ABSTRACT 



Distribution of salmon on the high seas in the North Pacific Ocean 

 was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service during the summer 

 and early fall of 1955. Three vessels conducted extensive gill -net operations 

 over a 3-1/2 month period in the Gulf of Alaska and in the offshore waters 

 south of the Aleutian Islands and the Alaska Peninsula, with a limited amount 

 of fishing off the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Results 

 showed that the several species of North American salmon and the steelhead 

 trout were widely distributed in the open ocean at that time of year and could 

 be sampled readily with surface gill nets. 



Salmon were caught at all stations occupied from off northern Vancouver 

 Island across the Gulf of Alaska as far west as Unalaska Island. Catches farther 

 west and in more southerly waters revealed an apparent southern limit for high- 

 seas salmon at about 47° N. latitude in the area of major operation. South of 

 thi s line in the warmer waters albacore replaced salmon in the gill -net catches. 



Length measurements of all salmon were taken aboard the vessels and 

 are presented graphically according to species and by mesh size. 



