Alasha Habitat lldanagement Guide Southcentral Region Volume I: Life Histories and Habitat Requirements of Fish andWildlife Produced by State of Alasha Department of Fish and Crame Division of Habitat Iuneau, Alasha 1985 o1e85 tl#''* & GAME AIASKA DEPARTMEN] contents Achnovledgements Introduction Mammals Marine Marmal s seal 17 ---HETboFSteller sea lion 25 Sea otter 33 Terrestrial Marnmals ffiiteddeer 47 Caribou 67 Dal I sheeP 77 Moose 87 Birds Bald Eagle 101 Dabbl ing ducks 113 Diving ducks L25 Geese 135 Seabirds I47 Trumpeter swan 157 Fish Freshwater/Anadromous Fi sh en 167 Arctic arayl ing 183 Burbot 201 Lake trout 213 Rainbow trout/steel head 223 Sal mon Chinook ?41 Coho 257 Chum 273 Pink 289 Sockeye 303 Mari ne Fi sh cod 319 --EfficPacific hal ibut 327 Pacific herring 333 Pacific ocean perch 345 Sabl efi sh 353 Wal l eye po'l l ock 361 Yelloweye rockfish 37L ta TraEsShel I fi sh Dungeness 379 King 387 Tanner 401 Razor clam 415 Shrimp 42L Volume z contains narratives on the distribution, abundance, and human trseof selected species of fish and wildlife. Maps Introducti on ffesixregionsoftheAlaskaHabitatMana9ement.Guides5 2. The four subregions of the Southcentral Region 10 3. The Southcentral Region 13 Life Histories and Habitat Requirements aP of the sPecies' range (maP 1 of each narrative). Dabbl inq ducks of dabbling ducks 113 2. Major coastal marshes of UCI 116 Figtlres Introducti on Tpes of narrati ves and maps produced by the Alaska Habitat --T. Management Guides Proiect 6 Tlables Dabbl i n DTil compos'ition of 6? dabbl ing ducks on the west CoPPer River de'lta, Sept.-0ct. 1981 119 Breeding biology of dabbling ducks l2r PTant and animal species utilized by diving ducks r28 Reproductive characteristics of diving ducks 130 Geese 1. Preferred foods and breed'ing habitat of geese in the Southcentral Region 138 2. Prdferred foods and breeding habitat of geese i n the Southwest Region 139 'in 3. lleiti ng , reari ng, and mol ti ng bi ol ogy of geese the Southcentra'l Region 141 4. Neiting, rearing, and molting biology of geese in the Southwest Region 142 Seabi rds Seabi rd I i fe hi stories 150 -T. w Achnowledgements This project is under the direction of the Conmissioner of the Department of Fish and Game, Don l,{. Collinsworth, the Director of the Division of Habitat, Norman Cohen, and the Deputy Director, Bruce H. Baker. Many individua'ls have been involved in the production of this second Alaska Habitat Management Guide. All narratives were reviewed first by project staff and distributed for both technical and departmental reviews. The names of reviewers and other contributors are compiled in appendix A in volume 2. The fol'lowing lists the production team and the portion of the guide for which authors are responsible.* Marianne G. See, Coordinator Bob Durr, Editor Lana C. Shea, Team Leader, Wildlife Group Leader Wayne Do'lezal , Fisheries Group Leader Authors: l.lildlife Steve Albert, Habitat Biologist: Sitka black-tailed deer LH (wjth M. Sjgman), DA; Bald Eagle DA; sea lion DA; harbor seal DA; sea otter DA; caribou DA, HU-H. Mike McDonald, Game Bio'logist: harbor seal LH; caribou LH; moose LH (with F. Nelson), DA, HU-H. Mi ke Masters, Habitat Biologist: Sitka black-tajled deer HU-H; furbearers HU-T. Robi n Mooring, Habitat Biologist: dabbling and diving ducks and geese LHs (wi th J. Westl und). F. Nelson, Game Biologist: trumpeter swan LH (with R. Mooring), DA; Bald Eag'le LH. John Westlund, Game Biologist: dabbling and diving ducks and geese LHs (with R. Mooring), DA, HU-H; seabirds LH (with F. Nelson); sea 'lion LH; sea otter LH (with F. Nelson); Dall sheep LH, DA, HU-H. * LH=life history and habitat requirements; DA=distribution and abundance; HU-C=human use-commercial fishing; HU-T=human use-trapping; HU-H=human use- hunting; HU-P=human use-personal use/subsistence fishing; HU-S=human use- sportfi shi ng. Authors: Fish Wayne Dolezal, Fisheries Bio.logist: chinook, coho, sockeye, chum, and pink salmon LH, DA (with M. Rowse). Katherine A. Rowell, Fisheries Biologist: Pacifjc herring LH, HU-C; king crab LH, HU-C; Dungeness crab LH, HU-C.