Estimation of subsistence gillnet effort and Chinook salmon harvest in non-salmon spawning tributaries of the lower Kuskokwim River

• Main Author: Decossas, Gary
• Format: Report
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2019
• Subjects: Bering Sea; Yukon; Kuskokwim
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12751012

ABSTRACT: Since 2010, Chinook Salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) returns to the Kuskokwim River have been below average, prompting fishing restrictions in the mainstem of the Kuskokwim River and salmon spawning tributaries. Coinciding with these closures, non-salmon spawning tributaries of the Kuskokwim River have remained generally unrestricted to subsistence fishing throughout the drainage. In response to restrictions in the mainstem Kuskokwim River and the absence of restrictions in the non-salmon tributaries, some subsistence users have used gillnets to harvest milling Chinook Salmon in non-salmon spawning tributaries, even though opportunities to fish in non-salmon spawning tributaries are intended for the harvest of fish other than salmon. This has led to concern by some subsistence users, who characterize the harvest as a misuse of non-salmon spawning tributary fishing opportunities to target Chinook Salmon. Given these issues, and the general lack of harvest and effort information in non-salmon spawning tributaries, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in collaboration with a community based monitoring program conducted by the Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association, collected data via aerial and creel surveys to inform subsistence effort and harvest estimates in several prominent non-salmon spawning tributaries within the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge: Eenayarak, Tagayarak, Kinak, Kialik, Johnson, and Gweek rivers. From May 28 to July 8, 2018, an estimated total of 785 nets (95% CI: 641 – 931), comprised of 539 set gillnets (95% CI: 426 – 665) and 246 drift gillnets (95% CI: 167 – 342), were fished during all daylight flood tides in these non-salmon spawning tributaries. In general, set nets were most commonly used; however, drift nets were used more frequently than set nets during the latter half of June. The tributary locations with the most netting effort were the Gweek and Johnson rivers (~70% of observed gillnets), followed by the Kinak and Tagarayak rivers (~20% of observed gillnets), ...