operation were composed of individuals with 

 a wide range in size. The mean fork length 

 of salmon caught in the 5 1/4- inch mesh was 

 55.6 centimeters; 4 1/2-inch mesh - 50.1 

 centimeters; 3 1/4-inch mesh - 40.1 centi- 

 meters; and 2 1/2-inch mesh - 31.8 centi- 

 meters. The bulk of the catch in the 2 1/2- 

 inch mesh were juvenile chum salmon taken 

 in the central Bering Sea. 



Mesh-size selectivity is also evident 

 in catches of the Paragon and Celtic (figs. 

 9 and 10). This again indicates that the 

 stocks fished by these two vessels in their 

 respective areas of operation were composed 

 of individuals with a wide range in size. 

 The mean fork length of salmon caught in the 

 5 1/4-inch mesh by the Paragon was 57.2 cen- 

 timeters; 4 1/2-inch mesh - 51.5 centimeters; 

 3 1/4-inch mesh - 43.2 centimeters; and 

 2 1/2-inch mesh - 33.8 centimeters. For the 

 Celtic , the mean fork length for the 5 1/4- 

 inch mesh was 56.1 centimeters; 4 1/2-inch 

 mesh - 49.7 centimeters; 3 1/4-inch mesh - 

 40.9 centimeters; and 2 1/2-inch mesh - 38.3 

 centimeters. 



show the fork length frequencies of red, 

 chum, pink, silver and king salmon captured 

 by the four vessels. 



Red salmon . — The red salmon length dis- 

 tributions (fig. 12) show two or more modes 

 indicating the presence of different age 

 groups within the areas fished by the Celtic, 

 Paragon and Mitkof . In the Celtic 's catch 

 the mode falling between 29 and 42 centime- 

 ters is composed of 1-year-in-ocean reds and 

 the mode in the 43- to 60-centimeter inter- 

 val of 2-year-in-ocean reds. Red salmon of 

 61 centimeters and above are largely 3-year- 

 in-ocean fish with an increasing degree of 

 overlapping lengths in the older age groups. 



The Paragon 's catch shows a similar pat- 

 tern; the 27- to 43-centimeter interval is 

 composed of 1-year-in-ocean reds and the 44- 

 to 60-centimeter interval mode of 2-year-in- 

 ocean reds. Fish 61 centimeters and above 

 are largely 3-year-in-ocean reds. 



The Mitkof 's 1-year-in-ocean reds fall 

 in the 26- to 40-centimeter interval and the 



Figure 11 shows the two extreme sizes 

 of red szilmon taken in one set by the Mitkof. 



Catch by Species 



Figures 12 - 14 and Appendix table 2 



Figure 11. — Maximum and minimum sizes of red 

 salmon taken in one set by the Mitkof . 

 The smaller is a one-winter- in-ocean 

 fish while the larger may have spent 

 either two or three winters at sea. 



RED SALMON 



John N Cobb 

 N = 5 



30 35 40 45 50 55 



Fork Length in Cenlimeters 



Figure 12. --Length frequency distributions 

 of red salmon taken by five vessels. 



16 



