Long-term trends in distribution and regional composition of the catches of hatchery pink and chum salmon during autumn migrations in the basin of the Sea of Okhotsk

Abstract

Long-term trends in distribution and regional composition of the catches of hatchery pink and chum salmon during autumn post-catadromous migrations in the basin of the Sea of Okhotsk in 2011–2017 were evaluated based on the otolith marking data. Qualitative and intraspecific structure of the hatchery fish aggregations was analyzed in connection to the interannual variety in forming abundant and not abundant generations of pink salmon. The analyze is carried out allowed to find out that the aggregation density of Russian and Japan hatchery juvenile chum salmon in the eastern part of the Sea of Okhotsk is higher in the even years of observation. Along that the distribution of the active migrants of the Sakhalin-Kurile and Hokkaido stock complexes in the north-east direction withing the Okhotsk Sea basin is better expressed. We think, that the main reason is low abundance of pink salmon generations (odd years of spawning) on West Kamchatka during autumn migration in the even years.In general the results obtained indicate that the cyclic migration of juvenile pink and chum salmon in the basin of the Sea of Okhotsk during post-catadromous migrations is of a systemic and mass character. Hatchery and wild fish have been engaged. The scheme of the juvenile distribution is similar in even and odd years.