District 111 Sockeye Stock ID

This project collected samples used generate postseason estimates of the stock composition of weekly sockeye salmon catches in the District 111 gillnet fishery based on analysis of scale patterns, brain parasites, and prevalence of thermal marks. Samplers were placed on various fishery tenders in Taku Inlet and Stephens Passage. These samplers 1) ascertained where a specific boat was fishing, 2) collected up to 40 fish from each boat, 3) collected matched biological data from each fish, including scale samples, fish length, and sex, 4) applied an individually numbered tag to the fish so it could later be collected in a processing plant, and 5) recorded the unique number on the awl data form so it could later be matched with subsequent samples. The tagged heads were recovered from fishery processing plants and shipped to Juneau. In Juneau a technician removed otoliths and brains from the numbered heads and labeled each sample with the head number and entered them in a data base.

This project in conjunction with other programs will provide annual estimates marine harvest of Taku River sockeye salmon stocks. Data from this project provides the information necessary to reconstruct the runs of Taku sockeye stocks and estimate contributions of Port Snettisham hatchery fish to the District 111 gillnet fishery.