Acoustic Telemetry Measurements of Survival and Movements of Adult Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) within the Bulkley River, 2009
Using the mark-recapture method, steelhead abundance estimates have been generated for the Bulkley River at the Moricetown Canyon every year since 1999. One of the uncertainties about the Moricetown mark-recapture program is how steelhead behave after the application of a tag (the “mark”). A pilot study done in 2008 indicated that a certain proportion of tagged steelhead moved downstream and were not subject to recapture in the dip net fishery. This “fallback” may affect the results of the Moricetown steelhead abundance estimates. In 2009, twelve acoustic receivers were used to record the movement of 67 tagged steelhead over a 4-month period. Data collected confirms that a high proportion of steelhead swim downstream after they are tagged, and provides additional details about their movements. This result has important consequences for how Moricetown mark-recapture data will be interpreted in future.
- project objectives
- Improve the annual abundance estimates produced by the Moricetown Canyon mark-recapture program.
- related documents
- project timeline
- June 1, 2009
to March 31, 2010 - project lead
- Kintama Research Corp.
- subjects
- stock assessment
- location
- Bulkley River
- related species
- steelhead