MIGRATIONS OF PINK SALMON 
645 
TAGGING METHODS 
In 1924 the Bureau started a series of salmon-tagging experiments in each of the 
main channels of entry for the purpose of securing this information. The work of 
the experiments was carried on as follows: The trap was first closed and the web of 
the spiller lifted to bring the salmon near the surface. They were then caught with 
a dip net and slid, one by one, onto the tagging 
table from which they were guided head first into 
a small box held on the outside of the table. This 
box was short and from 3 to 4 inches of the salm- 
on’s tail projected beyond the open end. The tag- 
ging operator was thus enabled to grasp the tail 
and clamp a tag, about V/ 2 inches long and %-inch 
wide, on it. After tagging, the operator holding 
the small box tossed the salmon back into the 
water beyond the trap. The entire operation re- 
quired but a fraction of a minute and, if conditions 
were favorable, from 150 to 200 fish could be tagged 
in an hour (see figs. 2 and 3). 
It is assumed that the great majority of the 
tagged individuals, when released, continue to follow 
their original course of migration. The recovery of 
a few tagged fish in areas far distant from the point 
of liberation does not necessarily indicate that the 
tagging operation affected them, for it is not improb- 
able that salmon occasionally stray from their nor- 
mal course of migration. Most of those recovered 
are picked up by the commercial fishery at various 
points along the migratory routes. Small numbers 
have also been recovered on the spawning grounds 
in streams. 
It has never been possible to recover all the 
salmon that are tagged. Many of them escape the 
commercial fishery and spawn in the streams un- 
noticed and even some of those that are caught by 
the fishery lose their tags in shipment and remain 
undiscovered. The Bureau has for several years 
offered a small reward, from 25 to 50 cents, for the 
recovery of tagged individuals, and in this way has 
encouraged the search for them in areas where they 
are being tagged. No tags, however, are accepted 
by the Bureau unless they are accompanied by in- 
formation as to the date and place of recapture of 
the fish. Without this information the tags are 
worthless as a means of tracing the migratory routes 
of the salmon. 
The first tagging experiments that were carried 
on in southeastern Alaska attempted to locate, as quickly as possible, the general 
migratory routes and destinations of the salmon migrating through each of the six main 
channels of entry This necessitated covering the entire region in a comparatively short 
time and consequently it was not possible to tag more than two or three times at each 
Figure 1 . — The Alexander Archipelago in 
southeastern Alaska. The dots indicate the 
locations of the early pink-salmon tagging 
experiments from 1924 to 1932. The triangles 
indicate the locations of the 1935 and 1936 
pink-salmon tagging experiments. The boun- 
dary lines and included numbers in the Clar- 
ence and Sumner Straits region show the 
geographic areas used in classifying the local- 
ities in which the tagged salmon were re- 
covered. 
