CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction '■ 



Sockeye salmon research at Chignik, Alaska 1 



The watershed 2 



The climate 3 



History of the commercial fishery 3 



Cannery operations 3 



Fishing gear 3 



Fishing regulations 6 



Catch trend 6 



Catches and escapements of the Chignik sockeye salmon runs, 1888-1966 7 



Catches and escapements 7 



Catch records ' 



Escapement records ' 



Catches, escapements, and total runs by stock 8 



Estimated migration times and delays between fishery, lagoon, and weir 8 



Travel time between Cape Kumlik and Chignik Lagoon 9 



Travel time between Chignik Lagoon and Chignik weir 9 



Separation of stocks by time of entry 10 



Calculation of catches and escapements by stock 11 



Summary 12 



Literature cited 12 



Figures 



1. Map of the Chignik River watershed with inset of western Alaska 2 



2. Percentages of catches of sockeye salmon taken by trap, seine, and gill net, 1932-66 5 



3. Open-closed fishing periods, 1895-1966 5 



4. Trends in fishing effort and catch of sockeye salmon per unit of effort at Chignik, 1900-66 6 



5. Commercial catches of sockeye salmon at Chignik, 1895-1966 6 



6. Commercial catches of sockeye salmon in the Nushagak district, 1893-1966 7 



7. Trend in the ratio of escapement to catch for Chignik sockeye salmon, 1922-66 8 



8. Numbers of tagged sockeye salmon recovered at Chignik from day 1 to 5 after release of fish tagged 



at Aniakchak Bay 9 



9. Numbers of days between release and passage through the Chignik River weir for sockeye salmon 

 tagged and released immediately below the weir 9 



10. Numbers of days between release and passage through the Chignik River weir for sockeye salmon 

 tagged and released at Chignik Lagoon 10 



1 1 . Patterns of time of entry for tagged Black Lake and Chignik Lake sockeye salmon, 1962-66 11 



12. Calculated catches of Chignik Lake and Black Lake sockeye salmon, 1895-1966, based on time of 



entry of the stocks in recent years 15 



13. Catch trends for Chignik Lake and Black Lake, 1895-1966, smoothed by a moving average of 5 15 



14. Escapement trends for Chignik Lake, Black Lake, and combined stocks, 1922-66, smoothed by a 

 moving average of 5 15 



15. Trends in total run for Chignik Lake, Black Lake, and combined stocks, 1922-66, smoothed by a 

 moving average of 5 15 



Tables 



1. Morphometric measurements of Chignik and Black lakes and Chignik Lagoon 3 



2. Recapitulation of types of fishing gear and catches of sockeye salmon by gear, fishing seasons, fishing 

 regulations, and numbers of days fished at Chignik, 1895-1966 4 



3. Long-term changes in abundance of Chignik sockeye salmon 7 



4. Estimated escapements of sockeye salmon at Chignik, Alaska, for those years in which weir counts 



either were not available or were unreliable 8 



