In this sampling we are following the Bristol Bay sockeye 

 salmon through one cycle of 5 years to evaluate the sampling 

 site through years when both the abundance and the oceanic 

 conditions vary. 



Our biologists and oceanographers hypothesize that two 

 populations of maturing Bristol Bay sockeye salmon exist 

 in winter and early spring — one in the Alaskan Gyre 

 (Gulf of Alaska) and the other in the western Subarctic 

 Gyre (western North Pacific Ocean). Sockeye salmon from 

 Bristol Bay presumably travel as far as the western end 



of the Alaskan Stream, which diverges near long. 170° E. 

 One branch of the stream flows north into the Bering Sea, 

 and the other flows south to merge with the Subarctic Current. 



The purpose of the spring cruise in 1968 was to define the 

 distribution of Bristol Bay sockeye salmon in relation to 

 oceanic features at about the time the salmon started their 

 migration inshore. A working hypothesis was tested: that 

 maturing sockeye salmon are associated with certain ocean 

 domains and that their migrations into areas fished by Japan 

 are related to the Alaskan Stream. We were joined in this 

 research by two Japanese research vessels. 



FIGURE 7.— Salmon caught by research vessels are weighed 

 (left), measured (above), and frozen for further study in the 

 laboratory. 



— 6 — 



