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Report: Enumeration of Adult Steelhead in the Upper Sustut River 1995

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The upper sustut River steelhead population was enumerated from July 15 to October 16 1995 for the fourth consecutive year.

Author:  Parken, C.K. and K.L. Morten

Old Reference Number:  sk95

Date Published:  Dec 1996

Report ID:  2587

Audience:  Government and Public

The upper Sustut River steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) population was enumerated from July 15 to October 16, 1995 for the fourth consecutive year. Two fences, located approximately 4.8 km apart on the Sustut River, were used to count and sample steelhead migrating to the overwintering areas of Sustut and Johanson lakes. We were able to identify the sex, measure fork length and Floy tag 483 steelhead at the lower fence between August 8 and October 16. Fifty percent of the steelhead run passed through the lower fence by September 8. The mean time for passage between the fences was 5 days (median is 4 d, mode is 1 d). At least six percent of steelhead had gillnet marks and there was a four percent mortality rate due to handling at the fences. Between August 30 and September 30, 523 sockeye salmon (O. nerka), 24 coho salmon (O. kisutch), 14 Dolly Varden bull trout (Salvelinus spp.), 6 rainbow trout (O. mykiss) and 1 Rocky Mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) migrated through the lower fence. Between August 30 and September 28, 494 sockeye salmon, 0 coho salmon, 34 Dolly Varden/bull trout, 9 rainbow trout and 4 Rocky Mountain whitefish migrated through the upper fence. At both lower and upper fences no distinction was made between Dolly Varden and bull trout, but these fish were probably bull trout. A steady decline in river level after August 27 did not coincide with fluctuations in steelhead migration through the fences. However, an increase in maximum water temperature coincided with increases in steelhead movement at both the lower and upper fences. Male steelhead (mean is 82.6 cm) were significantly larger than female steelhead (mean is 74.6 cm). In 1995, the fork lengths of male and female steelhead were significantly larger than the 1992 steelhead run but were similar to steelhead in 1993 and 1994. Thirteen steelhead were recaptured, six were repeat spawners from 1993 (2.9 percent of steelhead tagged in 1993) and seven were previously tagged in 1995. At least 1.2 percent of the 1995 steelhead run were repeat spawners as evidenced by Floy tags from 1993. A total of 658 steelhead were estimated in the upper Sustut River population on September 29 when 465 had passed through the lower fence and 193 were observed downstream to the Moosevale Creek confluence. Recommendations were made to continue the enumeration of the upper Sustut River steelhead population and to develop a uniform method of population indexing in order to make more accurate comparisons between years. In addition, representatives from the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks should begin enumeration on August 1, before the first steelhead appear to arrive in the upper Sustut River and continue until September 30. Also, Floy anchor tags should be applied to all steelhead passing the fence, and all steelhead should be identified for sex and measured for fork length.

Report Type
  Fish and Aquatic Habitat Information
 
Subject
  Fish Species - Steelhead - Oncorhynchus mykiss
  Region - Skeena
  Fish and Fish Habitat - Stock Assessment
  Watershed Groups - 490 - Sustut River
 


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