FISHERY iit'LLETIN: VOL. 70. NO. I 



In the Aleutian Islands a number of scale 

 types may be found. One type from Attn Island 

 is similar to that of Asian fish: a small fresh- 

 water zone with few, often broken and irregular 

 circuli. The first ocean zone of these Attu fish 

 has evenly spaced, often broken circuli, but usu- 

 ally fewer circuli than the Asian fish. Another 

 tj^pe, found in Unalaska Island samples in some 

 years, has a larger freshwater zone with more 

 iirculi, like Bristol Bay fish (see submode at 

 17-18 circuli in column 8 of Table 4). A third 

 type in both Adak and Unalaska Islands (see 

 column 7 and primary mode in column 8 of Table 

 4) samples, has a large freshwater zone with 

 numerous circuli like the Fish Creek sockeye 

 salmon (these are pictured in Plate 8). Fish 

 from Adak Island tend to have fewer circuli in 

 the first ocean zone than fish from other areas. 

 As noted above, the numbers of fish produced in 

 the Aleutian Islands are very small, consequently 

 these scale types are included here only to provide 

 a complete series of age 1. scales. 



Scales from Chignik, Kodiak Island, and most 

 streams in Cook Inlet have moderately small 

 freshwater zones with relatively few circuli (ex- 

 cept those from Fish Creek, Plate 8) , often with 

 plus growth. Generally most of the fish from 

 Kodiak Island are of ages 2. and 3. The first 

 ocean zone of the fish from Chignik to Cook Inlet 

 has a few more circuli on the average than do 

 scales from Bristol Bay fish; moreover, the cir- 

 culi are closer together and more uniformly 

 spaced. The position of the widest circuli, if 

 present, varies considerably in fish of this area 

 group but often is near the following winter zone 

 like many of the Asian fish. 



Copper River to Southeastern Alaska 

 (Plate 6; Tables 4 and 5) 



The Copper River is the only river of signifi- 

 cant production of sockeye salmon in this large 

 geographical area; however, there are many 

 streams that provide small numbers of fish to 

 make a substantial total. The commercial catch 

 for 1966 for subdivisions of this area follow (In- 

 ternational North Pacific Fisheries Commission, 

 1966): 



Area 



Copper River 

 Yakutat 

 Southeastern Alaska 



Thousands of fish 



1,005.6 

 184.4 

 868.7 



Fish of age 1. predominate here every year. 

 Most fish from these areas are quite similar in 

 both freshwater and first ocean circuli. The 

 freshwater zone is small with few circuli. The 

 freshwater zone of many fish taken near Peters- 

 burg and Ketchikan is very frnnll with very few 

 circuli, similar to that of the Rivers Inlet fish, 

 but there are differences in the first ocean zone 

 that distinguish Rivers Inlet .scales. Most fresh- 

 water circuli of all fish of the^e areas are broken, 

 irregular, crowded together, and poorly marked. 

 Some scales show plus growth. 



The first ocean zone of fish from these areas 

 has a few more circuli on the average than do 

 scales from Chignik or Coo;;. Inlet. Circuli are 

 usually irregular but evenly .spaced; generally 

 there is no area of wider circuli but sometimes 

 there are a few wider circuli in two or more 

 places in the first ocean zone. Adventitious 

 checks (false winter marks) may also be present 

 in the ocean zones. Thus some of these scales 

 may be difficult to use for determination of age 

 and racial origin. 



British Columbia and the Columbia River 

 (Plate 7, Tables 4 and 5) 



This is also an area of riigh production of 

 sockeye salmon. The yearly total for British 

 Columbia varies, but it is etlher first or second 

 to Bristol Bay in the total for North America. 

 Average catches (from Aro and Shepard, 1967) 

 for the major areas of British Columbia are as 

 follows: 



Relatively few sockeye salmon are produced in 

 the Columbia River (see Table 1). Fish of age .1 



172 



