Great news, TRBO!

As yukon said in the other thread, a stock assessment project is finally funded and in the works!

Here's a copy of the text from the Anchorage Daily News article:

Kasilof, Kenai kings getting a closer look

STUDIES: Fish and Game wants to know more about late-run salmon returns.

By PATRICE KOHL
Peninsula Clarion

Published: February 19, 2006
Last Modified: February 19, 2006 at 04:43 AM

KENAI -- The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is gearing up for a spurt in fisheries research projects this summer, including a study to gauge the first estimates of late-run king salmon numbers in the Kasilof River.

"These fish are valuable, extremely valuable," said Tim McKinley, a research biologist for the sportfish division of Fish and Game. "(And) the better and finer tuned we can have our management the more likely we are to have healthy runs."

McKinley said a king salmon counting project in the Kasilof River and a Kenai River king salmon genetic sampling project are among the bigger projects.

"The Kasilof project is exciting because we haven't had a lot of information on Kasilof kings," he said.

Although king salmon in the Kenai River have been researched for about 30 years, Fish and Game knows little about the late king salmon that spawn in the Kasilof River.

"Almost everything we learn about them is new," he said.

Fish and Game has not collected much research data on late-run Kasilof River king salmon in part because the Kasilof is not conducive to sonar counting.

"There are some difficulties in counting kings in the Kenai, and they're even worse in the Kasilof," he said.

The river's late-run king salmon are particularly difficult to count since, unlike the river's early king salmon run, the fish do not leave the cloudy glacial water of the Kasilof River to spawn in one of the river's clearer tributaries, said Adam Reimer, a Fish and Game fisheries biologist.

"The (Kasilof River's) water is not clear so it's hard to estimate their abundance," he said.

McKinley said Kenai River king salmon research continues to excite him because the genetic sampling project will offer Fish and Game a more accurate picture of when the early and late king salmon runs begin and end. That information is vital to obtaining escapement goals, said Robert Begich, a Fish and Game sportfish research biologist.

Early- and late-run king salmon are genetically distinct, and Fish and Game needs to be able to identify which fish belong to which run.

Escapement goals for the early run are between 5,300 and 9,000 fish, whereas escapement goals for late salmon runs are between 17,800 and 35,700. For every adult king salmon that escapes to spawn up river, approximately three new salmon reach adulthood.

Distinguishing early-run fish from late-run fish is can be difficult without being able to identify them genetically since some early salmon are tardy and some late salmon enter rivers prematurely, McKinley said.

Genetic samples have been taken from Kenai River king salmon before, but unlike previous samples, these will be taken from salmon in spawning grounds rather than from various points on the river and will reveal more accurate data, Begich said.

McKinley likened genetic sampling of salmon at various points of the river to standing at a school entrance and trying to count the number of children per grade range based on when they walk into the school.

If children in first through third grade begin class at 8 a.m. and fourth- through sixth-graders begin class at 8:30 a.m., that does not necessarily mean every child that walks into the school door after 8 a.m. is in fourth through sixth grade, he said.

Sampling at spawning grounds will avoid the confusion that can be created by stragglers and early arrivals, McKinley said.

In addition, the genetic king salmon project will contribute to the Pacific-wide push to create a database that genetically identifies all king salmon populations.

A year behind in their recognition of the study that started in earnest last season.

test netting shows king numbers beyond what any of the managers expected and more in line with one we have been claiming has been in the river.

Sure be nice if we can get some protextion from the sockeye fishery that occurs with ZERO regard for its impact on the king stock.

I need to do some digging on the Marine Stewardship Council's position on the Cook Inlet fishery to see if they consider it sound. If it's listed, I'll be working hard to ask them to remove it until which time a management plan is in place

It is certifed a "sound" fishery. Like to have a chat with a fella listed on this page:

http://www.msc.org/html/content_485.htm


Looks like a phone number there to give him a shout.

Looks like a rainy day chore to do

16 years later, we still know little more than SQUAT about late run Kasilof kings.

Only one thing's for sure... there ain't near as many.

Since we became aware (or a least legally required by ESA to the nk about it) what have we done for Chinook, or the salmon, or SRKWs? Since the 90s, which is 30 years or so. Doing nothing for 16 years is just getting started.