SALMON AND SALMON FISHERIES OF SWIFTSURE BANK 
723 
The king-salmon run covers a long period of time, but averages much earlier 
than those of the other species. Thus 40 percent of the run is over by June 30, 
whereas no other species has reached 2 percent of its run by that date. 
The next species to appear in abundance is the sockeye, overlapping the latter 
portion of the king-salmon run. On the average, over a long period of years, the 
sockeye runs have been 
practically over by August 
25. By that date only 5 
percent of the chums, and 
less than 10 percent of the 
cohos, have passed the 
traps. However, over 40 
percent of the pink salmon 
run is complete. 
The pink salmon run 
lasts for such a short period 
that it is practically over 
before the cohos appear in 
abundance, 85 percent hav- 
ing passed by the time 20 
percent of the cohos are 
taken. 
The coho and chum sal- 
mon are the backbone of the fall fishery. Neither species presents a well-defined mode, 
but the centers of the two distributions are between three weeks and a month apart. 
Since both species run for a considerable length of time there is a considerable degree of 
overlapping in their time of run. During the five 7-day periods, from September 23- 
October 27, inclusive, 54.7 percent of the chum and 50.6 percent of the coho runs occur. 
RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF EACH SPECIES AND DISTRICT 
The relative importance of each species of salmon to the trap fishery is shown in 
figure 12 which illustrates the number of each species of salmon caught by traps in 
the 5 major areas during the past four decades. The areas shown are (1) North of 
Sandy Point, (2) Sandy Point to Deception Pass, (3) West Beach and Ebeys Land- 
ing, (4) the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and (5) the waters east of Whidbey Island and 
south of Point Wilson. For the past two decades the Puget Sound data are com- 
plete. Before that they represent only that portion of the trap catches for which 
original records could be secured. For sockeye this portion was about 80 percent 
of the trap catches in Puget Sound and practically all of the Canadian trap catches. 
For the other species the proportion represented is even higher than is the case for 
the sockeyes, as the data are more complete in the latter part of the period when 
more of the other species were used. For Canadian traps the other species are not 
included, as the data were not available. 
From figure 12 it is to be noted that 53 percent of the entire catch came from the 
district north of Bellingham — Point Roberts, Boundary Bay, and Birch Bay Areas. 
The next largest district, from the standpoint of catch, was that south of Bellingham 
71941—38 3 
Figure 11.— Seasonal occurrence of all species of salmon as shown by Puget Sound trap 
catches. Each ordinate shows the percentage of the run occurring during the indi- 
cated 7-day period. 
