Mark Recapture Studies Of Taku River Adult Sockeye Salmon Stocks

Author : James Everett Andel
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 180 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Download or read book Mark-recapture Studies of Taku River Adult Sockeye Salmon Stocks from 1998 to 2002 written by James Everett Andel and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annual mark-recapture studies of adult Taku River sockeye salmon (Oncorhyncus nerka) stocks were conducted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Taku River First Nation from 1998 to 2002. The objectives of the program were: to provide annual inseason estimates of the inriver abundance of sockeye salmon and to document biological characteristics (migratory timing, migratory rates and age, sex, and size composition) of Taku River sockeye stocks. Marked-to unmarked ratios of salmon harvested in the Canadian inriver gillnet fisheries were used to develop estimates of the inriver abundance of sockeye. During the years 1998 to 2002, an annual averageof 5,349 sockeye salmon were tagged in fish wheels located at Canyon Island, Alaska, of which an average of 1,080 (20.2%) sockeye were subsequently recovered in fisheries or on the spawning grounds.The annual post-season inriver runestimates of sockeye salmon past Canyon Island from 1998 to 2002 was estimated to be 91,548, 113,705, 115,693, 192,269, and 135,233, fish respectively. Annual inriver Canadian commercial, aboriginal and test fisheries combined harvested 19,038, 20,681, 27,942, 47,998, and 31,053 sockeye salmon during those same years (1998 to 2002). The resulting annual spawning escapement estimtes for Taku River sockeye salmon from 1998 to 2002 was 72,271, 95,562, 87,298, 144,071, 103,343, fish respectively.The migratory timing (mean dates and standard deviation of migration) and run timing of the sockeye salmon run was similar to the 15 year average. The Kuthai Lake sockeye salmon stocks dominated the early portion, the Little Trapper Lake the middle portion, and the Tatsamenie Lake and mainstem stocks the late portion of the Taku River sockeye salmon run. Pink fish wheel catches were strong in 1998 and 1999 but below average in 2000 to 2002. Chum salmon fish wheel catches for this 5-year period continued to exhibit the trend of low catches that began in the mid-1980's.