Yukon River Chum Salmon Freshwater Ecology

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Yukon River Chum Salmon Freshwater Ecology and
Environmental Influences On Their Survival:
Ongoing research and analyzes (continued)

Education and Outreach

The accessibility of the Chena River study site makes it ideal for educational programs and students wishing to learn about field science in Alaska. Younger students (ages 14-18) with the Earth Quest Wildlife and Wild Lands Camp have visited twice. The Earth Quest Camp is operated under a Challenge Cost Share Agreement among the USFWS, Tanana Chiefs Conference, Alaska Bird Observatory, Alaska Biological Research, Inc., Alaska Boreal Forest Council, ADFG, Alaska State Parks, Alaska Public Lands Information Center-Fairbanks, Northwest Arctic Borough School District, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. We have also hosted older (college aged) students from the Department of Interior sponsored Water Resources Technician Training Program. Both programs provide young people from rural Alaska an opportunity for hands-on experience in natural resource management, monitoring, and research. During their visits students help us to measure, tag, and identify spawning salmon. We also have an on-the-river-bank class with discussions covering our project, Pacific salmon life history, habitat requirements, and current concerns facing fisheries managers and subsistence fishers. Students also have an opportunity to meet our staff and find out how and why people become biologists.

Challenges of Field Work

Both of the study sites present challenges to field personnel. The biggest challenge encountered at the Hodgin’s Slough site (a run-off system) is high water events. Several times during 2000 extremely high water prevented the collection of important field data. The Bluff Cabin Slough site (operated in the late fall) is subject to cold weather and windy conditions. Working in and around water during sub-freezing temperatures requires caution to prevent cold-weather health risks (e.g. frostbite, hypothermia). Bluff Cabin Slough also experienced problems with higher than normal water during 2000, when water levels and freeze-thaw cycles produced ice flows well into the adult spawning months. Due to safety factors, the weirs were not in place until late in the season, resulting in limited data on the number of female chum entering the area.

Hodgin's Slough lower weir at moderate water levels.

Hodgin's Slough lower weir after heavy rainfall and extreme flooding during peak chum salmon spawning in 2000

The major challenge at Hodgin’s Slough on the Chena River is high water. The Lower weir at moderate water levels during the early portion of chum salmon run (left). Heavy rainfall caused extreme flooding during peak chum salmon spawning during 2000 (right); arrows indicate bank location. At this point the camp was flooded and the weir would have been completely submerged, had it not been removed. Click on images for larger views.


The major challenge faced at Bluff Cabin Slough on the Tanana River is the weather. Working in and around water during sub-freezing temperatures and windy conditions requires special precautions to prevent cold weather injuries (left). Mapping in redd locations (right). Click on images for larger views.

Summary

We have had several major successes but still have some difficult sampling challenges ahead. Our observations demonstrate that operation of weirs on the spawning grounds is possible without disruption of spawning behavior. Detailed mapping of spawning locations is allowing us to examine inter-annual patterns of spawning and to determine the degree of redd superimposition. The development of study site maps sets the stage for spatial analysis of habitat selection and preference and monitoring of long-term habitat change.

We believe that the techniques employed using piezometers and incubation baskets are providing a means to quantify the intergravel environment in remote salmon spawning areas. With these results, we are beginning to describe factors influencing chum salmon spawning site selection and the subsequent survival of incubating eggs and alevins.

Our efforts will help to fill in knowledge gaps that are hampering our understanding of the production cycle of Yukon River salmon populations. Of course, nothing occurs in a vacuum and we are indebted to all those who have worked before us and to those continuing management, monitoring, and research on the Yukon River. In parting, we want to acknowledge the help and support of the many agencies and groups, with out whom this work would not be happening. They include:

US Fish and Wildlife Service
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association
Bering Sea Fisherman’s Association

Address your comments, suggestions, and queries to: Jim Finn at jim_finn@usgs.gov

Please come back!

Thanks,
The Chum Crew