PROGRESS IN BIOLOGICAL INQUIRIES, 192 9 1095 



COLUMBIA RIVEH SALMON 



Salmon-marking experiments conducted on the Columbia River in 

 cooperation with the Oregon Fish Commission have been continued 

 by Mr. Holmes. A report by W. H. Rich and H. B. Holmes, cover- 

 ing experiments with chiiiook salmon, has been published during the 

 year and a similar report by Mr, Holmes, dealing with sockeye sal- 

 mon, is nearing completion. 



Field work ckiring the year 1929 was restricted to tlie recovery of 

 mature fish which had been marked as fingerlings. The majority of 

 the recoveries were fi-om an exi)eriment with spring chinook salmon 

 conducted at the Oregon Fish Commission's hatchery on the McKen- 

 zie River. This experiment was designed to furnish information on 

 the very practical problem of how long fingerlings should be retained 

 at the hatchery in order to produce the greatest number of adult 

 fish. The experiment involved 5 lots of 50,000 fingerlings which 

 were marked and liberated in May, June, July, and September, 1925, 

 and March, 1926, respectively, when the fish were 8, 9, 10, 12, and 18 

 months old, respectively (age including period of incubation). This 

 particular experiment failed to indicate any preference for one age 

 of liberation over another. The results of this experiment agree 

 with previous experiments in showing that the chinook salmon which 

 spawn in the McKenzie River start their spawning migration early 

 in the season, and that chinook salmon have a strong tendency to 

 return not only to their " parent " river system, but also to the par- 

 ticular tributary in which they spent the early part of their lives. 



ALASIiA HERRING 



In June, 1929, a scientific report was submitted for publication 

 by George A. Rounsefell, summarizing the investigation from its 

 beginning in 1925. It contains a brief description of the fishery, its 

 methods, and development ; and sections dealing with the general life 

 history, the independence of the populations of various localities, the 

 spawning habits, the determination of age and rate of growth, the 

 changes in the condition of the fish, the composition of the catch 

 with its relationship to natural fluctuations in abundance, analysis 

 of the statistics of the catch, and a summary of the evidence of 

 depletion, . • 



During 1929 field work was carried on in both southeastern and 

 central Alaska by George A, Rounsefell and Edwin H. Dahlgren, 

 temporary assistant. Before making a detailed analysis of the daily 

 herring catcli records for each boat, which are being constantly col- 

 lected, it is necessary to have a fairly accurate knowledge of the lo- 

 calities inhabited by each race of herring. This will allow areas 

 to be laid out for statistical and biological use, each of which will 

 embrace as homogeneous a population (from a racial standpoint) 

 as possible. To this end racial data were taken in southeastern 

 Alaska and Prince William Sound on about 7,000 specimens from the 

 commercial catch. In addition, in southwestern Alaska, a small 

 boat was chartered and samples of herring were caught with gill 

 nets in several localities in the inside waters, and preserved in forma- 

 lin for later examination. No commercial fishery of any importance 



