Estimation of Sea Mortality Rates for the 1960 Brood-Year Pink Salmon of Hook Nose Creek, British Columbia

Abstract

Seaward migrating pink salmon fry at Hook Nose Creek, British Columbia, were estimated to total 1,153,000 in 1961. Of these, 41.5% or 479,000, were marked by amputation of both ventral fins (BV). Following this marking 36,900 fingerling were captured in the marine environment and marked by removal of the adipose and right ventral fins (ARV). During the 1962 fishing season 1,160,645 adult pinks were examined and 7050 BV and 184 ARV marks recognized. For the Hook Nose Creek stock, survival at sea from natural causes is shown to approximate 22% and the rate of exploitation was 95%. This stock is shown to be more exposed to fishing than the Bella Coola stock, for which a rate of exploitation of 69–80% is estimated. Rate of exploitation for Dean Channel stocks is even lower. These differences are explained as due to times of entry and rates of travel through the fishery. The two-stage marking experiment failed to estimate the natural mortality rate of juvenile pinks during the initial 5 weeks of sea life because of this dissimilarity between rates of exploitation on the stocks in the area.