Fisheries, Subsistence, and Habitat
Publications Searchable Database
Search Again| Division: | Sport Fish |
| Title: | Situk River Chinook and sockeye salmon sport harvest estimates, 2018–2021. |
| Author: | Pawluk, J., M. Catterson, and J. Huang. |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Report ID: | Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Fishery Data Series No. 23-38, Anchorage. |
| Abstract: | During 2018–2021, sport angling effort, catch, and harvest information was estimated on the Situk River using creel sampling interviews. This sampling was targeted at anglers fishing for Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha and sockeye salmon O. nerka on the Situk River from approximately 9 June through 31 July each year. A 2-sampler survey methodology was used for all study years except 2021, with 1 sampler stationed at the primary lower river access point each day and a second sampler rotating between 2 access points on alternating days. Chinook salmon fisheries were restricted or closed on the Situk River by management actions all years of this report due to low abundance; however, they were reopened in 2020 and 2021. During the study period the estimated number of Chinook salmon (all sizes) caught ranged from 112 to 435 fish, and the number of large (=28") Chinook salmon harvested ranged from 0 to 4 fish. Estimated sockeye salmon catch ranged from 6,295 to 11,597 fish, and estimated sockeye harvest ranged from 2,135 to 4,974 fish. Angler effort, measured in the number of hours fished, ranged from 9,891 to 15,427 hours per year. Foot traffic was the most common access method used by anglers, whereas jet boat and motorboat travel were the least common. Most participants in the fishery were unguided and nonresident anglers. |
| Keywords: | Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka, harvest, escapement, biological escapement goal, creel survey, Situk River, Yakutat, Southeast Alaska |