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DATA TO BE PRESENTED 8EFO aE ntE AFS HEETlNC IN JUNEAU ON NOVEMB ER 12-1 S ,1984
BY RICKARD SUNDE!
Top1c: Tbe Diatribut1oa aDd ~ .. ce of
.. Aecertaiaed by Ia~~ Tel ... try
Iln'RODOCTION
The rea~deat tiabery atudy be&aa oo the Suaitaa li~er duria& tbe v1ater ot
•n'· ; · The pri .. ry object1ve• ot tbi• etu4y deteraiaed iD 1979 vae to
dete.~ine the aeaaonal d1atribut1oo aod relat1ve abuDdaace of aelected tiab apeciea
,vit:n raiabov trout be l n& the pri .. ry aelected apeciea, aad to characterize
the aeaaonal habit~t requireaenta 'ot tbeae apeciea l In 1983 theae object1ves
vere expanded to also include quaat1fyin& tbe i•pojtaot habitat paraaeters
asaociated vlt:h spavo1ng and reario& of theae apec ea aod 'aeaaur~ fiah dens1ty
1n spavn1ng and rear i ng habitat• to provide an eat ... te ot habitat qual1t:y.
The radio tagsing pro gr .. vaa tirat propoaed by Christopher !atea 1o 1977 . Witb
input tro• Dana Schmidt or T.I.S. aod Carl Burcer(USFWS) tbe prosr .. vas tunded
in 1981 aa an experiaental pro&r .. to radio ta& five rainbow trout and five '
burbot. These taga vere diapenaed 1Dto fiah captured below Talkeetna (river 1aile,
RH, 97.0) between tate Septeaber 1981 aod aid-october, freeze-up, 1981 to deteraine
v1nter aoveaeot. While Floy ta&-recapturea preaented ao.e aoveaent data ot rea1dent
fisn during tbe su~~~~~er 1981 , little v1nter aoveaent vaa available fro• 1980-81
11nce fev fisb vere captured. The reaaoa ao fev fiah vere captured,except to r
burbot on trotlines, vaa becauae tev place• vere found to aet &illneta. !itber
tbe vater velocity vas to taat or vnen a back eddy vas tound a layer of sluab
ice vas near1y always pres e nt. It vaa oope d tnat v1t b the uae ot radio
tetemetry ve could as c erta i n •igrat1ona1 trends and winter rearing areas,
and in these wintering a r eas if tbese vere areas where fish congregated.
Whil e 1981 tagging vas bel o w Talkee t 1a, in 1982 and 1983 tags vere dispensed
bet1o1eeo Talkeetna and Devil Canyo n (RH 152.0). In 1984 taggin& vas in botb
areas. Priaary tagging empbasia baa been above Talkeetna SiOCe aost ot toe an-
tlcipated cbanges due to the d .. cooatruction vould affect that area ot tbe river.
The main tributaries ~n this reach ot river are Fourtb ot July Creek (RM 131.1),
Indian River (RM 138.6), and Portage Creek (RH 148.8).
METHOD S AND EQUIPMEN T
Eq utpmen t usea 1o1as dev e lope d by Sm itn-Root i n Vancouve r, ~as htng to n . Th e
r f'c ieving equipment consuted of a 101o1 frequen cy (40 Hllz) r ecie ver (Hodel RF -40)
wni c h mo nttors tndiv idual frequencies, a scan ner (Hod e l SR-40 ) wnt c h W3S c ap-
abll· 0 1 mo n1torin g 1~ frequenc ies Slmultane ou sly , a loop ant en na (H C'd el L'--40),
ana a paddl e antenna f o r pinpotnt1ng fish.
Kadt o tags or d1ff c rent trequeocies, betwe en 40.600 and 40.770 HHz, or
pul H• ra t es or both v e r e ueed to dif fere nt ~at e bet1o1 eeo th e tags.
