Table 6 (page 11) is a summary by 

 vessels of the total salmon catch by species 

 and mesh size, total number and types of 

 gill net sets, the average number of hours 

 nets were fished, and the catch of salmon 

 per set. 



The Tordenskjold operated in the east- 

 ern Bering Sea and Bristol Bay (fig. 1) 

 from May 24 to September 21 with two periods 

 (June 2 6 to July 23 and August 15 to Septem- 

 ber 10) spent in king crab studies in the 

 eastern Bering Sea. A total of 36 night and 

 1 day set weis made by the Tordenskjold with 

 salmon catches ranging from 1 to 987 fish. 



The Mitkof operated in central Bering 

 Sea and in the North Pacific Ocean, south 

 of the western Aleutians (fig. 1). Fishing 

 extended from May 16 to September 16. A 

 total of 41 night sets were made with salmon 

 catches ranging from 2 to 323 fish. 



The Paragon operated in the area south 

 of the Alaska Peninsula and the eastern 

 Aleutians (fig. 1) and fished from July 11 

 to September 24; a total of 41 night sets 

 and 4 day sets were made within this period. 

 Salmon catches ranged from 3 to 175 fish 

 per set. 



The Celtic 's area of operation was in 

 and south of the Gulf of Alaska on longitude 

 140°, 145°, 150°, and 155° W. (fig. 1). 

 Fishing extended from July 12 to September 19 

 and catches ranged from 4 to 150 salmon per 

 set. 



The Fish and Wildlife Service's John 

 N. Cobb operated in the area off Washington 

 and Vancouver Island between latitude 45° and 

 50° N. westward to longitude 145° W. (fig. 

 1). The primary purpose of this cruise was 

 to locate areas of albacore abundance. Of 

 the 27 gill net sets made during the period 

 July 17 to August 29, four caught salmon. 

 Catches ranged from 1 to 3 fish. 



Catch per-unit-effort data for the four 

 charter vessels are shown in tables 7-10 

 (pages 12 and 13). Effort data for the John 

 N. Cobb are not included because of the 

 small number (7) of salmon taken. 



In eastern Bering Sea, where the Tor - 

 denskjold encountered mature reds migrating 

 to Bristol Bay, the 5 1/4-inch mesh proved 

 most efficient, accounting for more than 

 half the toted catch. The area occupied by 



the Mitkof , central Bering Sea and south of 

 the Aleutians, produced smaller fish and a 

 greater proportion of juvenile reds and 

 chums. Significant numbers of juveniles 

 were taken in the 2 1/2-inch mesh, most of 

 them in central Bering Sea. The 3 1/4-inch 

 mesh proved most efficient for the Mitko f. 

 The Paragon , fishing south of the Aleutians 

 and the Alaska Peninsula, took few juveniles. 

 The 4 1/2-inch mesh proved most efficient in 

 this area. Further to the east, south of 

 Kodiak and the Gulf of Alaska, the Celtic 's 

 catch was largely immature- adult chums. 

 Adjusting catch to number of shackles fished 

 shows that 4 1/2-inch and 3 1/4-inch meshes 

 were equally effective in this area. 



Combined catches from all areas show 

 that the 4 1/2-inch mesh was most effective, 

 with a catch of 4.87 fish per shackle; 

 5 1/4-inch mesh was second with 3.85 fish 

 per shackle; followed by 3 1/4-inch mesh 

 with 3.49 fish per shackle; and 2 1/2-inch 

 mesh with 0.85 fish per shackle. 



LENGTH FREQUENCIES 



Catch by Mesh Size 



Figures 7-10 and Appendix table 1 

 show the fork lengths of salmon caught in 

 the 5 1/4- , 4 1/2- , 3 1/4- , and 2 1/2-inch 

 mesh nets. These are listed by vessel or 

 area since the vessels fished separate 

 areas.—' The mean fork length of salmon 

 taken in the 5 1/4-inch mesh nets by the 

 Tordenskjold (fig. 7) was 57.4 centimeters, 

 in the 4 1/2-inch mesh the mean length was 

 54.2 centimeters, in the 3 1/4- inch mesh - 

 55.2 centimeters, and in the 3 1/4- inch mesh 

 - 55.8 centimeters. The 5 1/4-inch and 

 4 1/2-inch meshes, which took over 95 per- 

 cent of the total catch, showed selectivity 

 for size of fish. Apparently very few small 

 fish were available for capture in eastern 

 Bering Sea as few were taken in the smaller 

 mesh nets. Predominantly the fish taken in 

 this area were mature red salmon. 



The fork lengths of salmon caught by 

 the Mitkof (fig. 8) show a more pronounced 

 mesh-size selectivity, indicating that the 

 stocks fished in the Mitkof 's area of 



3/ John N. Cobb's length frequency data 

 omitted in figures. 



15 



