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Division: Commercial Fish
Title: Characterization of the 2011 salmon run in the Kuskokwim River based on the test fishery at Bethel.
Author: Bue, D. G., and C. G. Lipka.
Year: 2016
Report ID: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Fishery Data Series No. 16-05, Anchorage.
Abstract: Annual abundance indices and run timing of adult Chinook Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, sockeye O. nerka, chum O. keta, and coho O. kisutch salmon returning to the Kuskokwim River have been assessed by the Bethel test fishery since 1984. In 2011, the Bethel test fishery operated from June 1 through August 20. A series of timed drifts using 8.0 inch and 5.375 inch stretched mesh gillnets were made at 3 stations across the river channel. Each series of drifts began approximately 1 hour following each high tide throughout the fishing season. Mean tidal catch per unit effort (CPUE) was calculated for each species and served as an index of abundance. The cumulative mean tidal CPUE was compared to information from earlier years and to the results from the lower Kuskokwim inseason subsistence salmon harvest monitoring project to determine salmon abundance and run timing to help direct subsistence and commercial management decisions. The final cumulative CPUE index through August 20 was: 201 Chinook, 1,517 sockeye, 10,028 chum, and 3,234 coho salmon. Relative abundance indices were below the 2001?2010 average for Chinook, near average for sockeye and coho salmon, and above average for chum salmon. Run timing of Chinook salmon peaked on June 23; sockeye salmon peaked on June 29; chum salmon peaked on July 7; and coho salmon peaked on August 5. Chinook salmon cumulative CPUE indices tracked historical years when escapement goals were not achieved. Sockeye, chum, and coho salmon cumulative CPUE indices tracked historical years when escapement goals were met.
Keywords: Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, sockeye salmon O. nerka, chum salmon O. gorbuscha, coho salmon O. kisutch, Bethel test fishery, run timing, relative abundance, commercial fishery, subsistence fishery, stocks of concern, escapement, drift gillnet, index, water level, age sex and length (ASL) composition, catch per unit effort, CPUE, Kuskokwim River.