An evaluation of chinook salmon freshwater habitat use in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
Waltemyer DL and Soiseth C. 2004. An evaluation of chinook salmon freshwater habitat use in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska. Technical Report. NPS/NRWRD/NRTR-2004/321. US Dept of the Interior, National Park Service. Denver, CO
We assessed the Seclusion and Dundas rivers in Glacier Bay National Park to determine the presence of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Both rivers were visually surveyed for adults, and juvenile fish were captured in minnow traps during September 2002. Seclusion River is a relatively clearwater system, whereas the Dundas River is a turbid, glacial meltwater system with minor clearwater contributions from adjacent sloughs and bogs. We failed to detect any presence of adult or juvenile chinook salmon in either river. Visual counts of other species of adult salmon in Seclusion River included 1,173 Pink (O. gorbuscha), 422 Sockeye (O. nerka), 271 Chum (O. keta), and 14 Coho (O. kisutch) salmon. About 11,900 adult Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) were also present in the Seclusion River. Only two adult pink salmon and six adult Dolly Varden were observed in a clearwater slough of the Dundas River. Minnow trap catches in main channel areas of the Seclusion River totaled two Dolly Varden, 16 coho salmon, and one three-spine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Only one juvenile coho salmon was captured in a tributary of the Seclusion River. Twenty-one Dolly Varden and four coho salmon were captured in the Dundas River. Although we failed to find any evidence of chinook salmon, we documented salmonids in the Dundas River and identified the importance of the Seclusion River for overwintering Dolly Varden.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Waltemyer, David; Soiseth, Chad
- Date of Issue
- 2004-04
- Publisher
- US Dept of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- GLBA , WRD
- Keywords
- Chinook Salmon, Clarity (Water), cpue, Depth, Dolly Varden, Dundas River, Flow, freshwater habitat use, Glacier Bay National Park, minnow trap, Seclusion River, stream profiles, Substrates, Turbidity, Water Quality, WRBIB