T Vol ume l3 Study G- I I t I STATE OF ALASKA t WiLLian A. Egan, Gouewtor I t I I t
T AnnuaI Progress Reports for I
T SPORT FISH STUDIES I t ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME t James W. Brooks, Conwrtssioner I DIVISION OF SPORT FISH Rutpert E. Andteus, Dtrector I Houard E. Metskez,, Cootdinator I I I I Vo I unre l3 Report No. G-l l-B I I RESEARCH PROJECT SEGMENT
I State: A I aska t Projeet No.: F -9-4 None: Sport Fish Investigations of Alaska.
Study No,: G-l I I Study Title.. Sport F i sh Stud ies . Job No..' G-ll-B ,Iob Titler Anadrornous Fish Population Studies I Upper Cook In'let Drainage.
I Period Couered: July l, lgTl to June 30, lg7T. I ABSTMCT
I Creel census data obtained during the l97l king salmon, 0ncortynchus tsBw.vtsqhg, pglch-card fishery disclosed that 2,000 angleri ished an estimated 16,000 hours to catch 451 king sarmon over 506 rm in length, a I season success rate of 0.23 fish per angler.
0f.the 23'419 king salnpn punch cards issued, 44% were voluntarily I returned to the Department of Fish and Garile. A total of 3,497 anglers- indicated they had fished for king salmon.
I The 1971 king salrpn run appears to be one of the lohrest on record.
Creel census data obtained from the Deshka River, Lake and Alexander I Creeks disclosed that 296 anglers caught 129 adult silver salmor, 0. kisutch, a seasonal rate I of success of 0.44 fish per angler. I I I I RECOMMENDATIONS I Retain the presenf objectives of the studies. I OBJECTIVES I I I. To obtain and analyze biological data concerning th distribution, abundance, timing, lengths, weights, age, and sex ition of adult salmon returning to selecied freshwa*er stre of upper T Cook I n let. 2. To determine the sport fish catch of king salmon in elected fresh I waters of upper Cook In'let, and to evaluate trends i angl i ng efforts. 3. To conduct sport fish harvest studies of si lver and ink salmon in I selected fresh waters of upper Cook Inlet. 4. To provide recornmendations for the management of ki , si lver and pink salnon in the fresh waters of upper Cook Inlet I I TECHNTQUES USED
A creel census was conducted during the king and si lver lrnon season I to accumulate data on angl ing harvest. The catch per unit of ffort was obtained from angler interviews. Lengths, sex composition, scales from king and si lver salmon were obtained by sampl ing the anglerrs ch. I
Aerial, river boat, and ground surveys were made to obse d i stri bu tion, numbers, and time of arrival of adult king and silver s lrnon i n upper I Cook Inlet streams.
Attempts were made to enumerate adult king and si lver sal Deshka River with a Bendix salmon counter. I
FINDINGS I
A description of the upper Cook lnlet streams and past i rmat i on I col lected on this project are presented in Dingel l-Johnson p ect reports by Stefanich (1962) and Kubik (1965 through l97l). I I I I I I Kinq Salnxrn Punch-Card Harvest Data : I Anglers fishi!g for king salrnon, Oniorhl i::'lffi-:|*i;"u.roJsn[a;;;;.,";;Ar#;#.-Hffi5,-jl-':$;l::.to record I on kins sa'r.rTl;:;':jl;r:"ar their catches uv-rf."urs and dares
During rg7r, there o,as no area quota on king sarmon previousry estabrished poo-ro over 50g mnr as I I set auring tne J"uronr. dairy af one king sarmon per JJt, and bag rimit was two Hi.g, over 508-Ih. mrn per year. King salmon under 508 nm in length were considered part I bug I imit' wh ich was 'rten tir'n totur-of of the daily salmon under 20 inches), sarmon under r6 incne, trout,,- char; however, nrore than two tiour, r"x"9.?yri.g,"";i troutl'o."i.uy i_J"Hr,liin t ;:lJ:,lt r ins more rhan 20 inches A total "! ?3,419 king salmon punch cards were issued the entire cook Inief u."u-oJ.ing the to angrers