Chinook salmon age, sex, and length data from major rivers in Southeast Alaska, 1988-2017

• Main Authors: Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Southeast Region, Bert Lewis
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity
• Subjects: age, sex, length; Oncorhynchus tshawytscha; Sockeye; Taku; Stikine; Stikine River; Taku River; Chilkat River; Unuk River; Alaska
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5063/F11R6NSS

Age, sex and length data provide population dynamics information that can indicate how populations trends occur and may be changing. These data can help researchers estimate population growth rates, age-class distribution and population demographics. Knowing population demographics, growth rates and trends is particularly valuable to fisheries managers who must perform population assessments to inform management decisions. These data are therefore particularly important in valuable fisheries like the salmon fisheries of Alaska. This dataset includes age, sex and length data compiled from annual sampling of commercial and subsistence salmon harvests and research projects in the Upper Cook Inlet. It includes data on five salmon species: chinook, chum, coho, pink and sockeye. Age estimates were made by examining scales or bony structures (e.g. otoliths - ear bones). Scales were removed from the side of the fish; usually the left side above the lateral line. Scales or bony structures were then mounted on gummed cards and pressed on acetate to make an impression. The number of freshwater and saltwater annuli (i.e. rings) was counted to estimate age in years. Age is recorded in European Notation, which is a method of recording both fresh and saltwater annuli. For example, for a fish that spent one year in freshwater and 3 years in saltwater, its age is recorded as 1.3. The total fish age is the sum of the first and second numbers, plus one to account for the time between deposition and emergence. Therefore the fish in this example is 5 years old. Fish sex was determined by either examining external morphology (eg. head and belly shape) or internal sex organ. Length was measured in millimeters, generally from mid-eye to the fork of the tail. This dataset includes samples of Chinook salmon from 4 major rivers in Southeast Alaska: the Chilkat River, Stikine River, Taku River, and Unuk River. One original file is included for each river, in addition to a reformatting script, and a reformatted merged file (ASL_formatted_SoutheastSupplement.csv).