TAGGING SALMON IN ALASKA, 1923 
69 
Table 41 . — Percentage of returns from each experiment, red salmon only 
Date and locality of tagging 
Number 
tagged 
Number 
returned 
from 
Bristol 
Bay 
Number 
returned 
from 
other 
places 
Total 
number 
returned 
Percent- 
age re- 
turned 
from 
Bristol 
Bay 
Percent- 
age re- 
turned 
from 
other 
places 
Total 
percent- 
age re- 
turned 
Percent- 
age of 
tagged 
salmon, 
not taken 
else- 
where, 
which 
were 
taken in 
Bristol 
Bay 
Kelly Rock, June 2 to 5 
120 
6 
7 
13 
5.0 
5.8 
10.8 
5.3 
Kelly Rock, June 7 
575 
22 
83 
105 
3.8 
14.5 
18.3 
4.5 
Ikatan, June 18 
799 
33 
184 
217 
4. 1 
23. 1 
27.2 
5.4 
Morzhovoi, June 20 
800 
59 
128 
187 
7.4 
16.0 
23.4 
8.8 
Kelly Rock, June 23 
499 
43 
170 
213 
8.6 
34.0 
42.6 
13.1 
Kelly Rock, June 26 
499 
59 
51 
110 
11.8 
10.2 
22.0 
13.2 
Coal Harbor, June 27 
137 
14 
39 
53 
10.2 
28.5 
38.7 
14.3 
Big Valley, June 27 
859 
91 
186 
277 
10.6 
21.6 
32.2 
13.3 
Morzhovoi, June 30 
592 
47 
203 
250 
7.9 
34.3 
42.2 
12. 1 
Morzhovoi, trap No. 5, June 30 
403 
16 
212 
228 
4.0 
52.5 
56.5 
8.4 
Ikatan, July 1 
699 
43 
265 
308 
6.2 
37.8 
44.0 
9.9 
Ikatan, July 2 
300 
6 
214 
220 
2.0 
71.3 
73.3 
7.0 
Coal Harbor, July 4 
110 
18 
25 
43 
16.4 
22.7 
39.1 
21.2 
Big Valley, July 6 
033 
62 
110 
172 
9.8 
17.4 
27.2 
11.8 
Morzhovoi Bay, July 8 
430 
45 
65 
110 
10.3 
14.9 
25.2 
12.1 
Morzhovoi Bay, trap No. 5, July 8 
110 
6 
46 
52 
5.4 
41.9 
47.3 
9.4 
Ikatan Bay, July 10. 
131 
7 
44 
51 
5.3 
33.7 
39.0 
8.0 
Ikatan Bay, P. E. Harris trap No. 5, July 10. 
320 
58 
52 
110 
17.8 
15.9 
33.7 
21. 1 
Ikatan Bay, July 11 
447 
22 
277 
299 
4.9 
62.0 
66.9 
13.0 
Morzhovoi, trap No. 5, July 13 
279 
2 
133 
135 
0.7 
47.7 
48.4 
1.4 
Morzhovoi, trap No. 5, July 18 
170 
80 
80 
47.0 
47.0 
Morzhovoi, July 20 
198 
2 
61 
63 
1.0 
30.8 
31.8 
1.5 
Total 
9,122 
661 
2,635 
3, 296 
7.25 
28.88 
36.13 
10.2 
From the figures given in this table it is evident that the drain on the body of 
fish found during the fishing season in the region under discussion is so considerable 
that any further exploitation would be decidedly dangerous. Of the total number 
tagged 36.13 per cent were later recaptured and recorded. It has been mentioned 
above that this figure is a minimum; the actual drain on the salmon schools is there- 
fore in excess of this figure. In other localities it has been found desirable to restrict 
the catch of fish to 50 per cent of the total run, and it is evident that the drain on 
the salmon resources of this region is so close to this figure that for practical purposes 
it may be considered equivalent. It is impossible to say whether these fish rep- 
resent a unit of the Bristol Bay run, segregated more or less sharply from the re- 
mainder, or whether they represent merely a portion of an entirely mixed lot of fish 
that find their feeding grounds, in part at least, in the north Pacific Ocean. If they 
do represent a unit it is obvious that the fishery is being prosecuted with an 
intensity approximating that which obtains in the case of the fisheries at Karluk and 
Chignik, where a 50 per cent escapement is required. 
Certain apparently significant differences appear in the percentages of returns 
obtained from the experiments started in the Shumagin Islands and in the region of 
Ikatan and Morzhovoi Bays. An especially good comparison can be made between 
the returns from 1,994 red salmon tagged at Unga Island June 23 to 27 and an exactly 
equal number tagged in Ikatan and Morzhovoi Bays June 30 to July 2. This 
tagging was all done during the height of the season, and there is no reason to think 
that the data obtained are not strictly comparable. It is very suggestive, therefore, 
that the experiments begun at Unga Island show a distinctly lower percentage of 
44699—27 6 
