Factors in the Population Biology of the Sockeye Salmon of the Skeena River

Abstract

The Skeena River system is currently the third largest producer of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka (Walbaum)) in British Columbia, Canada. The mixture of sockeye stocks comprising the annual 'run' has supported an intensive commercial fishery for nearly 60 years, over which period the average yield to the fishery has been about 881 000 fish. Fishing for sockeye is traditionally with gill-nets operated in the river mouth and seaward for a distance of roughly 20 miles. The catch is largely 4and 5-year-old fish that went to sea in their second year (42s and 52s), although other age groups are represented. The individual stocks of the Skeena River run are produced in twenty-one lakes and associated tributary streams located throughout the drainage. By far the largest and most important of these is the Babine Lake watershed, which currently provides the spawning area of about 90%O or more of the total that escape from the fishery. Past studies demonstrate or suggest the following main features of the population biology of the Skeena stocks.