Chinook Salmon Creel Survey And Inriver Gillnetting Study Lower Kenai River Alaska 2007 PDF Download

Sport-angler effort, catch, and harvest of late-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) were estimated from a creel survey conducted on the lower Kenai River in 2014. The Chinook salmon sport fishery was closed to fishing during the entire early run (1 May-30 June) and the last 6 days of the late run (26-31 July). During the late run, anglers caught 1,465 (SE 160) and harvested 539 (SE 98) Chinook salmon with 32,063 (SE 2,779) angler-hours of effort. Guided anglers accounted for 69% of effort and 79% of harvest. The age composition of harvested late-run Chinook salmon was 10.0% age-1.1 fish, 26.7% age-1.2 fish, 30.0% age-1.3 fish, and 33.3% age-1.4 fish. A standardized gillnetting program estimated catch rates and species composition at the RM 8.6 Chinook salmon sonar site within the midriver (insonified) and nearshore (not insonified) areas, 16 May-15 August 2014. During the early run, midriver gillnets caught 134 Chinook salmon and 3,082 sockeye salmon, and nearshore gillnets caught 38 Chinook salmon and 1,267 sockeye salmon. During the late run, midriver gillnets caught 289 Chinook salmon and 4,430 sockeye salmon, and nearshore gillnets caught 54 Chinook salmon and 4,274 sockeye salmon. The estimated age composition of early-run midriver Chinook salmon was 9.4% age-1.1 fish, 41.0% age-1.2 fish, 39.3% age-1.3 fish, 9.4% age-1.4 fish, and 0.9% age-1.5 fish. The estimated age composition of late-run midriver Chinook salmon was 2.5% age-1.1 fish, 20.5% age-1.2 fish, 35.6% age-1.3 fish, 39.3% age-1.4 fish, and 2.1% age-1.5 fish. In 2014, there was no significant difference between length distributions of radiotagged Chinook salmon tracked above the tributary weirs and those sampled at the tributary weirs.