SALMON MIGRATIONS IN SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA 

 Wallace H. Noerenberg 



A salmon tagging program conducted off the 

 west coast of Prince of Wales Island in southeast- 

 ern Alaska in 1957 and 1958 was planned primarily 

 to determine destinations and migration routes 

 of the runs of pink (Oncorhynchua gorbuscha ) and 

 red salmon (O. nerka)that are intercepted by the 

 fishery in the vicinity of Noyes Island. The tag- 

 ging was done by the Fisheries Researchlnstitute 

 of the University of Washington under contract to 

 the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. The area 

 studied is the region referred to by the Bureau of 

 Commercial Fisheries as the West Coast Manage- 

 ment District (figure 1). 



This report comprises only preliminary 

 general summaries of the release and return of 

 the tagged fish and some interpretation of results . 

 Detailed analysis of the data has just been started. 



The timing and abundance of pink salmon 

 runs at Noyes Island have been variable and, at 

 times, apparently unrelated to the appearance of 

 runs in adjacent inshore areas of southeastern 

 Alaska. Catches of pink salmon at Noyes Island 

 nearly always remain low throughout the early 

 seine season (July). The general open season 

 for the use of seines and traps begins during the 

 last week of July, but catches usually do not be- 

 come large until mid-August. The peak of the 

 catch generally occurs during the last two weeks 

 of August, following which the fishing season is 

 closed. 



In contrast to the usual situation, the 1957 

 run of pink salmon at Noyes Island occurred very 

 early in the season and was unusually heavy. Peak 

 catches were made during the last week of July 



and the first week of August. Owing to excep- 

 tionally calm weather and poor runs elsewhere in 

 southeastern Alaska, almost the whole southeast- 

 ern Alaska seine fleet appeared at Noyes Island 

 during this period. In 1958 pink salmon catches 

 were unusually poor at Noyes Island throughout 

 the season, although a small peak occurred in 

 mid-August. Scarcity of fish and poor weather 

 limited the activity of seine boats. The atypical 

 character of the pink salmon runs of the two years 

 should be considered in assessing results of the 

 tagging. 



Location and extent of tagging 



The West Coast Management District has 

 been divided into two sections for the purpose of 

 summarizing the tagging results in this report. 

 The "outer section" consists of the west coasts 

 of Noyes, Baker, Suemez, and Dall Islands and 

 includes tagging locations at Cape Ulitka, Roller 

 Bay, Cape Addington, and Granite Point. The 

 "inner section" consists of all waters of the dis- 

 trict east of the outer section and includes the 

 tagging locations at Point Desconocida, Tranquil 

 Point, Ruth Bay, and McLeod Bay. These loca- 

 tions are shown in figure 1. 



The principal sources of fish for tagging in 

 both 1957 and 1958 were two salmon traps on the 

 north shore of Noyes Island at Cape Addington and 

 Cape Ulitka. Additional tagging was done during 

 the early seine fishery in the vicinity of these 

 same capes on Noyes Island and at Granite Point, 

 Baker Island, in 1958, and from other salmon 

 traps in both years. 



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