for I season 44.2% igzi-r"uron. After the crose of the ":,::^:.1i1{ari ry reiurned to tn"-o.pu.tment of tv Fish and Game. I Sjrl!",13;ii3 ?::'1,ff':: ;:j:"-'' '-"iu.nJo, 3,4s7 ungi"., (33.afr'tiiai- Punch cards indicated that an estimated 2,oo.o River, Arexander and Lake anglers f ished the Deshka for a;;.;;r; of 45r king sarmon I in length' For the sixtn consecutiyg".""x, over 508 mm the Deshka v"ur,-ine n*rst productive srream River with 96% tisil of the'iotur'harvest (45r) was The annual harvest uy stream-io. being caught. t966 througn lgTl is presented in Table l. I Exirapolat.ion of the punch card data provided harvest of 495 king sar;;n';;;;508 an estimated sport fish nm i" i""gtn for the Deshka River. I A sampre of r92 Deshka River spg1t-caught length were measured -Th"king sarrnon over 508 nm in for size composition. sarmon from 508 - r,r78 nm with ranged in rength averaged a;"; or oar ;: l,rui", averaged 798 I 909 nm. sex ratio of mares nm and fenrares to femarJs was 0.g: r (Figure r). Age composition of the.angler harvested king salnnn (lg2) five vears old; 30|, wire indicated I ??lnl"t" four yearr.io; and 14fr were six-year-ord I Escapement: The l97l king salmon escaperent counts were ground survey techniques' determined by aeriar and Higfi water ano turuii conoitions vations durinq the peak ot spJwning, oui-tn"'iaia hlnoered obser fish harvest, observationr, outained from the sport lno sudsequent .nri..ation surveys, side indicate l5r ii'1"::"if,:fil"'?j;r-k^ne''t sus ri"" niver rrioutuiies was consid-
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I -. 1 @str- -El NO Sn NO\@ I @ sflq@\O NT\ r+ \O lf\ :lol \o t\ t'- @ \O !qba. \Fl 9 xRs; O\}.rn +-l o\ ;l ol I I o\osfN .loi (\s ot O@ roN I (Jl N f\oN !c!q rn \o@\o sf O\ L Fn@ r,r'\ o $l g o o- 3 I -rncn r\ tJ\ L rF o N O\\Otf\fSS i t-- Eq (, o ;6 in f\ \O FK 8sp bqlqtntr\ I o l'- 6ilcoN NN O i +- L I o - o E o c I L o o N o sflr\N *-o\@ 9* (, Eq f.\ *\oOo\ o :sl|f\ sf @o\r\ I I c d$slx ig a ..i @ o o_ N "') .{- c p (,O I e olo {/) o g0) (n 2 E o E oo E - E c X- rn t- l-' I ul^ f ^ o oo\ ; (nl- of (,t) (+- .-o L0) Egq) !c o q)oA ctr\ o c F clq-E ntF E I -^q L t.l.l -'1, | | 6Et- cnQ) o ) f:f:Fe E€ Y 6 r.o E n* frx tE r.';co H' -F[nE=o E ij; 5 E :9 E s C o- :J :.q :s b () +- O +- +- Orr\ =:l F" b" o5 oF =l€ o)o q) (') -o 'o :t OO =18Pl6 .- L t .-c I EE ffil: E E 5 (,l('} _c. 5E hi h: E 3 _L5= 5 (t) q) o "t re c) n cco c c+ g. B; 3; "b : .- o.- rO Ll-l €s slo=t> r e o l I FICURE I LENGTH FREQUENCIES OF SPORT-CAUGHT KINC SALMON I 508 MM AND OVER, DESHKA RIVER . 1971. I I Escapement counts during l97l were limited to the East Fo of the Deshka River and two tributaiies to Lake Creek. The counts ob ained I (Table 2) are minimal and due to the limifed coverage of the s awn i ng population in fhe Deshka River and Lake creek, the l97l counts are not comDarable to previous yearrs estimates' I Enumeration of salmon In the susifna River drainage is c f i ned to the clear water tributaries. The magnitude of the king salrnon ru i nto upper visual lY Cook Inlet cannot be evaluated because the salmon cannot be d cted I gl waters in the many turbid glacial streams. salmon uti I ization of ial for purposes other lhan migration has not been determined. T a I escapenent .orni, are not practical on these large streams, so index are compri si ng I only a fraction of the spawning area, provide.only felative apernent va lue information. Clear streams are counted annual ly. Surveys A made duri ng late July and August when the sfreams are low and clear and salmon are on the spawning grounds. I In the past, attempts were made to obtain total counts o king and O. kisutch, in the Deshka River