Sean LarsonAlaska Department of Fish and Game

Division of Commercial Fisheries

Summer Chum Salmon Radio Telemetry Study

SummaryADF&G is implementing a radio telemetry

study on Yukon summer chum salmon

• Use drift gillnets to catch and tag 1200 chum salmon near Russian Mission with spaghetti and radio tags

• Track tagged salmon upriver with remote tracking stations and aerial surveys

• First major effort to estimate summer chum run timing, distribution, and abundance, with consideration for specific stocks

• Fishing pressure is increasing

• Need this study to manage specific stock groups

• Need more information– Escapement estimates for spawning tributaries– Distribution among spawning areas– Stock specific run characteristics– Anvik River

Importance

Anvik River• Before 2003: Summer chum salmon escapement

represented 46% of fish passage estimated at the sonar near Pilot Station

• After 2003: Average proportion has dropped to 23%

• Where are they going?

Primary Objectives

• Estimate stock specific: – Run timing– Migration rates– Movement patterns– Distribution

• Identify important spawning tributaries

• Stock contribution to the overall run

• Estimate drainagewide escapement

• Identify the relationship between the Anvik River sonar and the sonar near Pilot Station

Previous RT Studies

• Chinook (2002-2004)

• Fall Chum (1996-2001)

• Summer Chum (2004)• Small feasibility study• 200 tagged• Relatively successful

Russian MissionRussian Mission has several important geographic and

fishery features that make it ideal for tagging

• Beyond most harvests (minimal tag

loss)

• Narrow channel (easy capture)

• EF Andreafsky River has a weir

• Previous tagging efforts

Tagging

Tagging

• Two crews– Up to 7.5 h/d– 7 d/w– 5 weeks

• Max of 3 fish per drift

• Gillnet configurations – 4.5” and 4.25” mesh size– 10 f long shackled together as needed– 7.6 m deep – Thicker and softer #21 seine twine to minimize

injuries

All fish will be handled as gently as possible to minimize stress (and placed in

flow through water tank)

Spaghetti tags will be white and located against the dorsal fin

Radio tags will have an antennae protruding out of the mouth

Should examine for both tags

Tracking Upriver

How Many Are There?

• Monitoring/Assessment ProjectsAnvik Sonar - Gisasa River Weir - Henshaw Creek Weir - Chena River Tower - Salcha River Tower– Mark-recapture abundance estimate

Where do they go?• Towers & Aerial Surveys

• Monitoring/Assessment ProjectsAnvik Sonar - Gisasa River Weir - Henshaw Creek Weir - Chena River Tower - Salcha River Tower

• Fishermen

Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Recovery Project Summer Chum Salmon Radio Tags Data Form, 2014Project

Name/Location:      Gear Type:  

Date Total No. Total No. Hours No. Tags Tag Gender    

mm/dd/yy Estimated Examined OperatedRecovere

d Number M/F/U Length Comments

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

                 

Note: Instructions for completing form on back.

Summary

• Tag 1200 summer chums near RM• Track salmon via towers and aircraft• Stock specific:

– Distribution– Abundance– Run timing

• Drainage wide abundance• Evaluate existing monitoring projects• Please keep an eye out for tagged fish

Alaska Sustainable Salmon Fund

Alaska's allocation of funds from the federal Pacific Coastal Salmon

Recovery Fund

Questions?

Photo Credit: Peter Mather