A Review of the Hatchery Programs for Pink Salmon in Prince William Sound and Kodiak Island, Alaska

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Abstract
Five hatcheries in Prince William Sound, Alaska, release more than 500 million juvenile pink salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha each year, constituting one of the largest salmon hatchery programs in the world. Before the program was initiated in 1974, pink salmon catches were very low, averaging 3 million fish per year between 1951 and 1979. Since 1980 the catch has averaged more than 20 million fish per year. However, catches in three other areas in Alaska with substantial fisheries for pink salmon (southeast Alaska, Kodiak Island, and the southern Alaska Peninsula) also increased equivalently during the same period, and the hatchery production did not become the dominant factor in Prince William Sound until the mid-1980s, long after the wild population had expanded. A hatchery program in the Kodiak area provides useful contrast to the Prince William Sound program because it is smaller and more isolated from the major wild-stock-producing areas of Kodiak Island. The evidence suggests that the hatcher...