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STATUS OF RAINBOW TROUT IN THE GOODNEWS RIVER, TOGIAK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, ALASKA, 1993-1994

–To monitor stock status, the rainbow trout population of the Goodnews River was sampled from June 1993 through August 1994. A total of 570 rainbow trout was captured using hook and line gear. Lengths ranged from 226-625 mm, and ages from scales ranged from 2-9 years. The length and age frequency distributions of rainbow trout from the North Fork were significantly different from that of the Middle Fork. Fifteen flights relocated 18 of 21 radio tagged rainbow trout between October 18, 1993 and August 18, 1994. Most fish moved less than 10 km throughout the year. The limited annual migration of rainbow trout shows that all waters where rainbow trout occur in the Goodnews Drainage should be considered important for spawning and overwintering. Length and age frequency distributions were compared to data collected in 1988-1989. In 19931994, on both the Middle Fork drainage and the North Fork, fewer large rainbow trout were caught, and on the North Fork, a smaller maximum size was recorded. The age distributions of fish from the Middle Fork were significantly different from each other, while those from the North Fork were not different. While the changes may be attributed to natural variation, these populations warrant continued monitoring. We recommend that long term monitoring continue and that the incidence and effects of hooking mortality on rainbow trout within the drainage be determined. Arctic grayling and Salvelinus spp. populations should continue to be monitored as part of the rainbow trout studies. To fulfil the Refuge objective to conserve fish and wildlife populations and habitats in their natural diversity, it is further recommended that public use be controlled at near present levels. Introduction Wild rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss stocks of southwest Alaska support a multimillion dollar per year sport fishing industry (Minard 1990). Angling opportunities on the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) are a primary attraction for visitors from around the world. In addition to rainbow trout, species targeted by anglers include: chinook salmon O. tshawytscha, coho salmon O. kisutch, Dolly Varden Salvelinus malma, Arctic char S. alpinus, and Arctic grayling Thymallus arcticus (Rob MacDonald, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, personal communication). Public use and fishing effort on Refuge rivers has increased significantly since the early 1980's. Sport fishing effort on the Goodnews River increased from an estimated 1,105 use days in 1981 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1990) to 2,886 use days in 1992 (MacDonald 1993). As high levels of use continue, both the number and size of fish could decrease. In addition to the sport fishery, rainbow trout contribute to other fisheries. Some rainbow trout are captured incidentally in the Pacific salmon gillnet fishery. Rainbow trout have historically composed part of the subsistence harvest (Wolfe 1984), and there are directed 2 harvests of rainbow trout with hook and line ice fisheries (Mark Lisac, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, personal communication). The magnitude of these fisheries are unknown. In 1992, the Federal Subsistence Board recognized the rainbow trout as a valid subsistence species on non-navigable waters of the Refuge. Restricting the fishery to nonnavigable waters generated concern that subsistence users would be forced to concentrate their harvest within rainbow trout spawning areas. Because no information on the rainbow trout spawning locations was available, it was hypothesized that rainbow trout from the navigable portion of the river would migrate to the small tributaries to spawn. Concentrating the harvest on the spawning segment of the population could have serious biological consequence for the entire population. One of the primary purposes of the Refuge is to conserve fish and wildlife species and habitats in their natural diversity. The Fisheries Management Plan for the Refuge (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1990) and State rainbow trout management plan (Alaska Department of Fish and Game 1990) established a wild stock management policy for rainbow trout stocks within southwest Alaska. The wild stock management concept emphasizes opportunities to catch fish from naturally reproducing populations while preserving their historic size and age compositions. Due to the popularity of rainbow trout as a sport species, the Refuge Fisheries Management Plan identified rainbow trout as an indicator species to assess the health of a river system and to assess potential impacts of man's activities. This requires the periodic evaluation of the Goodnews River's rainbow trout population. Information concerning Goodnews River rainbow trout dates from 1975 when the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (Department) obtained a sample of 74 rainbow trout from the North Fork (Alt 1977). In 1985, the Department captured 92 rainbow trout on the Middle Fork of the Goodnews River (Alt 1986). From 1988 through 1989, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) conducted the first of the periodic evaluations of the rainbow trout population as outlined in the Refuge Fisheries Management Plan. Three hundred and eighty seven 387 rainbow trout were sampled from all forks of the Goodnews River (Irving and Faustini 1993). This investigation concluded that fishing pressure on the Goodnews River apparently did not have an excessive impact on the population, but that the population probably did not have the capacity to support significant increases in fishing pressure without a decrease in the abundance of the older fish (Irving and Faustini 1993). The King Salmon Fishery Resource Office conducted the second periodic evaluation during 1993-1994. The goals of the study were to re-evaluate the status of the rainbow trout, and to provide information necessary to develop specific management objectives. Information was also collected on Arctic grayling and char Salvelinus spp. The specific objectives were to: 1. Determine the length distribution and mean length at age of rainbow trout vulnerable to the sport fishery. 2. Estimate annual survival of rainbow trout vulnerable to the sport fishery.