ASL - Age, Sex and Length Data

Much data are collected during the course of managing salmon fisheries or operating stock assessment and research in AYK. We have attempted to categorize related data into “types” allowing them to reside in separate databases which can accommodate their different data structure. Not all data “types” have been added to our DBMS. Currently we include ASL, CPUE, Escapement Counts, Harvest, and Survey Counts data. This is in contrast to data relating to radio telemetry locations of salmon, environmental measurements (temperature, water depth, velocity, etc.) or juvenile salmon data which could be added at a later time.

Salmon age, sex, and length (ASL) data are collected annually from sampled commercial and subsistence harvests, escapement, run timing and abundance monitoring projects in the AYK Region. Scales are collected primarily to determine the age of fish, but may also be examined for growth patterns. ASL data have been collected in the Yukon Area since 1960, in the Kuskokwim Area since 1961, in the Norton Sound-Port Clarence Area and Kotzebue Areas since 1962. All salmon species have been sampled but the emphasis has been on chum and Chinook salmon. Scales collected from salmon are stored on gum cards along with an acetate impression used to determine age. Both are organized into files by year, species, and project and stored in cabinets located in the Anchorage ADF&G office. This data type consists of biological measurements of individual salmon (Oncorhynchus sp) sampled from fishery harvests or research projects. Biological measurements consist of length in mm generally mid-eye to fork of tail, age in European notation as judged from a scale or bony structure, and sex of the fish determined from external characteristics or internal inspection of sex organs. The location of capture for the sampled salmon consists of the general location of the harvest area or more specific location code for the project (weir, tower, test fishery, etc.). Capture gear (or method type) may also be included in the data record. Data are generally collected as a sample from a larger population with the intent that the sample’s age, length, or sex composition will be representative of the larger population. Examples are the age composition of a harvest from an area, time, and gear combination or the estimation of the age composition of a run of salmon to a specific river.

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