PACIFIC SALMON 



57 



the fishing gear at other times of the year 

 or at the same time but in various immature 

 stages. They are encountered first at Swift- 

 sure Banks, the outermost fishing ground 

 for purse-seining, and thereafter are taken 

 throughout the fishing areas. 



Proceeding to the parent river, the 

 Fraser, they migrate upstream approxi- 

 mately 70 miles and enter a tributary, the 

 Vedder River, into which, eight to 10 miles 

 above, the parent tributary from Cultus 

 Lake flows. Into this latter they turn and 

 at length reach the lake. Although as close 

 watch for marked sockeye as facilities per- 

 mitted was made in other spawning areas of 

 the Fraser River system, no record of such 

 occurring was obtained. It would seem, 

 then, that the return of these fish was closely 

 confined to Cultus Lake. 



Evidence to support the lack of wander- 

 ing of sockeye is indicated by the fact that 

 in the two years, 1932 and 1933, when two 

 of the age-groups, three and four, four and 

 five, respectively, consisted of marked indi- 

 viduals, but very few unmarked fish were 

 taken, except those of the age-group which 

 had not been marked. These few might 

 readily be accounted for as individuals 

 which had escaped marking or had been 

 spawned and reared in the stream below the 

 weir. If wandering of returning adult sock- 

 eye were general, if no parent stream ten- 

 dency prevailed, the occurrence of a sizable 

 number of unmarked fish of the principal 

 age-group in each of the two years would 

 have been expected. 



Discussion 



The tagging of spring salmon has shown : 

 (1) that individuals of this species may 

 travel long distances in a southeastward 

 direction along the coast before entering 

 streams to spawn; (2) that there is a larger 

 percentage of younger fish off Barkley 

 Sound than off Kyuquot or Quatsino 

 Sounds, and (3) that a higher percentage 

 of the tagged fish went to the Columbia 

 River from the west coast of Vancouver 

 Island than from the west coast of the Queen 

 Charlotte Islands. 



These facts, together with the results of 

 marking seaward migrating young spring 



salmon on the Columbia River which dem- 

 onstrated a definite return to the natal 

 streams, have led to the hypothesis that the 

 young salmon on entering the sea from the 

 various rivers along the coast move north- 

 westw^ard for the most part. This movement 

 may be termed a dispersal or feeding migra- 

 tion. With the approach of sexual maturity 

 a reversal in behavior takes place and the 

 fish travel southeastward to spawn in the 

 various streams which presumably are their 

 natal streams. The above hypothesis ap- 

 pears justifiable on the data available until 

 such time as it is possible to substantiate or 

 disprove it by a large-scale marking pro- 

 gram follow^ed by an attempt to secure 

 marked fish in the offshore fishing areas and 

 to tag and subsequently recover them in 

 streams. 



In the case of sockeye salmon the picture 

 is clearer in some respects and less clear in 

 others. Marking experiments at Cultus 

 Lake have shown a definite return to the 

 natal stream. Tagging in offshore areas has 

 not been possible and hence distribution and 

 movements in these areas are unknown. 

 However there is certain other information 

 available that is pertinent. From the re- 

 sults of the examinations of the scales of 

 approximately 1,000 fish from each of the 

 Fraser, Skeena and Nass Rivers and Rivers 

 Inlet runs over the past 25 years, it is clear 

 that the sockeye populations of these four 

 main river systems tend to maintain their 

 identities. For example, the Nass River 

 sockeye spend two years in fresh water for 

 the most part and this residence is indicated 

 by double central areas on the scales. The 

 average representation of the 53 age-class in 

 the Nass River over the above period of time 

 has been 67 per cent. On the Skeena River 

 the 53 age-class has averaged only 9 per cent. 

 Since the central area of the scale is laid 

 down during residence in fresh water and 

 not altered during life in the sea, the dif- 

 ferences could not be maintained if there 

 were complete interchange between these 

 neighboring populations. The scale charac- 

 teristics of the Rivers Inlet fish indicate an 

 equally distinct population. Since the 

 movements of sockeye salmon in the coastal 

 waters are still largely unknown, the extent 



