Fish Habitat Partnerships Making a Difference in Alexander Creek, Alaska

Summary

Partnership - Matanuska-Susitna Basin Salmon Habitat Partnership Alexander Creek Watershed, a tributary of the Susitna River, was formerly a significant sport fishing area covering hundreds of square miles in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. In the late 1990s, this system was considered to be a highly productive Chinook and Coho Salmon habitat, and, arguably, the premier Chinook Salmon sport fishing area in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. Today, however, due to low returns, the Alexander Creek drainage is closed to Chinook Salmon harvest, and Alexander Creek Chinook Salmon are considered a stock of concern by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. This decline is largely due to the introduction of Northern Pike ( Esox lucius), which [...]

Summary

Partnership - Matanuska-Susitna Basin Salmon Habitat Partnership

Alexander Creek Watershed, a tributary of the Susitna River, was formerly a significant sport fishing area covering hundreds of square miles in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. In the late 1990s, this system was considered to be a highly productive Chinook and Coho Salmon habitat, and, arguably, the premier Chinook Salmon sport fishing area in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. Today, however, due to low returns, the Alexander Creek drainage is closed to Chinook Salmon harvest, and Alexander Creek Chinook Salmon are considered a stock of concern by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. This decline is largely due to the introduction of Northern Pike ( Esox lucius), which are native north and west of the Alaska Range, but were introduced into the Susitna River Basin in the late 1950s. They are voracious predators of juvenile salmon and other native resident fish and wildlife and have direct effects on salmon populations and the associated economic activity. Compounding the situation, in August of 2014, the aquatic invasive plant, Elodea, was discovered for the first time in Mat-Su waters by Alaska Department of Fish and Game crews. If Elodea becomes established in Alexander Creek and spreads throughout Alexander Lake, it would provide excellent habitat quality for predatory Northern Pike, further exacerbating the existing effects of pike predation on juvenile salmon and other fish.

Since Northern Pike are widespread, and the challenge too great in the Mat-Su to fully eradicate them, there will be ongoing suppression in target areas to maintain critical salmon habitat. Project goals are to: 1) create an annual, large scale pike removal protocol on side channel sloughs to remove 80% of Northern Pike; 2) track spatial and temporal movement trends of Northern Pike to and from Alexander Lake; and 3) measure success through monitoring adult salmon returns, resident fish production and juvenile production and movement. The intent is to replenish depleted anadromous and resident fish populations and to restore sport fishing opportunities to this once very popular and productive system. This project has been and will run from 2011 – 2016. In 2015, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game completed the fourth year of a long-term and large-scale annual gill netting project to control Northern Pike on Alexander Creek. They also conducted a radio telemetry study to investigate movement patterns between Alexander Lake and the mainstem of the creek, evaluated Northern Pike diet, and are testing effective control and detection methods such as eDNA. Directed by the Management Plan for Invasive Northern Pike and prioritized through a strategic planning process, the Northern Pike suppression project in Alexander Creek is the largest of its kind ever attempted in Alaska, and preliminary findings from the first four years of this project are encouraging. As of spring 2015, results have been very successful. With each year of pike suppression, Chinook Salmon fry are found farther up the stream system. For the first time, both juvenile and adult Chinook Salmon were observed all the way up to the lake outlet in 2014. Chinook Salmon returns in 2013-14 were the highest observed in a decade.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources and partners have been working an Elodea eradication program and a rapid response protocol for future infestations, and in 2016 the plan will be implemented. Partners will be sampling high priority areas in the Mat-Su Basin, educating priority audiences like pilots, residents of infested lakes, fishermen and guides, and will be providing training to help build awareness and create a growing body of residents, recreationalists and practitioners who all can recognize Elodea and know what to do if they do see it. The Mat-Su Salmon Partnership is working with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources to develop and help support future training opportunities as well as an Elodea statewide management plan.

Contacts

Author :: Matanuska-Susitna Basin Salmon Habitat Partnership, Steve Crawford, Gary Whelan, Timothy Birdsong

Purpose

The U.S Geological Survey (USGS) is partnering with the National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP) to produce the 2015 report entitled, "Through a Fish's Eye: The Status of Fish Habitats in the United States 2015". The information contained within this item is a product of NFHP. The Bureau is neither responsible nor liable for the accuracy or the use of the scientific content within this item. This content is considered preliminary pending subsequent review and approval.

Fish Habitat Partnerships Making a Difference in Alexander Creek, Alaska

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