by means of a unti ng wei r silver salnon, water I and sonar count6r,-TFT6-ese attempts were unsuccessf u I becau of high and mal function of the electronic counter' ement estimates I nrethods is ditions, tur considerable I Aeri a I variation between aerial and float survey counts in the same tream, surveys are a fast and economical means of covering a large n er of streams in a short period of tine; float or ground surveys are more r liable on I streams that offer poor visibi lity from the air' creeks, In addition to the west side Susitna streams, Ship and be | | A ground urvey made on I I the Anchorage area' were surveyed' ocated in 221 kings August 5 revealed l02 king salmon in Campbel I Creek and a tot I of prese ted in Volunre 13, in Ship Creek. Additional information on Ship Creek is I Job G- I | -D. Comnercial FisherY: I The Cook Inlet commercial kinq salmon harvest totaled l9 806 of wh i ch 9,598 (48.5b were taken in the noithern district. Salmon ha ted from the northern area are bound for upper Cook Inlet tributaries d the Susitna I Ri ver dra i nage. Lengths and scales were obtained from 339 commercial ly ught ki ng 457 I salmon ai a local cannery. The sampled fish ranged in lengt from f ro ng 1,237 nrn with a nrean of 900 mm. Average lengths of f ish fishi Period to tishing period were analyzed. No significant differences peared i n the samples (Figure 2) I I I I I \o ooo ! o\ I o\ o|.r\f^ $ l-r I N I I Jc o Dq, c I o o J UI o c o o ? o ug U I q|(E F =a mlJ to U o J g^ s I Qe U tr t l!v ao o I,JJ (n 9oL I .l- O o= ao U|l U a\ z0)oo F !vL t.lJ t o E* z CoF Y o ,i: o I Oe' .:o o et U U E UJ oo\- F: x dr- (f- 5i F I l- ov 9() Et = xe -- -cE z 1{,t 6i o I o o Fi- =J F :5 !€ a c o\o o<) (! :f z t tc) (^- o 'a .- >? =J o a t o rn c{ ot ot (J a\$:fol -sh z zzzz ilililil oOu>\ I ol -ol I,IL F (\ (1 >.r (\ (\ (\ rn .o(n t,t o \. \. \- \. i o\o (o ro (€) ,.O (o (o xr\ oo ac{ Ztv I 1t VO Within the first week of operation there was considerable counting variation in I accuracy. One of the factors considered a possible cause of the variation was lack of adequate water over the transducers. were taken Renredial measures and those transducers in less than three feet of water were disconnected so as ttfalse I to eliminate any further counts., within 24 hours after the shal low end transducers were=on'ii"=1i,.;:l':ffi ,pur red,u considerabre variati *n"-.,'u i '-ff u;;;; ;"; i '| qvv printerI rt t9l ?::::i.d(tape)' ::i::"1False J',;::j3:' ;l;Pr counts were accelerated and fuig" numbers of false counts were I recorded. Factors attributable may have been: l ' Defecfive transducers causing continuous or intenmittent (cl icking) I false counts. 2' Debris I trapped above fransducers, which create the same effect. 3' The array resting on a log, rock or other objects which cause the array to undulate, thus causing ilfalse counts.rt I On August ll, flood damage to the electronics portion of the salmon counter made the counter inoperable I and the program was d i sconti nued. S i I ver Sa lmon I Si lver salmon in Upper Cook Inlet tend to have much stronger runs dur ]ng even years. The l97l sport fish harvest on the west side of the Susitna River was considered poor as a result of low cycle year abundance. even years, Durino I there is also a high commercial fishing effort on si lver salm6n. Creel census was confined to three streams on the west side: Deshka River, Lake and Alexander I creeks. Information received disclosed that 296 anglers contacted fished 1,1159 hours to catch sonal 129 si lver salmon, tor a sea rate of success of O.l I fish per hour. Harvest data for these streams I is presented in Table j. The age compositon of Upper Cook Inlet adult lver salmon is composed I of three- (l.l) and four-year-old (2.1) fish. Ninety-nine sarmon silver measured ranged fron 457 - 660 mm, with a rnean of 569 rnm. t T t I TABLE 5 Si lver Salmon SPort Fish Harvest for Three West Side us i tna Streams, 1971. I Tot. Angler Tot. Fish/ Fish/ Streams Anglers Hrs. SS Angler Angl er Hr. I A lexander Creek 4l t58 zl 0.51 0. t3 I Deshka Ri ver ,ntr 761 6B n"? 