at each site, which indicates that fyke traps 

 sampled the population (as corroborated by 

 the beach seine sample) nonselectively. 



CONCLUSIONS 



1. The Tyke trap is a useful tool for assess- 

 ing the escapement of red salmon in turbid 

 Alaska streams. 



2. There is strong evidence that fyke traps 

 catch red salmon directly in proportion to 

 their abundance in the river. 



3. An index of the relative size of the 

 escapement from year to year and its rela- 

 tion to the commercial catch can be deter- 

 mined, 



4. The quality of the escapement, i.e., the 

 size and age composition and sex ratios, can 

 be adequately sampled with fyke traps. 



5. The number of red salmon entering the 

 Kenai River to spawn was considerably less 

 in 1959 than in 1957 and 1958. 



6. Red salmon migrating upstream in turbid 

 water have the same behavior trait of follow- 

 ing the river bank that has been observed in 

 red salmon in clear water. 



7. The red salmon migration into the Kenai 

 River extends over aperiodof nearly 3 months. 

 The early segment of the run, which passes 

 the test-fishing site in June, is destined for 

 the Russian River. 



8. The fyke trap does not appear to fish 

 selectively for particular size red salmon 

 in very turbid waters. 



9. The choice of location of the fyke trap 

 is important in assuring that substantial num- 

 bers of red salmon will be taken, but regard- 

 less of where they are fished fyke traps appear 

 to sample the run without bias. 



SUMMARY 



1. A method is needed for estimating the 

 escapement of red salmon in turbid, glacial 

 waters. Since it is impossible to count fish 



visually under such conditions by the usual 

 means, such as towers or weirs, test-fishing 

 techniques combined with mark and recovery 

 experiments were adopted. 



2. The objectives of the studies were to 

 evaluate the traps, to obtain daily and annual 

 indices of the size of the escapement, to 

 determine rates of movement and spawning 

 ground destinations, and to identify charac- 

 teristics of the spawning migration. 



3. Two traps were fished at the same loca- 

 tions for 3 years to provide a comparison of 

 the size of the escapements annually. Other 

 traps were fished at various locations to pro- 

 vide information about the variability in catch 

 between trapping locations and to study the 

 migration habits of red salmon in the river. 



4. Fyke traps used in these studies were 

 patterned after similar traps used in Cali- 

 fornia and Oregon. They are 18 feet long and 

 10 feet in diameter, with provision for re- 

 moving the fish through access doors. The 

 traps were placed in fishing position by roll- 

 ing them into the water at a suitable sloping 

 site and were retrieved by means of a wire 

 cable and hand winch. 



5. Fish were removed twice each day, and 

 samples were taken of thecatch to provide age, 

 length, and sex ratio information. Each year 

 fish were tagged and released for subsequent 

 recovery on the spawning grounds. 



6. Gill nets were test fished in the river 

 in the vicinity of the fyke traps to obtain 

 another measure of the seasonal abundance 

 and age, size, and sex composition. 



7. Sufficient numbers of red salmon were 

 taken to provide an index of the escapement 

 each year. From July 1 to August 10, 1,726 

 red salmon were taken in the traps in the year 

 1957, whereas during the same period, 1,724 

 and 1,309 were captured in 1958 and 1959 

 respectively. 



8. Fyke traps were fished in an array 

 across the river to learn if the migration 

 paths and behavior of salmon in turbid glacial 

 water was similar to that in clear streams. 



17 



