INPFC/NPAFC High-seas salmonid tag-recovery database, 1956 - 2013

• Main Author: North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: KNB Data Repository 2019
• Subjects: ocean distribution; featured; biophysical; Bering Sea; Gulf of Alaska; Keta; Myers; Pacific; Sockeye; Oncorhynchus gorbuscha; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5063/f1dr2sqf; https://knb.ecoinformatics.org/view/doi:10.5063/F1DR2SQF

This data set contains information on the high-seas tag recovery program for salmon and steelhead from the 1950s to 2013 in the North Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Alaska, and Bering Sea, from the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission. The database was last updated in April of 2016, and this version was provided in November of 2016. Data are provided on the location, species, age, sex, and initial tag location. Annual high seas salmon recovery information have been reported annually to the International North Pacific Fisheries Commission (1981–1992) and to the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (1993–present). The tag recovery program enables the investigation of ocean distribution, migration, and growth of salmon at sea. Here, only information from non-electronic tags are reported. Information are available for salmon species: chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), chum (Oncorhynchus keta), coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch), pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), sockeye (Oncorhynchus nerka), and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Researchers using these data are cautioned to possible biases in the data caused from non-random area of tag release and from recovery of tagged fish in coastal areas that may not reflect the basin or area of origin. A discussion of these issues is provided in Myers et al. (1996). Included maps are generated from the dataset and show the release month by species, and the recovery region at release point. These maps were created by researchers at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.