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Division: Sport Fish
Title: Chinook salmon creel survey and inriver gillnetting study, lower Kenai River, Alaska, 2004.
Author: Reimer, A. M.
Year: 2007
Report ID: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Fishery Data Series No. 07-65, Anchorage.
Abstract: A creel survey to estimate angler effort, catch and harvest of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha was conducted on the Kenai River between the Soldotna Bridge and the Warren Ames Bridge from 16 May to 31 July 2004. For the early run, (16 May through 30 June) angler effort was 65,291 (SE = 3,272) angler-hours and harvest was 2,285 (SE = 338) Chinook salmon. Unguided anglers accounted for 47% of the angler effort and 34% of the harvest versus guided anglers who accounted for 53% of the effort and 66% of the harvest. The early-run sport harvest was composed of 11.1% (SE = 3.2%) age-1.2 fish, 50.5% (SE = 5.1%) age-1.3 fish and 38.4% (SE = 4.9%) age-1.4 fish, whereas early-run Chinook passage at the sonar site was composed of 14.8% (SE = 1.9%) age-1.2 fish, 33.3% (SE = 2.5%) age-1.3 fish and 46.4% (SE = 2.7%) age-1.4 fish. For the late run (July), angler effort was 238,415 (SE = 8,139) angler-hours and harvest was 14,493 (SE = 975) Chinook salmon. Unguided anglers accounted for 54% of the effort and 35% of the harvest versus guided anglers who accounted for 46% of the effort and 65% of the harvest. The late-run sport harvest was composed of 8.9% (SE = 1.6%) age-1.2 fish, 27.5% (SE = 2.5%) age-1.3 fish and 59.3% (SE = 2.8%) age-1.4 fish, whereas the late-run Chinook passage at the sonar site was composed of 14.0% (SE = 1.1%) age-1.2 fish, 24.6% (SE = 1.4%) age-1.3 fish and 58.9% (SE = 1.6%) age-1.4 fish. A standardized gillnetting project has been conducted near the Chinook salmon sonar site since 1998. In 2004, the netting project ran from 16 May to 10 August. During the early run 456 Chinook salmon, 475 sockeye salmon and 1 Dolly Varden were captured. The ratio of Chinook salmon CPUE to all species CPUE in the early run ranged from 0.00 to 1.00 and averaged 0.55. During the late run 1,144 Chinook salmon, 777 sockeye salmon, 32 coho salmon, 197 pink salmon and 1 Dolly Varden were captured. The ratio of Chinook salmon CPUE to all species CPUE in the late run ranged from 0.13 to 0.90 and averaged 0.58.
Keywords: Kenai River, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, Chinook salmon, creel survey, effort, harvest, gillnet, CPUE, age composition.