Chuit River Anadromous Waters Catalog Expansion

This project will conduct surveys for the presence of anadromous fish and invasive species in the remote upper tributaries of the Chuitna River and Chuit Creek in West Cook Inlet. Surveys will be conducted on several major tributaries not currently listed in the State of Alaska’s Anadromous Waters Catalog (AWC) using a backpack electrofisher, minnow traps, and visual surveys. Staff will concurrently visually survey for the presence of invasive species impactful to salmon and salmon habitat including Elodea canadensis, reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea), and northern pike (Esox lucius) and take temperature data.

This project has the potential to add up to 31.5 km of Chuitna River watershed streams to the AWC, bestowing protections in an area likely important for Chinook salmon spawning and rearing. Chuitna River Chinook salmon are critical to the subsistence lifestyle of Tyonek’s Tebughna people, and further study of, and protection for, the full mosaic of Chuitna Chinook habitats is needed for this stock of conservation concern. A greater understanding of both the thermal regimes and Chuitna Chinook salmon’s current use of the upper tributary habitats will inform future conservation actions and responsible resource use and development in this region, and surveys for invasive species will allow restoration work to begin before invasives become more established.