TAGGING ADULT RED SALMON, 1922. 
45 
the red salmon that form the great rim on the northern shores of the Alaska 
Peninsula have their feeding grounds in the North Pacific and enter Bering Sea 
only when on their final spawning migration. The shortest time taken in passing 
from Ikatan to Bristol Bay (off the Naknek River) was 10 days. The average time 
during the height of the run was 20 days, but the rate was apparently accelerated 
toward the close, for six salmon tagged at Ikatan on July 10 were captured in 
Bristol Bay after an average interval of 12 days. 
The number of tagged fish reported from Bristol Bay as a result of this experi- 
ment can not be accepted as furnishing reliable evidence concerning the magnitude 
of this movement. No rewards were offered for the return of tags from Bristol 
Bay, while to the westward such rewards were offered. As a result many of the 
recaptured tags in Bristol Bay were thrown away or were privately held and not 
reported. Current belief among fishermen and cannery employees was to the 
effect that the tags reported constituted a small fraction of those actually seen. 
A similar series of tagging experiments on a larger scale is planned for the 
summer of 1923, when it will be hoped to throw additional light on the magnitude 
of the migration from the North Pacific into Bering Sea. This is a matter of. the 
greatest importance in connection with conservation measures dealing with the 
most important red-salmon runs of Bristol Bay. 
4. Port Holier . — Two tagging experiments were carried out in this district. 
On June 26, 200 red salmon were tagged from the Moller Bay trap in the immediate 
vicinity of the Port Moller cannery of the Pacific American Fisheries. This trap is 
not, primarily, a red-salmon trap, as the major part of its catch consists of cheaper 
grade fish; but it captures annually a considerable number of red salmon, the 
spawning destination of which has been unknown. As over 45 per cent of the 
tagged fish were recaptured, largely by purse seines, on the Bear River-Sandy 
River grounds between June 27 and July 7, it is safe to conclude that the red 
salmon taken in Moller Bay are bound for Bear and Sandy Rivers and enter Moller 
Bay in the course of their migration eastward along the coast of the peninsula. 
The very large percentage of these tagged fish that was recaptured, even during 
a year when the Bear River traps were not operating with their usual success, 
bears witness to the remarkable efficiency of this fishery. There are grounds for 
fearing that the escapement to the spawning grounds of Bear and Sandy Rivers 
has often been inadequate. 
The second Port Moller experiment was conducted with red salmon that had 
been captured on June 27 by a purse-seine boat off the mouth of Sandy River. 
As this lies at the eastern end of the Port Moller grounds, hence nearest the Bristol 
Bay district, the fish captured at this point might well be expected to contain 
representatives of the Bristol Bay run, if any of these were to be found on the Port 
Moller grounds. Of 439 red salmon tagged and released at this point 19 per cent 
(83 fish) were recaptured between June 27 and July 7 on the Bear River-Sandy 
River fishing grounds. It was usually not possible to ascertain accurately on what 
part of the grounds the fish were taken, as the seine boats would make many hauls 
and the tagged fish were not recovered until the load was delivered at the cannery. 
