Fresh et al 2006 sinclair inlet salmon use

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Kurt L. Fresh, Doris J. Small, Hwa Kim, Chris Waldbilling, Michael Mizell, Mark I. Carr, and Lia Stamatiou. 2006. Juvenile Salmon use of Sinclair Inlet, Washington in 2001 and 2002. Prepared by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. 180 pp.

https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/00184

Notes

  • Fish distribution, abundance, and size were studied in 2001 and 2002 in Sinclair Inlet using beach seines (both years) and tow nets (in 2002). Both day and night sets were used.
  • This includes a relatively rare study of residence time and trophic ecology (diet), and compares hatchery to non-hatchery fish.
  • Mostly Chum were caught, and size increased from February to September.
  • Peak abundance in beach seines was April and May, and in tow nets May to June.
  • 90% of fish were confirmed hatchery, and a significant origin was Gorst Creek, however additional juvenile chinook originated from sources outside of Sinclair Inlet.
  • In generally larger fish were caught at night (but the cause is unclear--it could reflect reduced escape from nets).\
  • "We could not detect an effect of any other habitat factor on size or abundance. There are several plausible explanations for these results. First, habitat factors may not influence fish abundance substantially at the site scale. At larger spatial scales (e.g., area of capture), our observations suggest that habitat is an important determinant is segregating chinook salmon life history stages. Second, our approach to measuring habitat may have been insufficient since we simply assessed habitat qualitatively. Third, other factors that we did not measure may have had an effect on where fish were found."
  • Residence time estimate was 6.2-8.3 days with a maximum residence of 59 days.
  • Fish with coded wire tags came from 14 watersheds, with 77% from the Gorst Creek hatchery. Gorst Creek fish were 100% of CWT catch (from late May release) until midsummer, dropping to 40% (further supporting residence time.
  • Green river fish (from Duwamish) arrived within 11 days. Grovers Creek fish (released 25km away) arrived within 48 hours.