Table 3. --Total run (cofmercial catch plus escapement) of sockeye salmon 

 (thousands of fish) to four inshore fishing districts of Bristol Bay, 1955, 

 1956. 1957, and 1959,- and ratio of each district's stocks to Naknek-Kvichak 

 district stocks. 



Item 



1955 



1956 



1957 



Naknek-Kvichak district 

 Catch 

 Escapement 



Kvichak River 



Alagnak River 



Naknek River 

 Total run 



Nushagak district 

 Catch 

 Escapement 



Wood River 



Igushik River 



Nushagak River 



Snake River 

 Total run 

 Ratio to Naknek-Kvichak stocks 



Egegik district 



Catch 



Escapement 



Total run 



Ratio to Naknek-Kvichak stocks 



Ugashik district 

 Catch 



Escapement 

 Total run 



Ratio to Naknek-Kvichak stocks 



2,564 



4,579 



1.689 



1,055 



1,720 



■^Source: Kasahara (1963, p. 53 and 79). 



2/ 



— Data not available. 



- Unpublished data on file National Marine Fisheries Service, Auke Bay 

 Fisheries Laboratory, Auke Bay, AK 99821. 



-'This figure was deten^ined by subtracting the sum of the Igushik and 

 Nushagak River escapements from 830, the figure given by Kasahara (1963. p. 79} 

 for the total escapement of all river systems 1n Nushagak Bay except the Wood 

 River. 



from the west side of inner Bristol Bay were not ap- 

 preciably mixed with stocks from the east side. Very 

 few fish tagged in the vicinity of Nushagak Bay (sites 

 1-5 in 1956 (Fig. 14) and sites 1-4 in 1959 (Fig. 17) ) 

 were captured in the fishing districts on the east side 

 of the bay or observed in the escapement to river 

 systems on the east side. Few fish tagged on the east 

 side of Bristol Bay were captured in the Nushagak 

 Bay fishery or observed in the escapement to 

 Nushagak Bay river systems (Figs. 13-16). Some mix- 

 ing of Nushagak and Kvichak Bay stocks occurred on 

 the west side of Kvichak Bay between Etolin Point 

 and the outer boundary of the Naknek-Kvichak 



fishing district (Figs. 14, 16, and 17). The observations 

 of tagged fish in the escapements indicated that the 

 mixed stocks on the west side of Kvichak Bay were 

 primarily from the Wood and Kvichak Rivers (Figs. 

 16-18). 



Results of the offshore tagging in 1964 and 1965 

 showed that Ugashik and, to a lesser extent, Egegik 

 sockeye salmon tagged in outer Bristol Bay between 

 long. 158° and 151°W (Fig. 12) were leaving the 

 offshore waters for the coast on the east side of Bristol 

 Bay and the mouths of their home-river systems. Few 

 fish tagged on the west side of Kvichak Bay were 

 taken in the Egegik or Ugashik fishing districts or 

 observed in the spawning escapements of these river 

 systems (Figs. 13, 14, and 16). The area in the middle 

 of inner Bristol Bay between Nushagak and Egegik 

 Bays must be the main migration route of sockeye 

 salmon bound for the Kvichak and Naknek River 

 systems. 



Distribution of Ugashik River Sockeye Salmon 

 in Inner Bristol Bay. — The most extensive tagging of 

 sockeye salmon near the Ugashik River was carried 

 out in 1956 (Fig. 15). Ugashik fish were dominant at 

 sites 16, 18, 19, and 20, whereas Egegik fish were 

 dominant at sites 15 and 17. Most of the sockeye 

 salmon tagged and released south of the entrance to 

 Ugashik Bay were recovered in the Ugashik fishery 

 and escapement. Some sockeye salmon tagged as far 

 north as the outer boundary of the Naknek-Kvichak 

 fishing district were also recovered in the Ugashik 

 fishery in 1955 (Fig. 13) and 1957 (Fig. 16). A small 

 number of sockeye salmon tagged off Middle Bluff in 

 1955 (Fig. 13) and 1956 (Fig. 15) were recovered in the 

 Ugashik fishery and observed in the Ugashik River es- 

 capement. 



When the relative sizes of the sockeye salmon runs 

 to the Naknek-Kvichak, Egegik, and Ugashik fishing 

 districts (Table 3) are considered in viewing the tag 

 recovery distribution, it is apparent that the Ugashik 

 River sockeye salmon were the most abundant stock 

 in the nearshore area between sites 15 and 20 (Fig. 

 15). Although significant numbers of fish tagged at 

 sites 18, 17, and 16 were recovered in the Naknek- 

 Kvichak fishery, relatively few were observed in the 

 escapement of the Naknek and Kvichak River 

 systems (Fig. 15). This suggests that only a small 

 number of fish were actually Naknek and Kvichak 

 River stocks. A large number of these tagged fish were 

 observed in the Egegik and Ugashik River es- 

 capements (Fig. 15), however, which indicates that 

 these fish were predominantly Egegik and Ugashik 

 sockeye salmon. The proportion of Ugashik fish in- 

 creased toward the entrance to Ugashik Bay. The 

 Naknek-Kvichak sockeye salmon run in 1956 was 

 more than 26 times the size of the Ugashik run and 

 almost 8 times that of the Egegik run (Table 3). 



Distribution of Egegik River Sockeye Salmon in 

 Inner Bristol Bay. — Although some Egegik River 



18 



