Fishery bulletin of the Fish and Wildlife Service - NOAA

144 FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
TABLE 25.—Silver salmon run in the Columbia River, 19S8
[Catch in number or fish, assuming an average weight of 10 pounds. Data combined and arranged by corresponding weeks]
Week
ending
July 30 -
Aug 13
Aug. 20 -
Aug. 27- -
Sept. 3
Sept. 10
Sept. 17-.
Sept. 24.. .
Oct. I
Oct. 15 -_
Oct. 22 ..
Catch In
Zones
land 2
1
54
1,454
2,636
4
4,659
23,032
14,454
32,410
31, 914
Catch In
Zones
3to5
1
2
13
238
902
2,470
1,166
2,838
5,346
5,116
Total
catch
NOTI.—No catch was recorded for Zone 6.
1
3
67
1,682
2,636
906
7,029
24,198
17,282
37, 756
37,030
Bonneville
count
118
6,964
4,766
1 933
239
56
94
3S9
212
138
Week
ending
Oct. 29
Nov. 5
Nov. 12
Nov. 19
Nov. 26
Doc 3
Dec. 10
Dec. 17
Dec. 24 .
Dec. 31
Total
Catch in
Zones
1 and 2
20 268
23 275
13 348
6.209
2,275
1 592
5 762
1 069
186
154
195 232
Catch In
Zones
3to5
4 128
1 979
1 506
831
864
547
204
88
49
34,329
TABLE 26.—Chum salmon run in the Columbia River, 1938
Total
catch
24 396
25 254
14,642
7 040
3,139
2 139
S 966
1 157
235
154
229, 561
Bonnevllle
count
fCatch In number of fish, assuming an average weight of 10 pounds. Data combined and arranged by corresponding weets]
Week ending
Sept. 24
Oct. 1
Oct. 8
Oct. 15 -
Oct. 22
Oct 29
Nov. 12 .
Nov 19
Catch
In
Zones
land 2
3
117
334
4,839
15,960
22,370
51 458
41,601
16 057
Catch
In
Zones
3to5
284
293
1,538
2,931
6,361
7 235
б! 084
3,112
Total
catch
below
Bonneville
8
401
627
6,377
18, 891
27,731
58 693
46^685
19 169
Bonnevlllo
count
2
68
179
945
174
236
225
202
26
Catch
in
Zone 6
7
365
28
195
297
Week ending
Nov. 26
Dec. 3
Dec. 10
Dec. 17 -
Dec. 24
Dec. 31
Total
Catch
In
Zones
land 2
6,074
1 083
2,286
453
44
16
162, 694
Catch
in
Zones
3to5
1,210
440
57
23 8
27,576
Total
catch
below
Bonneville
7,284
1,523
2,343
476
52
15
190, 270
Bonneville
count
46
131
2,117
18 g417
15, 185
Catch
in
Zone 6
For both silver and chum salmon it is quite apparent that such a small part of
each run goes above Bonneville that the same sort of analysis that was made of the
data for the other species would be meaningless for these. Obviously the chief
spawning areas are in the tributaries that enter the main river below Bonneville—an
inference that is in entire accord with the known facts of the distribution of these
species. Not only in the Columbia River but generally throughout their entire range,
both silver and chum salmon tend to spawn in the lower tributaries of the larger
rivers or in the shorter coastal streams. The same is true of the pink salmon, which
do not appear in the Columbia in commercial quantities. Under such circumstances
it is not possible even to approximate the number of fish in the entire run because the
sum of the fish taken below the dam and those counted past Bonneville do not form a
sufficiently large percentage of the whole, and without at least approximate information
as to the total number of fish in the run it is impossible to make the sort of
analysis that has been done with the chinooks, bluebacks and steelheads.
The silver salmon first appeared in the river about the first of August, but the
catch did not amount to much until after the closed period from August 25 to September
10. On the other hand, a very large part of the total count past Bonneville
was made during the 2 or 3 weeks that were chiefly affected by the closed season.
(In table 25, the weeks ending August 20, August 27, and September 3.) Several
factors, alone or in combination, may account for these facts. First it appears that
a much larger percentage of the earlier fish than of the later ones pass above the dam
to spawn in the upper tributaries. Secondly, the intensity of fishing for this species
892