Mortality of sheefish captured and released on sport fishing gear in the Kobuk River, 1997
By: by Lisa Stuby and Thomas T. Taube.
Contributors: Taube, Thomas Theodore.; Alaska. Division of Sport Fish.
Series: Fishery data series -- no. 98-15.
Publisher: Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish, Research and Technical Services
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Anchorage
Language: eng
Number of pages: 23
Subjects: Inconnu (Fish) -- Alaska -- Kobuk River -- Statistics.; Fish populations -- Alaska -- Kobuk River -- Statistics.; Fishing -- Alaska -- Kobuk River -- Statistics.
Description: A hooking mortality study on sheefish (Stenodus leucichthys) was conducted on the Kobuk River near the confluence of the Pah River. Fish were captured by means of a single-hooked lure (6/0), treble hook lure and beach seine. The primary study objective was to estimate the proportion of sheefish that died due to hook and line sampling. Also, the effects of lure type, hooking location, bleeding severity, landing time and handling time on sheefish mortality and the relationship between hook location and bleeding severity were examined. The mortality rate for the single-hooked lure was 0.016 (SE=0.016) and that for the treble hook lure was 0.032 (SE=0.022). Of the 125 fish sampled by hook and line, only three died as a result of sampling. An Anderson-Darling k-sample test between the fish lengths sampled by the two gear types and the seined controls rejected the null hypothesis of size homogeneity. The median lengths for sheefish captured by single-hooked lures, treble hook lures, and seine were 871 mm, 825 mm, and 893 mm respectively. Contingency table analysis of hook location and severity of bleeding with respect to gear type failed to reject the hypothesis for independence. However, contingency tables comparing hook location to severity of bleeding for both gear types showed a direct relationship. Due to the low number of mortalities, no correlation could be made between landing and handling times on fish mortality. There was an approximately 75% mortality for fish that were hooked in the gills and bleeding severely.
Notes: "July 1998."

Includes bibliographical references (p. 15-17).

Also issued online.