Return migration of the Atlantic salmon in the Tana River: distribution and exploitation of radiotagged multi-sea-winter salmon

A total of 174 multi-sea-winter Atlantic salmon (75–115 cm fork length) were radiotagged in the Tanafjord in 1992–1993 and their upstream migration and exploitation in the Tana River (Teno) were studied. Of the tagged fish, 75% and 77% entered the river, and 40% and 69% of them were later recaptured in 1992 and 1993, respectively. The lower 60 km of the river accounted for 36% of the recaptures. Gillnets and weirs took 68% of the fish recaptured in the river in 1992 but only 40% in 1993, the rest being caught by rod and line. Weirs caught more recently entered salmon than gillnets. Rod and line fishery caught smaller fish than gillnets and weirs. There were no differences in the size distributions between the initially tagged salmon, those that entered the river, were recaptured in the river, or the ones survived until spawning. Exploitation rates (n recaptured fish/n entered the river) were the highest in the upper reaches of the river system.