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Figure 4. -Pink salmon spawning in the intertidal zone of a creek. 



In addition to the commercial uses for pink salmon, 

 Indians and Eskimos along the Arctic coasts take thou- 

 sands of them in traps and gill nets for personal use. 



RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT 



The pink salmon is an important source of high-quality 

 protein and is also a renewable resource— one that can be 

 maintained for future generations if properly used and 

 conserved. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is 

 responsible for tliis use and conservation. 



The foremost aim of the State agency is to get the 

 proper number of spawners into the streams to maintain 

 a high level of production. Management includes regu- 

 lation and enforcement of fishing seasons, areas, and gear. 

 The salmon fishing regulations, which are set during the 

 winter before the fishing season, are based on knowledge 

 of spawning escapements, abundance of young salmon 

 migrating seaward, and estimates of ocean mortality. 



Research biologists ofseveral agencies assist the fishery 

 managers by determining the effects of different numbers 

 of parent spawners on the number of young produced, 

 the factors that cause mortaUties of eggs and fry in the 

 gravel, and the migration paths and mortalities in the 

 estuaries. The 2-year life cycle of pink salmon permits 

 relatively quick answers to studies of their fate at sea and 

 quick response to management. The Bureau of Commer- 

 cial Fisheries has several research stations in Alaska where 

 biologists study factors that affect pink salmon produc- 

 tion in fresh water, in intertidal areas, and along estuarine 

 and coastal migration routes. The headquarters for these 

 investigations is the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 

 Biological Laboratory at Auke Bay near Juneau in south- 

 eastern Alaska. The United States Forest Service and the 

 Alaska Department of Fish and Game are studying the 

 effects of logging on pink salmon production. All ot these 

 research groups are working on the development of 

 techniques for improving and extending spawning grounds 

 for pink salmon. 



