SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 



Data are presented which show that there 

 is little difference, if any, in the timing, 

 distribution, and form of constituent spawning 

 groups in the Kvichak River escapement. Red 

 salmon in the Kvichak-Naknek fishery main- 

 tained their chronological order of appearance 

 during their migration through the trunk river. 

 Virtually without exception the pattern of 

 recovery from individual spawning groups was 

 similar to that of the escapement. Possible 

 segregation of spawning groups in time of 

 occurrence in the fishery may therefore be 

 studied in the escapement past Igiugig on the 

 upper Kvichak River. 



Although segregation of groups by time of 

 occurrence appears impossible, some groups 

 that spawn in deep or glacial waters may 

 have been missed on the spawning grounds. 

 Koo and Smith (1960) concluded that differences 

 in fresh-water age composition between 

 samples from the Kvichak River and those 

 from the spawning grounds were due to diffi- 

 culties in obtaining representative samples 

 from the spawning grounds. Because this may 

 have been caused by the omission of certain 

 groups on the spawning grounds, they may have 

 also been missed during tag recovery. Until all 

 spawning grounds in the system are delineated, 

 this problem will persist; though in view of 

 the nature of groups studied here, there is 

 little likelihood that missing groups would 

 be segregated in time of passage into the 

 system. 



Distinctive features of spawning groups as 

 they pass Igiugig, and hence as they occur in 

 the fishery, are far too vague to be of value in 

 managing the runs. Tests of high sensitivity 

 in the future may provide a means of differenti- 

 ating at least the larger groups while they are 

 in the fishery. 



For the present, those responsible for 

 managing the runs must strive for population 

 levels most desirable for the system as a 

 whole. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



William F. Thompson, Professor Emeritus, 

 and first Director of the Fisheries Research 



20 



Institute provided guidance during the first 2 

 years of this study. C. Dale Becker, John R. 

 Gilbert, Donald R. Heinle, Orra E. Kerns, Jr., 

 Lloyd A. Phinney, and D. W. Linn have con- 

 tributed greatly to the accomplishments re- 

 ported here, and Oren B. Hudson of Iliamna, 

 Alaska, has consistently and unselfishly given 

 his time and service. 



LITERATURE CITED 



BECKER, CLARENCE DALE. 



1962. Estimating red salmon escapements 

 by sample counts from observation 

 towers. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 Fishery Bulletin 192, vol. 61, p. 355-369. 



BUREAU OF COMMERCIAL FISHERIES, 

 ALASKA REGION. 



1958. Progress report on Alaska fisheries 

 management and research, 1957. U.S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service, Special Scien- 

 tific Report— Fisheries No. 258, 23 p. 



KOO, TED S. Y., and HOWARD D. SMITH. 

 1960. Main-stem and tributary sampling of 

 red salmon scales for population 

 studies. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 Special Scientific Report — Fisheries 

 No. 362, 10 p. 



ORRELL, RUSSELL F., and ROBERT L. 

 DEMORY. 

 1962. Kvichak salmon studies, 1961 spawn- 

 ing ground studies. University of Wash- 

 ington, Fisheries Research Institute, 

 Circular No. 164, 19 p. 



THOMPSON, RICHARD B. 



1960. Capturing tagged red salmon with 

 pulsed direct current. U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service, Special Scientific 

 Report — Fisheries No. 355, 10 p. 



THOMPSON, WILLIAM F. 



1959. An approach to population dynamics 

 of the Pacific red salmon. Transactions 

 of the American Fisheries Society, vol. 

 88, no. 3, p. 206-209. 



U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS. 



1957. Harbors and rivers in southwestern 

 Alaska. Report of the Chief of Engineers, 

 Department of the Army, House Docu- 

 ment No. 390, 84th Congress, 2d Session, 

 89 p. 



MS #1088 



GP 86 5-28 4 



