district. Adverse weather conditions made 

 it difficult to estimate the escapement in 

 that area; however, a late survey indicated 

 an escapement of about 70,000 fish. The 

 catch, effort, and escapement estimates for 

 the major river systems are shown in figure 

 29. 



The estimated 1958 total run of about 

 five jind one-half million red salmon was 

 below expectations, and the overall outlook 

 indicates no improvement in 1959. 



It is expected that the total run to 

 the Naknek-Kvichak district will be between 

 one and three million fish. A study of 

 past escapement figures and of information 

 that is available on 1956 and 1957 smolt 

 outmigrations for the Egegik and Ugashik 

 systems points to runs of fewer than one 

 million red salmon to each of these dis- 

 tricts. 



For the Nusheigak system there are more 

 data on which to base forecasts of return- 

 ing runs. Analyses of these data are not 

 yet complete. General escapement figures 

 alone, however, indicate that the red salmcn 

 run to the Nushagak River in 1959 should be 

 at least as good as the run in 1958. 



This year's Nushagak king salmon 

 catch of 85,219 fish was the highest since 

 1929 (figure 30). To offset rising effort 

 and maintain adequate escapement, fishing 

 time was curtailed to four days a week dur- 

 ing the Nushagak king salmon season. Also, 

 gill net depth was standardized at 28 meshes 

 to prevent use of overly deep nets. 



An unexpected bonus on the Nushagak 

 fishery was the abundance of pink salmon 

 during and after the latter part of the red 

 salmon season. Approximately 60,000 cases 

 of pink salmon were packed, and at least 

 800,000 fish spawned upstream in the Nusha- 

 gak and Nuyakuk Rivers. Because of the 

 selectivity of gill nets, the catch con- 

 sisted predominantly of large males, which 



Figure 29. --Catch, effort, and escapement, 

 Bristol Bay. 



Figure 30. --Nushagak king salmon catch. 



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