The tests showed that most red salmon travel 

 upstream close to the bank of the river. 



9. Diurnal movements of red salmon were 

 observed during the studies and, as expected, 

 trap catches revealed that the fish were mov- 

 ing chiefly during daylight hours. Significant 

 numbers of red salmon were taken at night, 

 however. 



10. The migration of red salmon in Cook 

 Inlet extends over a 3-month period. Com- 

 parisons of peak catches in the drift and set 

 net fisheries and at the test-fishing site 

 suggest that individual fish move through the 

 fishery and upstream slowly. Tag recoveries 

 showed that red salmon moved about 65 miles 

 upriver in 20 days. 



11. Changes in the size and age and sex 

 compositions during the migration are 

 attributed in part to the removal of large 

 fish by the intensive commercial gill net 

 fishery. 



12. Red salmon taken in the traps were 

 predominantly of age group 52 in 1957 and 

 1958 (they were 5 years old and had spent 2 

 years in fresh water and 3 years in the sea). 

 In 1959 the dominant age group was 5q. 



13. Several findings show that fyke traps 

 caught red salmon in relation to their abund- 

 ance in the river; (a) In respect to timing, 

 duration, and magnitude of the runs, catches 

 in fyke traps were comparable to catches by 

 the Cook Inlet commercial fishery; (b) catches 



were similar in the fyke traps that were fished 

 in different locations; and (c) catches from 

 test gill nets agreed in estimates of quantity 

 and in age and size composition with catches 

 from fyke traps. 



14. The commercial catch by a set gill net 

 fishery operating in the vicinity of the Kenai 

 River mouth was compared with experimental 

 fyke trap catches. 



15. Samples of the run obtained by seining 

 suggest that the fyke traps did not fish selec- 

 tively for particular sizes of red salmon, 



1 6. The conclusion drawn from these studies 

 can be summarized as follows: (a) There is 

 good evidence that the fyke traps catch red 

 salmon in proportion to the strength of the 

 spawning run, therefore, the trap catches can 

 be used as an index of the escapement, (b) The 

 escapement of red salmon in the Kenai River 

 was considerably lower in 1959 than in 1957 

 and 1958. (c) Test-fishing with fyke traps is a 

 reliable method for determining the size and 

 age composition and sex ratio of the spawning 

 migration in turbid, glacial waters. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENT 



Detailed plans and specifications for the 

 construction of the metal fyke traps used in 

 these studies were provided by the Oregon 

 Fish Commission. Movies depicting the opera- 

 tion of the traps were also loaned by that 

 agency and are gratefully acknowledged. 



MS #1179 



18 



GPO oogis 



