Table 1. --Distribution of 1957 recoveries from days of tagging, Kvichak River system 



■"■ Recoveries in part or in whole known to be from personal -use fisheries. 



^ Does not include 24- tags recovered at or below Igiugig and 3 returned after analysis was completed. 



semiliterate. Their understanding of the im- 

 portance of accurate data is vague, and un- 

 doubtedly some of their records showing where 

 tags were recovered are in error. It is not 

 possible to determine the extent of errors of 

 this sort, but certainly confusion was most 

 likely between data from adjoining areas. 

 Since these have generally been consolidated 

 where confusion might arise, the remaining 

 recoveries are believed to be insufficient to 

 affect the data. 



If fishing effort is not constant, the distribu- 

 tional pattern of recoveries can reflect effort 

 and not, strictly speaking, abundance from each 

 period of tagging. This, a more serious source 



of error, will occur if the chronological order 

 of arrival at Igiugig is preserved at personal- 

 use recovery points on the lakes, since tags 

 should then be taken there in proportion to the 

 daily abundance on days of tagging. 



Certainly personal-use effort may vary in 

 accordance with the need and the abundance of 

 fish. Each family must catch a certain number 

 of fish to satisfy winter requirements. If fish 

 are plentiful needs may be satisfied early and 

 effort will decline toward the end of the run, 

 but if fish are not plentiful, effort may be 

 intensified late in the season to make up the 

 deficit. General fishing conditions, the amount 

 of gear available, and the number of people 



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