MSI: Auke Creek Weir Counts
Auke Creek Weir monitors wild salmonid populations of pink, chum, sockeye, and coho salmon as well as Dolly Varden, cutthroat, and steelhead trout. Weir counts of sockeye salmon adults at Auke Creek began in 1963; other species were included after 1966. The production of sockeye salmon smolts from Auke Lake has ranged between 1,600 and 90,000, and since 1980 averaged 17,000 smolts while returning adults has ranged from 240 to 16,000, and averaged 4,400.
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Processing adult salmon from wier trap. |
Pink salmon are the most abundant salmonid in the watershed and counts of fry and adults range from 12,000 to 247,000 (average 114,000) and 334 to 28,000 (average 7,700), respectively. Auke Lake coho salmon smolts are in a long-term decline, and although the average smolt production since 1980 is nearly 6,000, the run has decreased from 10,000 to 4,000 more recently. Coho salmon adults have ranged between 350 and 1,400 and now average about 700.
The average run of wild chum salmon at Auke Creek is 4,900 fry and 57 adults. In recent years, stray adults from a nearby hatchery have made estimating the wild run difficult. The average emigration of Dolly Varden char at Auke Creek is 6,000 (range 3,000 to 12,000), and the 1997-2006 immigration average is 4,000 (range 2,700 to 5,700). The cutthroat trout emigration averages 240 fish (range 90 to 460) and the 1997-2006 immigration average is 207 (range 90 to 470). Steelhead trout juveniles use Auke Lake as an overwintering area, as there is no natural production of these fish in the watershed. Each year a few Steelhead migrate into the stream (1997-2006 average=6). Chinook salmon, not native to the Auke Creek system, migrate into the weir trap as part of a sport fish enhancement project that imprints smolts from another hatchery to Auke Creek water. Most of the returning adult Chinook salmon are caught in local area marine sport fisheries while some are captured at the weir trap each year (average 217); none are allowed to enter the stream.
Contact:
John Joyce
Auke Bay Laboratories
Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries
Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute
17109 Pt Lena Loop Rd
Juneau AK 99801
(907) 789-6618
John.Joyce@noaa.gov
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