ODD YEARS 1947-1955 

 EVEN YEARS 1946-1954 



Figure 1. Seasonal occurrence of pink salmon as shown by average daily trap catches 



of difference are apparent. An alternation of 

 cycles exists in which the early runs, those be- 

 fore July 1, are more abundant in even years. 

 From 1946 to 1955, the early trap catch in even 

 years was about 33 percent of the season's total; 

 in odd years about 4 percent. 



Cannerymen of the district and others have 

 long observed and speculated on the small size of 

 pink salmon taken during the early season. These 

 fish vary in average size from 25 to as high as 35 

 per standard 48-pound case, as compared to the 

 general seasonal average of 18 to 25 per case. 

 If the pink salmon found in June were to remain 

 in the fishery until late July, it is quite possible 

 that they would reach the larger size. Whether 

 the fish are small because of the time of the year 

 in which they are captured or because of a distinct 

 racial character is as yet unknown- -it is a matter 

 for further study. 



Description of Tagging Program 



The 1958 tagging program was carried out 

 during most of the commercial fishing season. 

 Salmonfor tagging were captured between June 23 

 and August 3 in commercial traps and by purse 

 seines at sites between False Pass and Ivanof 

 Bay (figure 2). Serially numbered plastic disc 

 tags one-half inch in diameter were attached to 

 the fish with nickel pins at the base of the dorsal 

 fin. Thesetags bore a number, notice of reward, 

 and the address where they were to be returned. 

 To stimulate returns from the commercial fish- 

 ery, tag-return envelopes and posters that de- 

 scribed the program and detailed the information 

 desired were distributed. A reward of one dollar 

 was paid for each tag returned. Canneries in the 



region and Bureau of Commercial Fisheries em- 

 ployees in the field collected tags and paid the 

 rewards. 



To gain information on home stream des- 

 tinations and timing of the runs in relationship to 

 the fishing seasons, a tag recovery program in 

 streams was carried out after the commercial 

 fishing season. 



The tagging experiments are summarized 

 in table 1. The number and percent recovered 

 from commercial fisheries and the personal-use 

 fisheries in Kuskokwim Bay and northward are 

 also shown. 



Separation of local and migratory runs 



Pink salmon runs vary in time of occur- 

 rence and have characteristic peaks of abundance 

 in different sections of the Alaska coast. The 

 characteristics of the Peninsula runs (the long 

 period pink salmon are available to the fishery; 

 two peaks of abundance in even years, and size 

 variations within the season) indicate that the 

 fishery is operating on a complex of races. In 

 particular, it may be argued that pink salmon 

 taken in June are intercepted while en route to 

 other areas. Three points in support of this hy- 

 pothesis can be demonstrated from results of the 

 1958 tagging program. 



1. Returns from individual experiments - 

 For comparison, in figure 3 the percent recovery 

 from each experiment is shown in chronological 

 order of tagging. The percent of tags returned 

 per experiment varies sharply with the time of 

 season. The extremely low recovery of fish from 

 June experiments, which coincide with the first 

 peak of the even-year runs, can be explained only 



