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Division: Commercial Fish
Title: Kanektok River salmon monitoring and assessment, 2006
Author: Pawluk, J. A. and P. W. Jones
Year: 2007
Report ID: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Regional Information Report 3A07-07, Anchorage
Abstract: Because of extreme high water conditions during the fall of 2005, the Kanektok River weir was unable to be removed and was left in-river through the winter and into the spring of 2006. This resulted in extensive damage to the weir that prevented operations during the 2006 season. A request to modify project objectives was granted in the spring of 2006 allowing the department to redirect project funds towards rebuilding of the damaged weir. Removal of the damaged weir occurred in May, while construction of the new weir occurred from June through September. This report focuses on weir reconstruction timeline and activities, with additional documentation of harvest and salmon run assessment information collected during the 2006 season. Salmon in the Kanektok River are harvested in subsistence, commercial, and sport fisheries conducted both in-river and in adjacent marine waters of Kuskokwim Bay (District W-4). The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has quantified subsistence harvests in the Quinhagak area of the Kuskokwim Bay since 1968. From 1996 through 2005, annual subsistence harvests have averaged 3,293 Chinook, 1,451 sockeye, 1,144 chum, and 1,486 coho salmon. Subsistence harvest estimates for 2006 were not available at the time of publication. The 2006 District W-4 commercial salmon harvest was 19,184 Chinook, 106,308 sockeye, 39,151 chum, and 26,831 coho salmon, for a total of 191,474 fish. From 1996 through 2005, annual sport harvests have averaged 834 Chinook, 360 sockeye, 179 chum, and 1,193 coho salmon. Sport harvest estimates for 2006 were not available at the time of publication. Samples were collected from the District W-4 commercial catch and used to estimate the age, sex, and length composition of the 2006 Chinook, sockeye, chum, and coho salmon commercial harvest. Aerial surveys were flown on the Kanektok River drainage in 2006 resulting in counts of 8,433 Chinook and 382,800 sockeye salmon.
Keywords: Kanektok River, Kuskokwim Area, District W-4, resistance board weir, Chinook Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, sockeye O. nerka, chum O. keta, coho O. kisutch, salmon, Dolly Varden Salvelinus malma, rainbow trout O. mykiss, whitefish Coregonus spp.