0.09 Lake Creek 234 40 0 .80 0. t7 I Tota I s |,159 t29 0.44 0. il I Fcnanomont. I Due to high wafer conditions during l9ll, no reliable est mates were made on si lver salmon populations on the west s i de Sus i tna r sTreams. I Pink Salmon I Pink salmon, Q. gorbuscha, are more abundant during even umbered years in Cook Inlet. They are relatively unimportant in th e sport f shery but are I caught incidentally while the angler is f ishing for silver sal n A fotal of 4l pink salmon were creel checked on the th west s i de streams: 3 - Deshka River; 19 - Alexander Creekt 19 - Lake K. t Pink salmon caught averaged 495 mm in length with a ran from 408 584 mm. I LITEMTURE CITED I +h^ llnnnr Stefanich, Frank A. 1962. Population Studies of King Salmon tt^ rrrs uvPel I Cook I n let Drai nage. Alaska Departnent of Fish and Game. Federa I Ai d I n Fi sh Restorat i on, Annual Report of Progress, 196l-196 Project F-5-R-3 , 3:87-99. I Kubik, Stanley W. 1963. Population Studies of King Salmon i tho llnnon Inlet Drainage. Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Fe ral Aid In Fish Restoration, Annual Report of Progress, 1962-1963, ject F-5-R-4, I 4:205-233. I t0 I I I popuration . 1964. studies of Ki ng sarmon i n the upper cook Dra i nage. n raska Departnent I of Fi in ano Game. Federa I Ai d I n Flsh Restoration, Annuar Reporf of progress, 1963-1964, project -ffi]efF-5-R-5, 5:165-187. I . 1965. Popu I at ion stud ies of Ki ng sa lrnon i n the Upper cook IET Dra i nage. A raska Departnrent of Fiin ano Gane . Federa I Ai d I n -Tn Fish Restoration, Annuar Report of progress, 1964-1965, project I F-5-R-6, 6: t65-184. ' 1966. Population Studies of Anadromous Species wifh Emphasis Salmon, --??iKng Upper Cook lnlet Drainage. Alaska Departnrent of Fish I and Gane. Federal Aid in Filh lgstoration, Annual Report of progress, 1965-1966, Project F-5-R-7, 7 ;l 17_l30 1967. Population studies of Anadromous Species with Emphasis on Upper t cook lnlet Drainage, Alaska Departnent of Fish and Game. Fede ra I Aid ln Fish Restoration, Annual Report of progress, 1966-1967, Project F-5-R-8, 8: I l7-128. I _maDepar|nrentofFishandGame.Federa|Aid|nFishRestoration,. 1968. Population Studies of Anadronpus Fish in Cook Inlet. Annual Report of progress, 1967-1968, project F-5-R-9, 9:157-171. I . 1969. Anadronpus Fish Population Studies - Upper Cook Inlet Alaska Deparfnrent of Fish and Gane. Federal Aid In Fish -Tira'iTa9e.Restoration, Annual Report of progress, l968-1969, project F-9-1, I l0 t 179-194 . . 1970. Population Studies of Anadromous Species with Emphasis onliFper Cook Inlet Drainage. I Alaska Departnent of Fish and Garne. Federal Ald In Fish Restorltion, Annual heport of progress, tg6g-lg71, Project F-9-2, ll zl35-144. I . 1971. Anadromus fish Population Studies - Upper Cook Inlet ---Tiraii-age. Alaska Departnent of Fish and Game. Federal Aid In Fish Restoration,_Annual Reporf of progress, rgTo-r97l, project I l2(G-ll):21-34. F-g-3, . 1972. Sarmonid Rearing and Migration study: Ship creek Alaska Deparfnent of Fish and Ganre. Federal Aid In Fish I --STem.Restoration, Annuar Report of progress, projecf F-g-4, r2(G-l r): 3t-40. I I Prepared by: Approued by: Stan I ey W. Kub i k I @ ffis/Howard E. 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