small advantage of the lower one -third over 

 the middle one -third of the nets could be due to 

 observational error and probably should not be 

 considered significant. 



Vitality of gill -net caught salmon 



Most of the salmon caught in the gill 

 nets were dead when landed. Condition of the 

 fish was directly related to the state of the sea. 

 In rough weather many salmon had most of 

 their scales removed by the chafing action of 

 the nets, and the increased strain on the gear 

 caused the nylon meshes to grip the fish more 

 tightly, resulting in cuts and abrasions of the 

 skin and flesh and often making it necessary to 

 cut the mesh in order to release the fish with- 

 out further damage. 



From table 4 it may be seen that 77 per- 

 cent of the salmon caught by the John N . Cobb 

 were dead when landed. The percentage of 

 reds alive was about twice that for any other 

 species (43 percent as compared to the average 

 of 23 percent). The reason for this apparent 

 greater tenacity of life of the red salmon was 

 not clear. They may struggle less in the nets; 

 this was indicated by the observation that the 

 reds in general were less de-scaled than the 

 other species. Swimming habits might be 

 responsible, if, for some reason, the reds 

 entered the nets more often in the early morn- 

 ing just before the gear was hauled. 



Of the total 23 percent of live gill -net - 

 caught salmon 13 percent, or 311 fish, were 

 tagged and released after being held for a while 

 in a live box. Many others died shortly after 

 being removed from the net. In addition to the 

 72 red salmon tagged, 45 live reds which could 

 have been tagged were saved for blood samples. 

 Seventeen silvers and two pinks caught trolling 

 were tagged and released. The small number 

 of tag returns from the gill -net -caught fish (3 

 returns reported to March 1956) is insufficient 

 for any good indication of the number of tagged 

 fish which survived. 



Seasonal composition of gill -net catches 



Table 5 presents information on the com- 

 position of the John N. Cobb's salmon catches 



during the several months of operation. The 

 fishing effort was concentrated during July and 

 August, and these two months produced the bulk 

 of the catch. During July the catch per shackle 

 was greatest. It should be remembered that the 

 vessel moved over a wide area and that the 

 species composition was undoubtedly affected 

 by area fished in addition to time of fishing. 



Reds were dominant in the small catch 

 made during June, composing 53 percent of the 

 total. Pinks and chums increased in July and 

 August, and by September chums made up 95 

 percent of the catch. In July and early August 

 when the catch of red salmon was highest, the 

 fishing was mainly in the western Gulf and south 

 of the Alaska Peninsula out to Dutch Harbor. 

 The large catches of pinks and chums in late 

 August and September were made in the eastern 

 half of the Gulf of Alaska . 



Three positions were fished a second 

 time after a 2-month interval with identical 

 amounts of gill nets. These stations were in the 

 eastern Gulf of Alaska, on a line between Cape 

 Spencer and Kodiak . They were fished first in 

 early July (sets 9-11) and again in early Septem- 

 ber (sets 44-46), with good catches each time. 

 Red and pink salmon, which were caught in fair 

 numbers at each of these stations in July, dis- 

 appeared entirely from the catches made in 

 September. Almost the entire catch at all three 

 stations in September was chum salmon. At two 

 of the three stations the chum catch was greater 

 in September than in July . 



Mitkof and Paragon 



The Mitkof and Paragon operated mainly 

 in the offshore waters south of the Aleutian Is- 

 lands and Alaska Peninsula, with 26 gill -net 

 stations by the Mitkof and 26 stations by the 

 Paragon being completed, as shown in figure 1 3 

 and tables 6 and 7. The westernmost stations 

 south of the outer Aleutian Island chain between 

 175° E. longitude and 175° W. longitude were 

 fished by the Paragon, with one additional station 

 being taken on the homeward trip to Seattle at 

 station number 37 south of the central Gulf of 

 Alaska. The Mitkof series of stations, east of, 

 but overlapping, the rectangular fishing area of 

 the Paragon, ranged from 175° W. longitude to 



15 



