History of the Fishery and Summary Statistics of 



the Sockeye Salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka, Runs to 



the Chignik Lakes, Alaska, 1888-1966 



MICHAEL L. DAHLBERG' 



ABSTRACT 



Annual runs of sockeye salmon to the Chignik Lakes, Alaska, decreased from an average of 1.9 

 million during the period 1922-39 to an average of 0.9 million during the period 1919-f)(>. In order to 

 study the dynamics of the runs' historic catch, escapement and age structure data were compiled by 

 spawning stock and brood year. The history of fishing and management of the runs from inception of 

 the fishery until 19fi() is described. The high seas and coastal distributions of Chignik sockeye salmon 

 indicated significant interception by the fishery in only one area other than the Chignik Bay and 

 Chignik Lagoon: the fishery at Cape Igvak started in the mid-1960's. Results of the study were used to 

 construct parent-progeny relationships that formed the basis for a management strategy to restore the 

 runs to their former level of abundance. 



INTRODUCTION 



One approach to restoring sockeye salmon stocks' to 

 their former levels of abundance is to precisely regulate 

 the harvest of each major race (Royce 1964). According to 

 Ployce (1960), such a course requires that the manage- 

 ment agency 1) can define and recognize each major 

 race' of salmon, 2) has accurate statistics on catch and 

 escapement, 3) can forecast the returns accurately, 4) 

 knows the number of spawners needed for maintenance, 

 and 5) is aware of the gear and time needed to harvest the 

 desired number of salmon. The management agency does 

 not have all this knowledge for any race of salmon in 

 Alaska, but information has become available on the 

 stocks of one sockeye salmon-producing system of west- 

 ern Alaska, the Chignik River system, from which it can 

 formulate a management strategy based on precise regu- 

 lation of the harvest. 



In this paper, historic catch and escapement statistics 

 are presented for each of the two major stocks of sockeye 

 salmon in the Chignik River system. Current statistics 

 have been routinely published and are later cited. 



Sockeye Salmon Research at Chignik, Alaska 



The potential of the Chignik watershed for controlled 

 studies of the life history of sockeye salmon was 



'Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Center Auke Bay Laborator>', Na- 

 tional Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, P.O. Box 155. Auke Bay, AK 

 99821. 



-Stock refers to each aggregation that can be managed separately 

 (Ricker 1966): run, as defmed by Mathews (1966), signifies the total 

 number of mature sockeye salmon entering the watershed in 1 yr (catch 

 plus escapement). 



^Race, the same as stock; see above. 



'Returns refers to the total number of mature progeny produced by 

 one spawning, regardless of the time of return. 



recognized early in the development of salmon research 

 in Alaska (Gilbert and O'Malley 1921). Parallel studies 

 of the life history of sockeye salmon were started by the 

 U.S. Bureau of Fisheries at Karluk in 1921 and at 

 Chignik in 1922 with the main purpose of ascertaining 

 "what relation exists between spawning colonies of vary- 

 ing size and the number of progeny that they furnish" 

 (Gilbert 1929). The Karluk and Chignik Rivers were 

 selected because it was believed the fishery operated 

 solely on fish bound lor these particulair watersheds. 



In 1928 the complexities of the life cycle and dynamics 

 of the sockeye salmon populations of Chignik were 

 brought to light, and intensive study of the freshwater 

 life history of the Chignik sockeye salmon began (Higgins 

 1930). Considerable progress was made in determining 

 the pattern of the life history of Chignik sockeye salmon 

 and the relationship between the numbers of spawners 

 and returning progeny (Holmes 1934). However, in 1934 

 research was drastically reduced because of budget re- 

 strictions, and the only activity was collection of scales 

 for later study (Higgins 1936). A fish-counting weir was 

 first erected in Chignik River in 1922 to estimate the 

 escapement. The counting weir was not maintained in 

 1938, from 1940 through 1948, and in 1951. Each year 

 since 1952 a weir has been in operation to count the 

 escapement; because of turbid water and lack of ade- 

 quate sites, counting towers used in the Bristol Bay dis- 

 trict are not feasible at Chignik. 



Tagging studies were conducted at Chignik by the 

 Fisheries Research Institute (FRI), University of Wash- 

 ington, in 1949 and 1952, and a research program funded 

 by the Chignik salmon canning industry began in 1955. 

 From 1955 to 1960 the research program consisted of 

 studies of the age composition of the runs, annual 

 enumeration of smolts, and an investigation of predation 

 on juvenile salmon by Dolly Varden, Salvelinus malma, 



