Author: Eric Wood

Publisher:

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 43

ISBN-13:

A creel survey will be conducted to estimate sport angler effort, catch, and harvest of large (≥75 cm mid eye to tail fork length) early- and late-run Chinook salmon in the lower Kenai River between the Warren Ames Bridge (river mile [RM] 5.1) and Slikok Creek sanctuary area (RM 18.6). Creel survey estimates will be geographically stratified in relation to the RM 13.7 Kenai River Chinook salmon sonar to provide angler effort, catch, and harvest of large Chinook salmon. A standardized inriver netting project will be conducted in the Kenai River at RM 8.6 to index abundance and estimate the age, sex, and length (ASL) composition of large early- and late-run Chinook salmon. Inseason estimates of Chinook salmon catch and harvest, used in conjunction with sonar passage estimates, inseason catch rates, and the length of returning Chinook salmon from the inriver netting study are used by fisheries managers for inseason management decisions to achieve escapement goals. This plan covers the creel survey and inriver netting studies for the 2021–2023 seasons.