CHUM SALMON 



Figures 33-70 



The tagging effort for chum salmon and the tagging 

 locations of chum salmon subsequently recovered in 

 coastal areas are illustrated in Figures 33 and 34. The 

 distribution of tagging locations and the inshore 

 recovery areas were much broader than those for 

 sockeye salmon and demonstrate the wide range of 

 oceanic distribution and spawning areas for this 

 species; spawning stocks of chum salmon are the most 

 widely distributed of all the Pacific salmon. Although 

 the tag recoveries illustrate the extensive distribution 

 for chum salmon at sea, the limits of destribution are 

 known to be even wider, extending to the Arctic 

 Ocean in the north and in the south to about lat. 40° N 

 in the western Pacific and lat. 44° N in the eastern 

 Pacific Ocean and over much of the Okhotsk Sea and 

 Sea of Japan (Shepard et al. 1968). 



Coastal Recoveries in Year Tagged 



Asian stocks (Figs. 35-46). — The distribution of 

 maturing chum salmon from Asian streams (Fig. 35) 

 extends over much of the total ocean range for chum 

 salmon. This extensive ocean distribution parallels 

 the abundance of Asian chum salmon relative to the 

 more restricted distribution and lesser abundance of 

 chum salmon in North America. Abundance of Asian 

 stocks was about four times that of North American 

 stocks for the period 1954-62, based on commercial 

 catches of chum salmon (average catch of 36.7 million 

 chum salmon in Asia and 9.2 million in North 

 America [Shepard et al. 1968]). The only areas not oc- 

 cupied by Asian chum salmon appear to be waters 

 near the coast of North America. 



Some differences in distribution of stocks from 

 various subareas of Asia will be evident in the follow- 

 ing discussions. 



Japan and Kurile Islands. — Catch statistics in- 

 dicate that chum salmon produced in these areas form 

 a rather small proportion of the total Asian produc- 

 tion. Shepard et al. (1968) reported that for the period 

 1946-54 less than 15% of the Asian coastal catch came 

 from the Japanese Islands, Sakhalin Island, and some 

 smaller producing areas of the USSR. Of these islands 

 largest numbers of chum salmon are produced in 

 Hokkaido. 



Tag recoveries show that at least some chum 

 salmon from Honshu, Hokkaido, and the Kurile 

 Islands migrate extensive distances to the east during 

 their life at sea (Figs. 36-38). Each subarea was 

 represented by recoveries from as far east as the 

 northeastern Pacific, and fish tagged as far east as 

 about long. 141°W were recovered in Hokkaido and 

 the Kurile Islands. Most recoveries were from near the 

 Aleutian Islands, the western Pacific Ocean, and the 

 Bering Sea. By far, the greatest number of recoveries 

 were from Hokkaido. As pointed out by Shepard et al. 



(1968), the number of recoveries in Hokkaido is far out 

 of proportion to the commercial catch in Hokkaido 

 relative to the number of tag recoveries in areas of 

 much greater chum salmon production such as coastal 

 areas of the Okhotsk Sea and Kamchatka. These 

 authors attribute the large number of recoveries to an 

 intense commercial fishery and close examination of 

 the escapement in the artificial propagation program 

 in Hokkaido. 



Sakhalin Island, western and northern Okhotsk 

 Sea coast. — This region accounts for the greatest 

 proportion of Asian chum salmon, producing in excess 

 of 50% of the total commercial catch in Asia for the 

 period 1946-53 (Shepard et al. 1968). The important 

 Amur River run, alone, produced approximately 30% 

 of the total catch in this period. 



The ocean distribution of chum salmon from this 

 region varied to some degree by subarea. Amur River 

 fish appeared to have the most limited distribution 

 with returns restricted to the western North Pacific, 

 well south of the Aleutian Islands (Fig. 39). Chum 

 salmon from Shelekhova Bay were similarly dis- 

 tributed according to the tag returns, but two returns 

 also came from near the Aleutian Islands (Fig. 41). 

 Fish from the western and northern coast of the 

 Okhotsk Sea were found in the same areas as the 

 Amur River and Shelekhova Bay chum salmon but 

 were also distributed farther east with a number of 

 returns coming from off the western and central 

 Aleutians (Fig. 41). Sakhalin Island chum salmon 

 appeared to have the most extensive distribution of 

 this group, with tag returns from as far east as long. 

 155°W and from the eastern Bering Sea (Fig. 40). 



Kamchatka. — Kamchatka is also an important 

 chum salmon producing area and contributed about a 

 third of the Asian commercial catch for the period 

 1946-53 (Shepard et al. 1968). The tagging locations of 

 inshore recoveries to Kamchatka demonstrate that 

 the ocean distribution of these stocks is extensive 

 (Figs. 42-44). Returns came from as far east as the 

 central Gulf of Alaska and eastern and central Bering 

 Sea but most were from waters along the Aleutian 

 Islands. This relatively high proportion of tags from 

 near the Aleutians may only reflect greater tagging ef- 

 forts in these waters, however. Distribution from 

 south to north was also extensive, ranging from near 

 lat. 42°N in the Pacific Ocean to about lat. 59°N in 

 the Bering Sea. 



Karaginskii to Anadyr River. — Chum salmon 

 from the northern coast of the USSR become widely 

 distributed at sea like many of the other Asian stocks 

 (Figs. 45, 46). Most of the returns came from the 

 North Pacific Ocean between the central Aleutian 

 Islands and central Gulf of Alaska. Unlike most other 

 Asian chum salmon, they did not appear to inhabit 

 waters south of the Aleutians in the western North 



28 



