Author: Malika T. BrunettePublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Escapement (Fisheries)
Languages : en
Pages : 45
Book Description
In 2015, we continued long-term sockeye salmon population studies at Hugh Smith Lake designed to evaluate adult sockeye salmon abundance and juvenile production. An estimated 36,000 sockeye salmon smolt were passed through a smolt weir operated at the outlet of the lake from 20 April to 6 June. We estimated 53% of the smolt were freshwater age 1 and 47% were freshwater age 2. From 18 June to 5 November, we enumerated the adult salmon escapement through a weir, conducted an ancillary mark-recapture study to confirm the weir count, and collected biological information to estimate the age, length, and sex composition of the sockeye salmon escapement. The weir count of 21,298 adult sockeye salmon was the 11th escapement in the past 13 years to exceed the lower bound of the optimal escapement goal range of 8,000-18,000 adult sockeye salmon. Age-1.3 adults were the dominant returning age class, representing an estimated 42% of the total spawning population. However, the proportion of all 2-ocean fish (age-1.2, 2.2, and 3.2 age classes; 51%) exceeded the proportion of 3-ocean fish (age-1.3 and 2.3; 49%), and the number of wild 2-ocean fish in the escapement (10,850 fish) was the second largest on record. Peak counts of live fish on the spawning grounds were observed on 14 September in Buschmann Creek (741 fish) and 13 September in Cobb Creek (194 fish). The reported subsistence harvest (690 fish) was the second largest since 1985. We used results from genetic stock identification analysis for the first time to estimate the commercial harvest of Hugh Smith Lake sockeye salmon in 2014 (15,000 fish) and 2015 (24,000 fish). The harvest distribution and estimated harvest rates (58% in 2014 and 52% in 2015) were similar to results from previous tagging studies.
