Sockeye salmon fry were collected from the Fulton River spawning channel at Babine Lake, British Columbia, in May 1978. The fish were reared for 26 d in enclosures in the spawning channel and were sampled every 7 to 10 d. The sagittae were removed from 25 fish from each sample, and the growth rings in one otolith from each fish were counted. A regression of the number of rings on the number of days since capture showed that these rings are, on average, formed daily, beginning at the time of emergence. A number of possible technical and biological causes of variation in ring counts within and between samples are considered.Key words: otolith, sagittae, daily growth rings, sockeye salmon fry