OurinR the course or the study, three type5 ot radio transmitters 1o1 ere
u sca . Since Sus1tna River rainbo1o1a are seldom found over 4~ (18 inches)
i n l e n g th, amall tags v c r e requ1red. Ho1o1ever , these radio tags v e r r eq u s t eG to be
b uil t t o taat pret erabl y 9 mo nths to observe migrational trends. ln 1981 Sm i t h-Roo t
H odel .I'40-~00L )v radio tag• 1o1c r e used. Tbea:? ta gs v e re cyhndr i c al i n b h:.tpc
1o11 t h a t me ns1ons or lbmm in diameter , 53 mm in leng t h , had a 170mm whi p anten na ,
DRAFT
weighed 13 grams, and nad a l~fe expectancy of 6 months. In 1982 we asked
Saitb-Root if cn~s tag or one smaller could be made to have a l1te expectancy
ot 9 months. In 1982 we aeployed 10 ot tneae experimental taga,aa vell as 8 •~x month
tags, buc aany fa~1ed. In 1983 ve bec .. e taail~ar v1tb anotber radio tag aanufacturor,
Advanced Telemetry Syatea'a (ATS) ot Bethel, Minnesota. The radio tag (Model BEl
10-35) tbey developed required no sqecial aodificat1ona and would tuncc1on tor
6-10 aontna depending on the pulse rate. The shape an~diaena1ona ot tne ATS tag vas
s1ai11ar to the Saitb-Root tag except tbe diameter vas aaaller, 1~. Botb the ATS
and Lhe Smith-Root tags were internally lmplanted vicb toe ATS tag being much easier
to 1aplant Decause or the smaller di .. eter. In 1983 tvo ATS tags were also
~planteo subcutaneously but this pract~ce vas stopped atter one ot toe tags
apparently fell otf the tisb.
In 1984 greater emphasis vas aade to raoio tag pre-spavn~ng ra~nbov trout tor oeter-
ain~ng t1ming ana areas or spavn1ng. Sine~ the condit1on ot many of tnese tish would
be unacceptable tor internal transplants, a~ external tag vas used. This tag,
aoael RM625, vas a1so developed by ATS ana vas rectangular in snape v1tb a
2408. voip antenna. This tag measured 30.. in length, 1~ v1de, and 98. high,
we1ghs 9.5 grams, and oad a 11te expectancy of 3 .ontbs.
Fisn were primarily captured by boat e1ectrof1sh1ng or by angling. In addi-
t1on, several were captured by drift gillnet or baited trapnets. Whenever
poss1ble, fisb tnat were e1ectrosoocked were held overnight in a 11ve box and
examined betore tagging. No lethargic fish were radio tagged. Based on per-
sonnaJ. commun1cat1ons v1tb Carl Burger (USFWS) in 1981, it vas bel1eved rainbow
trout v~th fork lengths above 350.. could be internally radio tagged. After 1981,
the min~mum s1ze ot fish vas 1ncreased to 380mm or 15 inches because this
s1ze or fisn appeareo to tolerate the tag better. Fisb found su1table tor
t agging vere anestnized 1n a cooler us1ng MS-222. For fish internally tagged,
a 3.0 em incis1on vas nade between the pectora! and pelv1c tins. Betore tbe
tag vas 1nserteo, the antenna vas 1nserteo 10to plast1c tuDing so the t1p ot tne
antenna would not injure the fuh. The tag vas the n t.nserted and closed by 4-7 indi-
vidual sutures ot commercial s1lk. SeveraL types ot suture material were
useo, however, the moat etficient and appl1cable one found for this study vas
one that baa braided s1lk attached to a cutt1ng needle. The a1ze ot Lne s11k
vas 2-o and 18 inches 1ong, the manufacturer is Ethicon ot Sommerv111e, New Jersey.
The reason this type ot suture vas round to be the best vas because the s~ik
wouldn't sl1p when t1e~ng and the needle rema~ned sharp tor as long as the 18 inches
or s~ik lastea.
For external tags used, two Peterson disc neeales were epoxied to the a~des ot
tbe tag before use. Attachment ot tags to tisb vas s1mi1~ar as attaching
Peterson discs. The tag vas attached below the dorsal fin ana Peterson discs
were attacheo to the neeales to secure in place.
Fisn raoio tagged were also Floy anchor tagged (Model FD-67) to ident1ty 1n case o t
recapture. After tagging, fish were held overnJ.ght in a 11ve box whenever pos s 1ble.
The next day tne sutures were examined beto ~~ the tiah vas released. Tracking was
priaari1y done by fixed v1ng or by riverboat v1th he11ocopters used occasion-·
a1ly. Snowmobiles were usea during the v1nter. When aerial track1ng was conducted
one Loop antenna wa s attached to ea c h of the t wo w1ng s tru ts . Tracking vas then
done v1th two pe op l e , one mo n1toring a sc anne r a n a th e o tne r a rec1 e v e r. Aerial
trac kin g wa s do n e at approximateLy 700ft. abo v e tne r i v e r.
2
r
DRAFT
Micro-habitat data collected Ln areas ot fish l r catLona 1nclude aeasurements
ox water chemistry. v1locit1~s. deptna, ice and aluab tnickness, as well
as characterizing sub trate.
I
RESULTS ARD DISCUSSIOI
In 1983 29 tags were Jispensed and good results were obtained troa 26 of thea.
