US Fish and Wildlife Service Grant: Studying Salmon Spawning in Matanuska River Watershed

The primary purpose of this cooperative agreement is to build capacity within Chickaloon Native Village and community for future projects by hiring and training citizens of Chickaloon Native Village and/or local residents as research assistants to conduct field sampling. This project is of high strategic importance for the Anchorage Fish and Wildlife Field Office (AFO), Chickaloon Native Village, and Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). The project addresses fisheries assessment needs identified by the Mat-Su Basin Salmon Conservation Partnership (Partnership), of which the above named parties are active members of the Steering Committee. The need for this work is identified in the Partnership’s Strategic Action Plan. Chickaloon Native Village will provide local research assistants to assist with fishwheel operation and data collection.

Specific objectives of this study are to:
1. Evaluate the effectiveness of fishwheels to capture adequate numbers of Pacific salmon for tagging in the Matanuska River;
2. Estimate the migratory timing profiles of sockeye, chum, and coho salmon in the Matanuska River at the point of capture from July through mid October 2008;
3. Detect the ultimate spawning destination upstream of the Old Glenn Highway Bridge (river km 19), via the presence of at least one tagged fish, of a population comprising 10% or more of all the sockeye salmon passing the capture site during each temporal stratum with probability 0.85;
4. Detect the ultimate spawning destination upstream of the Old Glenn Highway Bridge (river km 19), via the presence of at least one tagged fish, of a population comprising 10% or more of all the chum salmon passing the capture site during each temporal stratum with probability 0.85;
5. Detect the ultimate spawning destination upstream of the Old Glenn Highway Bridge (river km 19), via the presence of at least one tagged fish, of a population comprising 10% or more of all the coho salmon passing the capture site during each temporal stratum with probability 0.85;
6. Map sockeye, chum, and coho spawning areas of the mainstem Matanuska River and its tributaries;
7. Estimate the sex, age, and length compositions of sockeye, chum, and coho salmon in the Matanuska River; and
8. Determine the feasibility of obtaining a spawning abundance estimate for sockeye, chum, and coho salmon using mark-recapture techniques in the Matanuska River watershed.

The Period of Performance is June 23, 2008 through October 15, 2009.