Author: Edgar L. Jones (III)Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chinook salmon
Languages : en
Pages : 90
Book Description
A cooperative study involving the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the Taku River Tlingit First Nation was conducted to estimate the number of spawning Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in the Taku River from 2008 to 2010 using mark–recapture methodology. Fish were captured annually near Canyon Island in the lower Taku River using fish wheels and set gillnets from late April through early August and were tagged using back-sewn, individually numbered, solid-core spaghetti tags. Two secondary marks, a left operculum punch and a left axillary finclip, were applied in case the primary spaghetti tag was lost between tagging and recapture. Sampling in the lower river assessment and Canadian commercial fisheries, and on the spawning grounds was used to estimate the fraction of the population that had been marked. Spawning abundance of large-sized Chinook salmon (≥660 mm mid-eye to fork of tail) was estimated at 26,645 (SE = 3,010) in 2008, 22,761 (SE = 2,871) in 2009, and 28,769 (SE = 2,546) in 2010. Spawning abundance of medium-sized Chinook salmon (401–659 mm mid -eye to fork of tail) was estimated at 12,889 (SE = 2,559) in 2008, 10,231 (SE = 1,788) in 2009, and 7,310 (SE = 935) in 2010.