(with D. Sigurdsson);.Tanner crab LH, HU-C; s'hrimp LH, FU-C (with M. Rowse); chinook, coho, sockeye, chum, and pink salmon HU-C. Melinda L. Rowse, Fisheries Biologist: chinook, coho, sockeye, chum, and pink salmon DA (wittr lrl. Do]eza1 ); ihrimp HU-c (with K' Rowell)' Dora Sigurdsson, Fisheries Technician: Dungeness crab HU-C (with K. Rowel I ) . Sandra K. Sonnichsen, Fisheries Biologist: Pacific halibut LH, DA, HU-C, HU-S; Pacific cod LH, DA, HU-C; sablefish LH, DA, HU-C; yel-loryeyq rockfish LH, bA, HU-C, HU-S; groundfish HU-C; razor clam LH, DA, Hu-C, HU-P; rainbow irout/iteelhead fH, On, HU-S; arctic char/Do11y Varden LH (w_ith K. Webster), DA, HU-S; arctic arayling LH (with K. Webster), DA, HU-S; lake trout HU-S; salmon HU-S; burbot HU-S. Kathleen R. Thornburgh, Habitat Biologist: lake trout DA; burbot LH, DA; Pacjfic herring DA; king crab DA; Dungeness .crab DA; Tanner crab DA; shrimp DA; salmon HU-P; shellfish (crabs and shrimp) HU-p. Keith A. Webster, Fisheries Biologist: arctic char LH (with S. Sonnichsen); arctic grayling LH (with S. Sonnichsen); lake trout LH. Authors: Subsistence and 0ther Local Use of Resources Dave Andersen, F'ish and Game Resource Special'ist: Upper Cook Inlet/Susitna Basin Subregion. Rob Bosworth, Fi sh and Game Resource Speci al i st: Copper Ri ver Basjn/Wrange11 Mountajns and Lower Cook Inlet/Kenai Peninsula Subregi ons . Bob Schroeder, Fish and Game Resource Special'ist: Pri nce tJilliam Sound Subregi on . Support staff Lauren Barker, Ljbrarian Carol Barnhill, CartograPher Tom Bucceri, CartograPher Patti Frink, Drafting Technic'ian Mi chael Frost, Draf ti ng Techn'ici an Susan H. Grainger, Clerk/TYPist Juanita R. Henderson, Clerk/Typist vi Frances Inoue, Drafting Technician Clare A. Johnson, Clerk/Typist Ethel Lewis, Clerk/Typist Greg Mi l'ls , Analyst/Programmer Laura Nowell, Clerk/Typist Cynthia Pappas, Drafting Technician Cheryl Pretzel, Clerk/Typist Gay Pu'l1ey, Graphic Artist Lavonne Rhyneer, Drafting Technician Don Shields, Drafting Technician The process of developing the initial plan and procedtryes for this proiect invoived a number of individuals who are not otherwise listed as authors and contributors. These include many staff within the Division of Habitat, as wel I as p1 anners and research . and management coordi nators of other di vi s'ions . Thi s group a1 so i ncl udils al 1 project team members and a'l I ADF&G regional supervisors. Special mention should be made of the support frgm Cail Yanagawa, Regional Supervisor of the Division of Habitat for the Southcentra'l Region (Region II), and of the contributions of Rai Behnert, who was the original coordinator of this project. |.le would also like to acknowledge the many contributions of John A. Clark, who was Director of the Division of Habitat until his untimely death earlier this year. w Introduction Overvietv of Habitat Management Guides Proiect Background Alaska js an immense and bountiful frontjer, and until iust recently it was all but inconceivable that we would ever need to worry about its capacity to sustain the wealth of fish and wildlife resources for which it is renowned. But the impetus of progress has not abated, and the pressure t9 de_ve1op our lands and waters intensifies dai'ly. Every year more lands in Alaska are being proposed for uses other than as wildlife habitat, especia'lly around citi6s, towns, and vi'l1ages. These proposed uses include logg'ing, mining' geothermal and hydroeiectric projects, agriculture, settlement, -development, oit and gas lease!, among others. As the number of proposals and plans'ly for devel opmdnt conti nues to i ncrease , so does the need to careful and efficibntly eva'luate their possible effects upon species and hab.itats and to recommend vlaUte managerial.options to guarantee that our valuable fish and wildlife resources and habitats are adequate'ly protected and maintained. By using appropriate planning and managerial techniques most of the potential for damage and loss of access for human use can be avoided. One of the responsibilities of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is to assist land managers by recommending to them the best ways and means, based upon the best available data, for protecting local fish' wildlife, and habitats against adverse effects and impacts. Because many proposal p1 d-evel opment and I and uses req_ui re a d response s and ans for -r_api ?roin the department, there may not be enough time for staff to actually study the specific area in which the proposed development js to occur. However, the department still needs to accumulate and assess a wide variety of information jn order to prepare recommendations for manag'ing habjtat. Therefore, the department initiated the Alaska Habitat Management Guides (AHMG) project to prepare reports of the kinds of informat'ion upon which its recommendations must be founded in order to responsibly and rapidly address land and water use proposals made by land managers. These guides are a major undertaking and will be of inestimable value to the state in its efiorts to avoid- or mitigate adverse impacts to Alaska's great wealth of fi sh and wi I dl i fe. Purpose This project presents the best available information on selected fish and wildlife species:'their mapping and discussing their geographical djstribution; assessing relative-abundance; describing their life functions and habitat requirements; identify'ing the human uses made of them, inc'luding harvest patterns of rural communities; and describing their role in the state's economy.