as 1,648 pink salmon were tagged. In 1957 

 the overall recovery of tagged red salmon 

 by connnercial gear was 22.1 percent, some- 

 what lower than the avercige for experiments 

 conducted in previous years. The recovery 

 rate of tagged pink Scilmon in the fishery 

 averaged 26.4 percent. 



A new research project undertaken in 

 Cook Inlet this year was a study of the 

 king salmon runs in that area. A survey 

 was maide to learn the distribution and rela- 

 tive magnitude of the spawning runs and the 

 size and age composition of the commercial 

 catch, and to make observations of the 

 personal-use and sport fisheries. 



Shelikof Strait between Uyak and Malina 

 Bays, where, from June to August, some of 

 the major, red, pink, and chum salmon runs 

 occur. More than 30 red salmon and 200 

 pink and chum salmon runs are harvested by 

 the set gill net and seine fisheries that 

 are distributed throughout the Kodiak area. 

 A set gill net and seine fishery of minor 

 proportions for coho and late chum salmon 

 takes place during the fall season. 



A vast increase in seine fishing 

 effort since the early 1950's has been 

 coincident with a sharp decline in the 

 abundance of red and pink salmon. The chun 

 salmon fishery has held relatively stable. 



Streajns along both the east and west 

 sides of Cook Inlet were surveyed aerially 

 and on foot, with the major effort being 

 devoted to the Susitna River and its tribu- 

 taries. The greatest number of king salmon 

 seen in any stream was 221, but the usual 

 order of magnitude was from 5 to 50. To 

 reach their spawning grounds these salmon 

 must pass through the commercial fishery, a 

 personal-use saltwater fishery, a personal- 

 use net fishery in some streams, and final- 

 ly, an active sport fishery. It' is possible 

 that whole runs of king salmon have been 

 destroyed or reduced to the point of near 

 extinction by this extensive fishing pres- 

 sure. 



The total pack of 18,000 cases of red 

 salmon for 1958 is less than one-fifth of 

 the production average for the preceding 

 decade. Reduced runs in the major produc- 

 ing systems, such as Karluk (figure 19), 

 Red River, and Alitak, are largely respon- 

 sible for the decline. However, some im- 

 provement in the Karluk run is expected in 

 1959. 



Karluk Lake red salmon catch and 

 escapement were both greater in 1958 than 

 in 1956 or 1957, the catch being 190,097 

 and the escapement 273,523 fish. The dis- 

 tribution through the season of catch and 

 escapement is shown in figure 20. 



Kodiak 



Kodiak' s salmon trap fishery is con- 

 centrated in Alitak Bay and on the west 

 sides of Kodiak and Afognak Islands in 



The pink salmon pack of 254,000 cJises 

 is well ahead of the parent cycle year 

 (figure 21) but is barely two-thirds of the 



°">f|Wff»^^^ 



Figure 19. --Red salmon catch Karluk 



district. 



Figure 20. --Seasonal diitribution of Kail<ik 

 red salmon catch and escapement, 

 1958. 



15 



