Hugh Smith Lake Sockeye Salmon Stock Assessment, 2019 PDF Download

Author: Malika T. Brunette
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Escapement (Fisheries)
Languages : en
Pages : 43

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Book Description
In 2019, long-term population studies designed to evaluate adult sockeye salmon abundance and juvenile production at Hugh Smith Lake continued. An estimated 25,000 sockeye salmon smolt were counted through the smolt weir and an estimated 56% of smolt were freshwater-age-1 and 43% were freshwater-age-2. The escapement was counted through a weir, a mark-recapture study was conducted to confirm the weir count, and biological data were collected to estimate the age, length, and sex composition of the adult sockeye salmon escapement. The 2019 weir count of 2,241 adult sockeye salmon was below the optimal escapement goal range of 8,000-18,000 adult sockeye salmon and was the fourth lowest escapement since 1980. Age-1.3 adults were the most abundant adult age class, representing an estimated 82% of the total spawning population. Sockeye salmon spawn in 2 inlet streams, Buschmann Creek and Cobb Creek. Counts of live sockeye salmon in Buschmann Creek (not including mouth estimates) only exceeded 250 fish during peak spawn timing from 14 to 22 September (peak count 475 fish on 14 September). Counts of live sockeye salmon in Cobb Creek peaked at 56 fish on 15 September and all other counts were less than 25 fish. Reported subsistence harvest was 521 fish and accounted for an estimated 19% of the terminal run. The estimated minimum harvest rate in the District 101-108 commercial net fisheries was 77% in 2019.