Charles Henry Gilbert (1859–1928): An early fishery biologist and his contributions to knowledge of pacific salmon (oncorhynchusspp.)

TM NMFS-F/SPO-125: A History of Sockeye Salmon Research, Karluk River System, Alaska, 1880–2010

“…Several early collecting trips brought him to Alaska, where, in 1903, he served as a member of the Alaska Salmon Commission, being stationed at Bristol Bay. Gilbert, an authority on Pacific salmon, was appointed Scientist-In-Charge of USBF Pacific Coast fisheries in 1909, and thereafter focused much of his attention on the biology of salmonid fishes (Dunn, 1996). In about 1909-12, he first began using fish scales to age Pacific salmon and study their racial composition.…”

“…government involvement in Alaskan salmon research began in 1880 when the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries (USFC) made plans to examine the fishery resources of its poorly known territories, which then included Alaska (Dunn, 1996;Pietsch and Dunn, 1997). Spencer Fullerton Baird, Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, sent Tarleton Donald E. Bevan (1948-58) • Ocean migrations of sockeye salmon along west coast of Kodiak Island determined by tagging study.…”

“…Charles Henry Gilbert began his studies of Karluk's sockeye salmon about 1917, during the last 10 years of his distinguished career as a descriptive ichthyologist, pioneering fishery biologist, and educator (Dunn, 1996(Dunn, , 1997. From 1891 until his retirement in 1925, Gilbert was Professor and Chairman in the Department of Zoology, Stanford University.…”

“…He analyzed a few hundred scales of Karluk's adult sockeye salmon collected in 1914, 1916, and 1917, most likely by various USBF workers (Gilbert and Rich, 1927). 30 Gilbert annually visited Alaska to study salmon during 1917-27 (Dunn, 1996) and in 1919 he spent two days (25-26 July) at Karluk Lake with Henry O'Malley, then USBF field agent in charge of Pacific Coast operations. They limited their explorations to the north end of Karluk Lake.…”

“…While he spent most of his career as a descriptive ichthyologist, it is remarkable that the research he pursued at Karluk falls within the discipline of fishery biology, topics that remain important to current biologists. Although much of Rutter's work at Karluk in 1903 would also be classed in this discipline, Gilbert is often considered the intellectual founder of fishery biology in the U.S. (Dunn, 1996).…”