Chum salmon escapement on Bonanza River in Norton Sound, Alaska ...

• Main Author: Bell, Jenefer
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2020
• Subjects: FOS Biological sciences; Bonanza; Norton Sound; Weir; Nome; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0k6djh9z4; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.0k6djh9z4

Bonanza River flows 40 rkm south from the Kigluaik Mountains and drains into Safety Sound approximately 39 km northeast of Nome, Alaska. Chum, pink, and coho salmon are the predominant species that return to the Bonanza River. A fixed-picket weir was installed approximately 11 rkm above the Bonanza Bridge on the Nome-Council Highway (GPS coordinates 64°32.964ʹN, 164°35.812ʹW). The Bonanza River weir enumerated chum salmon for three seasons from 2018 to 2020. Chum salmon escapements were 7,903 in 2018; 8,824 in 2019; and 2,471 in 2020. In 2018 and 2019, high water delayed installation of the weir and therefore the beginning of the run may have been missed. Additionally, in 2019 high water forced weir operations to stop before the proposed end date, so it is likely the end of the chum salmon run was missed. In 2020, the weir went in according to schedule and counted the beginning of the run, but personnel issues, exacerbated by COVID-19 protocols, resulted in early termination of the project, and likely caused ... : Escapement data were collected by identifying salmon by species and counting them through a fixed picket weir on Bonanza River, Norton Sound, AK. Counts were conducted several times a day when the weir was ‘open’ to allow for fish passage. Escapement data is comprised of daily counts for each salmon species enumerated through the weir and summaries of cumulative count and cumulative proportion of run. Environmental data include water temperature and relative water height. Water temperature was recorded using a handheld thermometer submerged in the river twice daily: once in the morning (8:00 am) and once in the evening (8:00 pm). Water temperature was also collected every 6 hours using a HOBO logger (Onset Computer Corporation) and data were downloaded at the end of the season. Relative water height was recorded using a stream gauge (in decimal feet) at the same time water temperature was taken. At the end of the season water height in decimal feet was converted to centimeters for reporting. Relative water ...