Kotzebue Sound sheefish investigations 1968
Geiger M. 1968. Kotzebue Sound sheefish investigations 1968. AYK Area Anadromous Fish Investigations Annual Technical Report. Whitefish/Sheefish Report 4. Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Commercial Fisheries Anchorage Alaska
Biological investigations were conducted to study the basic life history of the Kotzebue sheefish populations and to obtaining accurate records of subsistence and commercial harvest of sheefish in the Kotzebue area. These investigation were conducted in 1966 and 1968 with the development of sound management practices in mind. Fishing families from Kotzebue, Selawik, Noorvik, Kiana, Ambler, Shungnak, and Kobuk were interviewed or given questionnaires, as were commercial fishermen and processors. Age-sex-size composition data was obtained from commercial, subsitence, and Department test catches in Kotzebue Sound, Hotham Inlet, Selawik area, and the Kobuk River. Fecundity data was collected from test catches on the upper Kobuk River. Aerial surveys were conducted for the Kobuk and Selawik rivers and a tag and recovery program was conducted to track movements and seasonal abundance of sheefish populations. It was found that most sheefish taken by commercial and subsistence fishermen in the Selawik Lake, Hotham Inlet, and Kotzebue Sound areas are immature fish. Female sheefish tend to be older than males and males tend to be more prevalent. Subsistence and commercial catches, age-sex-size composition data, fecundity data, spawning population size estimates, and seasonal distribution and movements are summarized in tables within the body of the report.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Geiger, Mike
- Date of Issue
- 1968
- Publisher
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Commercial Fisheries Anchorage Alaska
- Units
- CAKR , GAAR , KOVA , NOAT
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, anodromous, Aquatic Sciences, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Commercial Fishing, Fecundity, Fish, Gates Of The Arctic National Park And Preserve, Kobuk Valley National Park, Noatak National Preserve, sheefish, spawning populations, Stenodus leucichthys, subsistence fishing