An Analysis of Mark-Recapture Data from Coded Wire Tagging of Hatchery Raised Salmon Using Log-Linear Models and Graphics

Abstract

In this report mark-recapture data are analyzed with the use of weighted log-linear models, mosaics, and computer drawings of fish. The data are from salmon hatcheries, subsequent returns to the hatcheries and commercial catches of salmon. The log-linear models were used to study the effects of several variables on catches and returns. It is shown that these variables may have opposite effects depending on the brood year of the fish, that hatchery returns and commercial catches do not respond in the same way to the variables, and that more research is needed to determine the causes of the brood year differences. The mosaics and fish drawings were used to study the migration of the salmon in the ocean. The results confirm that chinook salmon decrease their food intake during the return trip to the hatchery, and they are consistent with theories of ocean migration of other species of salmon.