FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL, 77. NO :i 



fish intermingle extensively with wild fish, it will 

 be difficult to protect wild stocks while maintain- 

 ing high rates of harvest of hatchery fish in the 

 ocean. 



Total Oregon troll and sport catch of coho salm- 

 on in the ocean plus the Columbia River commer- 

 cial catch was only 645,000 fish in 1977. Assuming 

 that 75% are hatchery fish, only 162.000 of the fish 

 originated from natural production. Average an- 

 nual catch of coho salmon by the Oregon troll 

 fishery alone from 1952 to 1956 was 312,000 fish, 

 probably almost all wild fish. The lowest catch 

 over the 5-yr period was 227,000 fish in 1954. This 

 figure excludes fish caught in the ocean by 

 sportsmen and also excludes the Columbia River 

 catch. The average catch from 1952 to 1956 was 

 1.9 times higher than the catch of wild coho salm- 

 on from the combined ocean troll and Columbia 

 River net fisheries in 1977. Yet, the catch of wild 

 fish in the 1950's was considered low enough to 

 warrant closure of commercial gill net fisheries in 

 all Oregon coastal streams to increase the es- 

 capement of wild stocks. The efficient net fisheries 

 of the 1950's were considered a primary threat to 

 the production of wild salmon by some biologists. 

 Recent analyses of marking experiments with 

 coho salmon show some Oregon coastal stocks of 

 hatchery fish with a catch to escapement ratio of 6 

 (Pacific Fishery Management Council 1978). As- 

 suming wild fish are as readily catchable as hatch- 

 ery fish, the effectiveness of the troll and offshore 

 sport fisheries in harvesting coho salmon now ri- 

 vals that of many terminal fisheries. Despite 

 elimination of coastal Oregon net fisheries, abun- 

 dance of wild coho salmon, from all indications of 

 catch and escapement, is at an alltime low. 



The catch of wild fish might be considerably les,"- 

 if it were not for the natural spawning of some 

 hatchery fish and later rearing of their progeny ir 

 streams. The number of wild coho salmon that 

 results from natural spawning of hatchery fish 

 that fail to return to hatcheries is unknown. Con- 

 sidering the large numbers of smolts being re- 

 leased, even a small percentage of straying by 

 returning adults could lead to significant produc- 

 tion in the wild, assuming that the progeny do not 

 differ significantly in fitness from the progeny ot 

 wild parents. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



We thank John D. Mclntyre, Carl B. Schreck 

 James A. Lichatowich, and James D. Hall for of- 



fering valuable comments; Robert Mullin. Robert 

 McQueen, and District Biologists of the Oregon 

 Department of Fish and Wildlife for providing the 

 scales; Stephen Lewis, Malcolm Zirges, and David 

 Loomis for providing unpublished data on the 

 sport and troll fisheries; Norbert Hartmann. 

 David Niess, Allyson Macdonald, and Tumi 

 Toinasson for assistance with the statistics; and 

 Jan Ehmke for typing the manuscript. 



LITERATURE CITED 



AN.\s. R. E.. .A.\'D S. MfR.XI. 



1969. Use of scale characters and a discnnunanl f'uiK'tioii 

 for classifying sockeye salmon iOncorhyruhus ricrkat In 

 continent of origin. Int. North Pac. Fish. Comm. Bull 

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CLUTTER, R. I., AND L. E. WlHTESEL. 



1956. Collection and interpretation of sockeye salmon 

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He.nry, k. a. 



1961. Racial identification of Eraser River sockeye salmon 

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D. H. Bent. 



1975, Statistical package for the social sciences. 2d 

 ed. McGraw-Hill. 675 p. 



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Pa( iFic Fishery Management Colincil, 



1978, Final environmental impact statement and fishen. 

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 Plck.T. H. 



1970. Differentiation of hatchery and stream juvenile coho 

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Phinney. L. a., and M, C, Miller 



1977, StatusofWashington's ocean sport salmon fishery in 

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TaNAKA. S.. M. P, SlIEl'ARD. AND H, T, BiLTON. 



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Van Hyning. j. m. 



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622 



