Fisheries, Subsistence, and Habitat
Publications Searchable Database
Search Again| Division: | Sport Fish |
| Title: | Stock status and recommended escapement goal for Anchor River Chinook Salmon |
| Author: | Szarzi, N. J., S. J. Fleischman, R. A. Clark and C. M. Kerkvliet |
| Year: | 2007 |
| Report ID: | Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Fishery Manuscript No. 07-05, Anchorage. |
| Abstract: | The Policy for Management of Sustainable Salmon Fisheries (5 AAC 39.222) and the Policy for Statewide Salmon Escapement Goals (5 AAC 39.223) direct the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to develop, periodically review and update salmon escapement goals to maintain escapements at a level that sustains yield into the future. The Anchor River sustainable escapement goal (SEG) for Chinook salmon, based on single aerial counts conducted annually, was rescinded in 2004 because a new sonar and weir project begun in 2003 found that many more Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tsawytscha escaped into the Anchor than were indicated by aerial counts. The department recommends an SEG threshold of 5,000 adult Chinook salmon in the Anchor River based on a full probability spawner recruit model using all available data including 31 years (1977–2007) of aerial survey escapement indices and inriver recreational harvest estimates, plus 5 years (2003-2007) of weir/sonar estimates of escapement and age composition. Implementation of the stock assessment project should continue to improve estimation of population statistics and management of this stock. |
| Keywords: | Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, Anchor River, spawning abundance, escapement goal, stock-recruit analysis, Ricker Spawner-Recruit model, sustained yield, Bayesian statistics, Markov Chain Monte Carlo, WinBUGS |