Figure 6. — Two crevmen in background repiling the gill 

 nets beside the pilot house on the Mitkof . 



passed over the stern, the boat executed a 

 180-degree turn, and the mooring line was 

 attached to a cleat on the bow. The setting 

 operation required 15 to 20 minutes. 



With few exceptions the nets were 

 fished at night from about five in the even- 

 ing to six in the morning, a total period 

 of approximately 13 hours. 



Hauling 



Nets were hauled in over a roller on 

 the starboard side of the well deck. As 

 the nets cleared the powered gurdy, or net- 

 puller (figs. 4 and 5), two crewmen picked 

 the salmon out of the net cind cleared the 

 web. The net was then passed to the stern 

 and re-piled in readiness for the next set 

 (fig. 6). Hauling required two to three 

 hours, depending on the size of the catch 

 and sea conditions. 



Sampling and Preservation of Salmon 



Salmon taken out of the nets during 

 hauling were placed in deck bins in accord- 

 ance with the mesh size from which they were 



removed. They were recorded as to species 

 apparent direction of movement, and depth 

 in the net. Upon completion of hauling, 

 the salmon were tagged with a numbered, 

 colored strap tag which was attached to the 

 left gill cover to provide future identi- 

 fication. Fork length measurements were 

 recorded from a measuring board and the fish 

 were then placed in the freezer for shipment 

 to the Seattle laboratory for detailed mor- 

 phometric examination. 



When possible, blood from live fish 

 was frozen for serological studies. Blood 

 samples were obtained by cutting through 

 the caudal penduncle and allowing the blood 

 to drop into a sterile jar. 



CATCH DATA 



Salmon catches by set, date, position 

 of set, species, and mesh size for the five 

 vessels are shown in tables 1 - 5. In- 

 cluded Eire numbers of hours nets were fished, 

 sea conditions, surface temperatures, inci- 

 dental fish catches, and observations of 

 sea mammals. 



