(PLEASE NOTE: These web pages are for archival purposes only and are no longer maintained. For current information on this topic at the AFSC visit the Ecosystem Monitoring and Assessment program. )

Fig 1. Scale showing the freshwater and marine growth history for an adult age-2.2 sockeye salmon that returned to spawn at Karluk Lake on Kodiak Island, Alaska.

Seasonal and annual growth patterns on scales in relation to climate indices and population abundances provide useful indicators for climate change and carrying capacity limits for salmon in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea (Fig. 1). Historic collections of salmon scales are used to reconstruct somatic growth histories of salmon (Fig. 1). OCC scientists have developed and analyzed time series of growth for Karluk (Fig. 2), Kvichak, Egegik, and Ugashik sockeye salmon stocks.

Contact:
Ellen Martinson
Auke Bay Laboratories
Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries

Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute
17109 Pt Lena Loop Rd
Juneau, AK 99801
(907) 789–6604
Ellen.Martinson@noaa.gov

Fig. 2. Comparative trends in third marine year scale growth and catch of southern Alaska sockeye salmon 1924 to 2000 as indicators for density-dependent growth (Martinson et. al., 2007).

Supporting Research

• Farley, E.V., J. M. Murphy, M.D. Adkinson, L.B. Eisner, J.H. Helle, J.H. Moss, and J. Nielsen 2007. Early marine growth in relation to marine-survival rate of Alaska sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). Fish. Bull. 105:121-130.
  
  
• Martinson, E.C., and J.H. Helle 2000. Time of annulus formation on scales of chum salmon in the North Pacific Ocean in 1998 and 1999. N. Pac. Anadr. Fish Comm. Bull. 2: 137-143.
  
  
• Martinson, E.C., M.M. Masuda, and J.H. Helle 2000. Back-calculated fish length, percentages of scale growth, and scale measurements for two scale measurement methods used in studies of salmon growth. N. Pac. Anadr. Fish Comm. Bull. 2: 331-336.
  
  
• Martinson, E.C. 2000. An introduction to the National Marine Fisheries Service and implications for long-term monitoring studies. College of Natural Resources weekly seminar series. University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, October 2000.

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