6 externaL and 31 int~rnal tags were dispensed into rainbows above Talkeetna.
ot these 37 ta~a were 1
1
diapens'ed betore June 5 ot wh1cb 12 were placed into
pre-apavn1ng f1ab. I
I I
Results ot 1983 tagging& show rainbows are seasonaLly distributed by macro-
In 1984
Nineteen
habitat in tne Sus1t~River. Tvo hundred thirty-one 1ocat1ona ot 26 fisb
were aade between Apr 1 and December 1982. Tbeae 1ocat1ona were separated
into three aacco-Dabi ta vb~e they were tound~ in tributary or sloughs. in
the mainatea at tribu ry aoutba 1 and elsewhere in the aa1nstea (Figure 1). Between
April and June 67% ot tbe 1oc'at1ons were aasociateo w1tn tributaries. the
a&Jority be1ng in tributaries (52%). During July tbrougb September, 61% of
tbe tagged fish were aasociated w1tn tributaries. By October 1. all radio
tagged fish bad outaisrated from tributaries an4 sloughs 1nto aa1natea influ-
enced areas. About 3~ of tne radio tagged t1s~ reaa1ned at tributary aoutbs
froa October to Decea~er. Bes1des the high incidence ot rainbows ua1ng tri-
butaries rroa July to .september. 10% used aloug~a.
I During summer rearing, otten tagged tisb used tributary mouths. This asaocia-
tLon co1ncidea v1th tb~ tLmiog of spawnLng chum and p1nk salmon. The concen-
tratLon or rainbow trout at tributary moutns l& bel1eved to be due to the
abundance or food (salmon eggs) in these areas. Rainbow trout presumably
feeding on salmon eggs, were observed beLng chased from spawning redds by chum
salmon. Severat radio tagged rainbows were also tound 1n tributaries near
spavn1ng cbum and p1nk salmon. The use ot sloughs during tbe su111111er by radio
tagged rainbows 18 aJ.so oel~eved to occur because they are feeding on salmon
eggs. Radio tagged rainbows were observed holding in Hoose Slough (RH 123.5),
A' (RH 124.6), 8A (RH 125.3), and 9 (RH 128.3).1
While the mainstem vas also used during tne summer ot 1983, it appears to be
more ot a migrat1ona1 patn between tributaries and sloughs tor rainbows rathe r
tnan as a rearing area.
In 1983 Otten raoio tagg e d r~inbow trout moved from one tributary or slough to
anotner tributary or slough. For example, five ltish migrated 7 .5·miJ.es down-
river from tbe mouth ot Indian River (RH 138.6) to the mouth ot Fourtb ot July
Creek (RH 131.1). In additLon, a rainbow moved 6.5 mi les upriver from tne
mouth ot Skull Creek (RH 124.7) to the mouth ot ~ourth ot July Creek, and tnen
2.6 miles downriver to Slough 9. Another rainbow outm1grated from Fourth o t
July Creek (tributary riv e r mile, TRH, 1.5) and ~ved 7.5 miles upr1ver and 1nto
Indian River (TRH 4 .5). Tagging& rrom 1984 also 1snow rainbow trout otten migrate
between tributaries part1culari1y between Fourt ~ ot July Creek, Indian River. and
Portage Creek (RH 148.8) (Figure 2).
Tag ging s t rom 1984 snow a suo il1ar s ummer mov e ment as 198 3 taggings . Mor e tish
were tagged, however, ea rtler in summ e r 1984 tnan 1n 1983 and tne1r mov e ment coLn-
cides vLth the ear11er adult king sa lmo n mo v e me nt (Figure 3 and 4). This mov ement
was most ev1dent at Indian Ri v e r and Po rtage Cr eek which hav e the greatest number ot
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L O C AT I ON S IN L O CA T IONS IN
TRIBUTARIES oq MAINSTEM AT
S LOUGHS fqiBUTARY loiOU THS
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LOCATIONS IN
MAINSTEM
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Fi gure 1. ·Frequen c y di st ri but i c r,~ c f radio t agged ra i nb o ~ ~r ·'~l t
locations in tributaries. at tributary mouths, anc! :r; ~h e
main s tem Sus i tna River duri r g 1983.
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15 JULY 15 AUG. 15
1984
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~.~O V E ME NT O F FIVE R A DIO -T AGGED RAI NBOW TROUT IN
r~n r; T I',G[ CllE!-t , I/·". Y TO OCTOBER 1°04
spawn1ng k1ng salmon above Talkeetna (escapement in 1984 was over 1500 fish in each
rivt!r).
By October, in both 1983 and 1984, all ot tne tagged t1sh had outm1grated trom tne tri-
butaries or sloughs 1nto the ma1nstem. Winter mon1toring movement ot fish tagged 1n
1983, 1982 ana 1981 snow that near1y all moved slightly downstream (0.1-4.0
mi!es) arter October betore holdLng (Figure 5). This downstream 1110vement is belLeved
to occu~ because they are searching for acceptable overwLntering areas. During
a1l tnree years, however, several radio tagged tish have rema1ned all w1nter
near a tributary where they were tagged at . From 1984 taggings Lt appears tnat
fian from Portage Creek may overwLnter near that mouth.
