Production of coho salmon from the Taku River, 1993-1994
By: by Scott A. McPherson and David R. Bernard.
Contributors: Bernard, David R.; Alaska. Division of Sport Fish.
Series: Fishery data series -- no. 95-29.
Publisher: Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish, Research and Technical Services
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Anchorage
Language: eng
Number of pages: 41
Subjects: Coho salmon -- Taku River (B.C. and Alaska) -- Statistics.; Fish populations -- Taku River (B.C. and Alaska) -- Statistics.; Fishes -- Taku River (B.C. and Alaska) -- Statistics.
Genres: Statistics.
Description: As part of an ongoing study of the production of coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch from Taku River, near Juneau, Alaska, the Division of Sport Fish implanted coded wire tags in smolt leaving the river in spring 1993. Subsequent recovery of these fish was used to estimate the harvest, production, exploitation rate in 1994, and abundance of smolt in 1993. In 1993 two 12' diameter and one 8 diameter rotary smolt traps were fished near Canyon Island on the Taku River. A total of 5,549 coho salmon smolt were caught from 9 May to 27 June. Of these, 683 were coded wire tagged and released with tag code 04-38-01, and 4,361 were tagged and released with tag code 04-38-02, for a total of 5,044. Of the remainder (505 fish), 271 were <70 mm and were not tagged, 189 died in traps prior to tagging, an estimated 10 died after tagging and 35 shed tags. Smolt sampled from the catch averaged 98 mm fork length and were 78% age 1.0 and 22% age 2.0. In 1994, 178 adult coho salmon bearing coded wire tags implanted near Canyon Island (in 1993) were recovered in random sampling of marine fisheries to produce an estimate of total marine harvest of 228,607 (SE = 36,734). Of this harvest, the troll fishery took an estimated 42%, drift gillnet fisheries took 38%, seine fisheries took 12% and recreational fisheries took about 8%. A mark-recapture experiment conducted by the Commercial Fisheries Management and Development Division and the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans estimated the inriver run of coho salmon past Canyon Island at 111,036 (SE = 6,529) fish. Of this total, 14,693 fish were harvested by inriver fishers above the U.S./Canada border. The estimated total run, the sum of escapement and harvest, in 1994 for coho salmon originating above Canyon Island was 339,643 (SE = 37,310) and the marine exploitation rate was an estimated 67% (SE = 4%). The estimated total run, the sum of escapement and harvest, in 1994 for coho salmon from the entire Taku River drainage was 435,440 (SE = 47,833), accounting for those fish originating below Canyon Island. The estimated smolt abundance in 1993 from above Canyon Island was 1,475,874 (SE = 368,411) and marine survival of coho salmon smolt from above Canyon Island was estimated at 23% (SE = 6.3%).
Notes: "November 1995."

Includes bibliographical references (p. 22-23).

Also issued online.