Assessment: Chinook, Chum, and Whitefish Ecology in the Yukon River Basin by Jennie Morawetz Ryke Longest, Advisor Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council, Client April 2013 Master’s Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Environmental Management degree in the Nicholas School of the Environment of Duke University Abstract The Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council represents the indigenous people of the Yukon River. Currently, the Watershed Council is developing a Yukon River Watershed Management Plan. The heart of the plan will be a set of measurable water quality standards designed to protect the quality and flow of the Yukon River for the benefit of the river’s people and its fish species, on which the people rely for food and for maintenance of their traditional way of life. This summer, delegates from the Tribes and First Nations will decide whether to approve the proposed plan and recommend to the individual governments a proposed model ordinance incorporating by reference the water quality standards in the plan. If they adopt the plan, the Tribes and First Nations will then need to work together to compare existing conditions against the water quality standards, among other things. For a comparison of existing conditions and the water quality standards to be meaningful, it must be done in light of information on how people and how fish use the river. The Watershed Council has focused most of its energies so far on water quality as it relates to human and community health. Given this historical focus, the Watershed Council has relatively little technical information regarding fish ecology in the Yukon basin. This Master’s Project is designed to be the first step in building that institutional knowledge. It begins with a brief overview of the Yukon basin, of the importance of clean water, and of existing water quality. It then provides a broad summary of existing ecological information on three of the Yukon’s key subsistence fish species—chinook salmon, chum salmon, and whitefish—based on a thorough literature review. It concludes by recommending that the Watershed Council prioritize four subbasins for more localized planning efforts: the Tanana River subbasin; the Koyukuk River or Lower Yukon subbasin; the Porcupine River or Chandalar River subbasin; and the Stewart River subbasin. By being at the vanguard of the watershed planning process, the indigenous people of the Yukon basin have an opportunity to be leaders in environmental protection and tribal self- determination. As a result of their efforts, a relatively pristine landscape, highly productive fisheries, and rich human traditions could be preserved for many generations to come. i Preface The goal of this master’s project is to assist the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council with the development and implementation of a watershed management plan for the Yukon River basin. The Watershed Council is a nonprofit, grassroots organization “consisting of 70 First Nations and Tribes[] dedicated to the protection and preservation of the Yukon River watershed.”1 The organization operates pursuant to an Inter-Tribal Accord signed by First Nations and Tribes along the length of the river. To promote its existing preservation efforts and to make decisions about how best to protect the watershed going forward, the Watershed Council holds biennial summit meetings. The last summit meeting took place in August 2011 in Ruby, Alaska. Based on decisions made by Council leadership at that summit, the Watershed Council committed to developing an inter- tribal watershed management plan emphasizing water quality standards. These standards should be designed specifically to meet the objectives of the Tribes and First Nations of the Yukon River. The First Nations and Tribes are sovereign entities with rights of self-government, and the river is central to their traditional way of life. Developing water quality standards specifically tailored to their objectives, together with a management strategy, will empower the Tribes and First Nations to assert a greater role in the governance of the Yukon River watershed. This, in turn, will allow the First Nations and Tribes to ensure the Yukon River is preserved for future generations. I have tried as much as possible to tailor this project to the needs of the Watershed Council, and I would like to thank the Council staff and consultants for giving me this project and for involving me in the watershed planning process. In particular, I would like to thank John Shurts, Faon O’Connor, and Ryan Toohey. I would also like to thank my advisor, Ryke Longest, for his helpful feedback on drafts and for keeping me on track with deadlines; Christian Zimmerman, research fishery biologist at the USGS Alaska Science Center, for his pointers on getting started with the research for this project; Dani Evenson, fishery scientist at the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, for her guidance in the early stages of this project; Al von Finster, fishery biologist formerly at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, for providing me with information on 1 “About Us,” Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council, 2008, http://www.yritwc.org/About- Us/About-Us.aspx. ii salmonid populations in the Canadian portion of the Yukon basin; and Greg Halbach for his unending support of everything I do. iii Table of Contents 1. Introduction to the Assessment ....................................................................................................1 2. Overview of the Yukon River Basin ............................................................................................6 2-1. The landscape ...............................................................................................................6 2-2. The people ..................................................................................................................10 3. Clean Water: The Foundation of Healthy Fisheries and Healthy Communities .......................12 3-1. Key subsistence fish species of the Yukon basin .......................................................12 3-2. Clean water, good fish habitat ....................................................................................14 3-3. Building resiliency ......................................................................................................14 4. Existing Fish Habitat Conditions ...............................................................................................17 5. Overview of Anadromous Waters .............................................................................................19 6. Chinook Salmon ........................................................................................................................21 7. Chum Salmon ............................................................................................................................31 7-1. Summer chum .............................................................................................................32 7-2. Fall chum ....................................................................................................................34 7-3. Summer and fall chum outmigration ..........................................................................37 8. Whitefish Species .......................................................................................................................39 8-1. Overview of the six common whitefish species of the Yukon basin ..........................39 8-2. Spawning locations and population estimates ............................................................44 8-2-1. Sheefish .......................................................................................................44 8-2-2. Broad whitefish ...........................................................................................45 8-2-3. Humpback whitefish ...................................................................................45 8-2-4. Least cisco ...................................................................................................46 8-2-5. Bering cisco .................................................................................................47 8-2-6. Round whitefish ..........................................................................................47 9. Recommendations ......................................................................................................................48 10. Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................53 11. Bibliography ............................................................................................................................54 Appendix: Anadromous Waters .....................................................................................................59 iv Tables and Figures Tables 1-1. Water Quality Standards Included in the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council Draft Watershed Management Plan ...........................................................................1 2-1-1. Major Subbasins of the Yukon River Basin ..........................................................................7 6-1. Inter-Annual Variability in Chinook Run Strength, Yukon River, 1995, 1997–2011 ...........23 6-2. Summary of Results of 2003 Radio Telemetry Study Showing Likely Spawning Locations for 884 Chinook Tagged Near Russian Mission, Alaska ......................................25 7-1-1. Inter-Annual Variability