During the w1nters ot 1981-82, 1982-83 and 1983-84, ground surveys were c on-
ducted 1n areas wnere the radio tagged tish were round. Fish were pinpo1nted
to areas or a oiameter ot 10 ft. then 1ce augars were used to drill over them.
While severat ot tne raaio tagged tish moved from 10-300 ft., for others no
movement was detected. For the tish wn1ch did not move, it was belteve d t ney died
during the interim period (fall-wLnter sampling) ano supports the theory that
there is a heavy overwLntering morta11ty. In some cases th1s hypothesis may
be incorrect, however, and some rish are more sedentary than others. For
example, in January 1984 we ascertained tish 670-1.4 was dead because we de-
tected no movement. During a February survey, we thought it moved but were
unsure. This tag fatted atter February; however, during Hay 1984 it was
eLeccrosuocked 12 ciles upd.v r.
During wintt!r sampling in 1981-82 it wa s round that while none or toe radio ~
tagged fish were recaptured, a high catch per unLt etfort was recorded for ~
otner rainbows LO the vicin1t1es ot tne tagged fish. Due to th1s reason, it £c
is su spectea chat rainbow trout concentrate i n small numbers ana use specific ~
areas or the mainstem Sus1tna for overw1ntering. Habitat data collected in
these areas varies except ror conduct1v1ty. In all cases where raaio tagged
fish have oeen roun a tn the w1nter, the conduct1v1ty wa s relat1vely nigh
, above 125 uhos/cm, indicat1ng that t h e areas they seek out are influe n ed
by grou ndwater .
In Hay and t!arLy June 1984 fish raaio tagged showed tnat Fourtn ot July Creek
and Portage Creek are heav1Ly used for spawn1ng. One school of approximateLy
30 pre-spawners were observed 1n Portage Creek (TRH 2.0) ana 5 were radio
tagged. Hon1t0r1ng ot these rish showed tnat tour probably spawned at this
locat1on (Figure 3). At th1s locat1on, TRM 2 .0 , a smaller tributary empt1es 1n to
Portage Creek; this tributary 1s the outlet o t a Lak e 1.0 mi les away. The rema1n-
ing fish mov~d up the tributary, 0.5 miles, and s pawn ed t ne r e. At tn e mo u t h ot
Fourth o r July Cre ek 3 pre -spawn1ng rainbows were capt u r e a ana ta g ged . Mon-
itoring inaicatea they spawned at TRH 0.7. This TRH is s1m i1 1ar to TRH 2.0
or Porta ge Creek s1nce ic a1so has an outlet trom a lake tlow1ng into 1t.
In addit1on, one pre-spawntng rainbow was cap ture d at TRH 0.5 of tn e o utlet .
It is suspectea tnat rainbows 1n both Portage Ck. and Fou rt h o t J u ly Ck . use
the contluences or the take outlet s to spawn at b e cause ot tne out le t s warm e r
water temperatures. The ma1nstem of both Portage Ck. and Four th o t Jul y Ck.
during tn e tirst we ek ot June was approximately 8 C, whi l bo t n o utle ts we re
12 C. Spawntog in ootn tributarie s probably occurred dur1ng tn e r irst we ek
or Jun e .
Follow-up stud1es tn 1984 on the t akes which flow int o P o r t a g~ Ck. a n d f o urt h
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Figure 4 . Movement of sh radiCJ tagged r ainbow trout in the Sus itna
River below Devil Canyon, June to December
SEPT I S
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1983 .
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SEPT. I S OCT. IS NOV. IS OlC . IS
1983
Moveme nt .,r pl~ven ro\l t L l <l 'liJ t!ll l d t nl't o .. t •<.ll l 1r the ~u~·:ro1
P.1v er bel o w ev •l (any n , S t'Dlt'f'III C• l O i:l t>C t'P"ll l·• 1961 .
··17-
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ot July Ck. snow that they are abundant w1tb rainbow trout. Since tew juven-
ile rainbows nave been captured 1n Portage Ck., it is suspected tnat tne Lake
vnicb flows 1nto Portage Ck. at TRH 2.0 acts as a nursery. Altho ugh tner P have
been aany juven1lea captured 10 Fourth ot July Ck., it is also suapected that
the ~•kea which feea 1nto tbia tributary contribute heav11y to the rainbow
trout populat1on 1n tbe aa1nstem Fourth ot July Ck. Little spawning gravel
has been round 1n Fourth ot Ju l y Ck. between TllM 0.0-l.S(a fish bar r ier is loca-
ted at this !ocatlon).