less uniformly spaced. If there are a few 

 more widely spaced circuli in the zone, they are 

 usually some distance from the freshwater 

 growth. 



As can be seen from Table 3, my samples of 

 scales from the Asian areas are quite small. 

 Krogius (1958) reported on some of the scale 

 characteristics of the Asian spawning stocks. 

 Table 9 summarizes the pertinent material from 

 her paper. My scale data generally agree with 

 those she reported. 



AGE 1., NORTH AMERICA 



Bristol Bay (Plate 4; Tables 4 and 5) 



The number and proportion of fish of this 

 freshwater age group varies from year to year 

 in the Bristol Bay rivers, but age 1. fish predom- 

 inate each year in the Nushagak area as either 

 the 1.2 or 1.3 age groups (Burgner, 1964)." Thus 

 this is an important freshwater age group every 

 year in Bristol Bay. 



The bulk of the Bristol Bay sockeye salmon 

 are produced in the Ugashik, Egegik, Naknek, 

 Kvichak (including the Branch River), and 

 Nushagak-Wood River systems. The relative 

 importance of each river varies somewhat from 

 year to year, but the Naknek-Kvichak area pro- 

 duces the largest number of fish, especially in 

 the "big" years (see 1965 catch statistics in 

 Appendix Table 1). In addition to these five 



river systems, there are a few other areas that 

 provide some fish to Bristol Bay. Streams emp- 

 tying into Togiak Bay and the Bear and Sandy 

 Rivers on the north side of the Alaska Peninsula 

 produce substantial numbers of sockeye salmon 

 in some years. The Togiak area fish are usually 

 of age 1., whereas those of the Bear River are 

 of age 2. generally. The catches of the various 

 areas of Bristol Bay for 1966, as an example, 

 were as follows (International North Pacific 

 Fisheries Commission, 1966) : 



Thousands of fish 



5,397.6 

 2,101.2 

 1,170.3 



445.4 



119.8 



151.3 



" Burgner, R. L. 1964. Age composition of Nusha- 

 gak red salmon runs, 1946-63. Univ. Wash., Fish. Res. 

 Inst. Circ. 219, 62 p. (Processed.) 



Area 



Naknek-Kvichak 



Egegik 



Nushagak-Wood River 



Ugashik 



Togiak 



Bear and Sandy Rivers 



Scales from fish of this age from Bristol Bay 

 are quite similar between streams with only 

 minor variations from year to year. Most scales 

 have distinct freshwater and ocean zones with 

 well-marked circuli. The freshwater growth is 

 moderately large with well-spaced, regular, 

 mostly unbroken circuli. Plus growth is some- 

 times present, especially in the Togiak, Nusha- 

 gak, Kvichak, and Ugashik Rivers. In most cases 

 it is easily identified on the scales. 



The first ocean zone has relatively few circuli. 

 The summer growth circuli are broad and widely 

 spaced, predominantly regular, and unbroken. 

 An area of widely spaced circuli is usually pre- 

 sent near the freshwater zone. The ocean zones 

 of scales of Bristol Bay fish have a more "open" 

 appearance than those of fish from any other 

 geographical area. This is the result of (1) a 

 distinct winter zone of a number of closely spaced 

 circuli, sometimes so close that the zone appears 

 like a broad line around the scale (see winter 



170 



