146 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
fish was taken in Bristol Bay. The others were all taken within a few days in the 
region where they were tagged. The following table presents the data pertaining 
to the fish recaptured in the Bear and Sandy Rivers regions : 
Table 22 . — Returns from 2,000 red salmon tagged July 1, J^, and 5, 1925, near the mouths of the Bear 
and Sandy Rivers, Bering Sea, and recaptured near the point of liberation 
Date of recapture 
Date of tagging 
Date of recapture 
Date of tagging 
July 1, 
857 
tagged 
July 4, 
305 
tagged 
July 5, 
838 
tagged 
July 1, 
857 
tagged 
July 4, 
305 
tagged 
July 5, 
838 
tagged 
July 2 
7 
July 15 
4 
3 
7 
July 3 
45 
July 16 
1 
1 
7 
July 4 
43 
1 
July 17 1 
12 
4 
13 
July 5 
37 
July 18 
i 
July 6 
38 
37 
55 
July 23 
1 
1 
July 7 
71 
54 
186 
No date 2 
89 
29 
76- 
July 9 
10 
12 
40 
Total. _ 
367 
155 
427 
July 10 
1 
Percentage returned 
42.8 
50. 8 
51 
July 14 
7 
a 
34 
1 All but two were recorded as taken either July 16 or 17. 
2 All but tour of these were received from one company, which had not submitted complete records at the time this paper was- 
prepared. 
The one fish taken in Bristol Bay was No. 19337, tagged on July 5 and recap- 
tured at Naknek on July 13. 
There is very little of interest in the results of this experiment other than the 
support it lends to the theory of the local origin of the fish taken in this region. The 
fact that a single individual was taken in Bristol Bay is entirely without practical 
significance. It may indicate that an occasional Bristol Bay fish is to be found among 
the schools of Bear and Sandy River fish, or it may mean that an occasional Bear 
or Sandy River fish strays into Bristol Bay. We know that the homing instinct in 
salmon is not absolutely unerring, although we are equally certain that an over- 
whelming percentage does return to the parent streams. It would not be surprising,, 
therefore, if a few Bear or Sandy River fish did reach Bristol Bay, and the finding 
of one or even of several such cases would in no way affect the general conclusions. 
These may be summed up in the statement that in 1925, as in 1922, the fish found 
in Bering Sea in the vicinity of the Bear and Sandy Rivers were predominantly 
fish of local origin and were not natives of the important salmon streams of Bristol 
Bay. 
