On possible change in regional composition of catches for pink salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha at Iturup Island in 2015

Dynamics of catches and biological parameters are analyzed for pink salmon during their approaches to the Kuril Bay (Iturup Island, Kuril Islands) in 2015, as the body length, female fecundity, and inter-sclerite distance in the first annual growth zone of scales. These parameters were compared between the fish caught at the outer boundary of the bay and at the mouths of spawning rivers. The scale growth patterns atypical for local herds of pink salmon and heightened fertility of females were observed in the catches obtained in the external part of the bay; these fish migrated obviously to another area of their reproduction.