and coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, (Roos*- *■ ', 

 1959, 1960). Beginning in 1961 the FPU intensified eco- 

 logical studies of the nursery lakes. Results of those 

 studies have been reported by Narver (1966), Phinney 

 (1970), Parr (1972), and Burgner and Marshall'. Dahl- 

 berg (1973) analyzed the historical records of the fishery 

 and reported on the dynamics of the sockeye salmon 

 returns to Chignik from the inception of the fishery 

 through 1966. Although all five species of Pacific salmon 

 found in North America occur at Chignik, sockeye 

 salmon are the most abundant and commercially impor- 

 tant species. This repwrt treats only sockeye salmon at 

 Chignik. Narver (1966) and Parr (1972) described the life 

 histories of fishes associated with sockeye salmon in the 

 Chignik lakes. 



The Watershed 



The Chignik watershed is located on the Alaska Pe- 

 ninsula approximately halfway between the tip of the 

 Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island (Fig. 1). Black and 

 Chignik Lakes drain into the Pacific Ocean and form a 

 natural northwest-southeast pass through the Aleutian 

 Mountain Range. The watershed covers an area of 

 approximately 1,520 km^ including two lakes of 63.8 km' 

 total surface area. Atwood (1911) and Knappen (1929) 



'Roos, J. F. 1959. Report on Chignik adult red salmon studies. 



1958. Unpubl. manuscr., 12 p. Fish. Res. Inst., Univ. Washington, Seat- 

 tle. 



'Roos, J. F. 1959. Red salmon tagging at Chignik, Alaska during 



1959. Unpubl. manuscr., 9 p. Fish. Res. Inst., Univ. Washington, Seat- 

 tle. 



'Roos, J. F. 1960. Life history of red salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka 

 (Walbaum), at Chignik, Alaska. Unpubl. manuscr., 56 p. Fish. Res. 

 Inst.. Univ. Washington, Seattle. 



"Burgner. R. L.. and S. L. Marshall. 1974. Optimum escapement 

 studies of Chignik sockeye salmon. Anadromous Fish Project Final Re- 

 port for period ending June 30, 1973. Report No. FRI-UW-7401. Fish. 

 Res. Inst., Univ. Washington, Seattle, 91 p. 



discussed in detail the geology of the region and briefly 

 described the geography and vegetation; Murie (1959) 

 detailed the fauna of the Alaska Peninsula. 



Because the lakes are important as rearing areas for ju- 

 venile sockeye salmon, they have been closely studied; a 

 complete description of the two leikes is presented by 

 Narver (1966). Black Lake is shallow (44% of the area is 

 <2 m deep), warms rapidly in the spring, and is usually 

 turbid (typical Secchi disk reading is <1 m) throughout 

 the summer. Chignik Lake, although smaller in area 

 than Black Lake, is six times greater in volume and gen- 

 erally clearer. Although the lakes are different physically 

 (Table 1), together they show a marked contrast in bio- 

 logical activity when compared with 24 other sockeye 

 salmon-producing lakes in western Alaska (Burgner et al. 

 1969) . The Chignik system ranked second in number of 

 spawners per unit of lake surface area, first in rate of 

 photosynthetic activity (area and volume), first in con- 

 tent of chlorophyl a per unit of lake volume, and second 

 in content of total dissolved solids, and generally showed 

 high concentrations of trace elements. Black Lake and 

 Chignik Lake had the highest standing crops of phyto- 

 plankton among the lakes compared. 



The lakes are connected by Black River (12 km long), 

 which flows south along the edge of the Aleutian Moun- 

 tain Range. Two major spawning tributaries enter Black 

 River. West Fork, entering fi-om the west, drains the 

 northeast slope of Mount Veniaminoff (Fig. 1), a volcano 

 which erupted as recently as 1956 (Roos see footnote 7). 

 Chiaktuak Creek enters from the east and drains a valley 

 parallel to Chignik Lake. Bearskin Creek also enters 

 Black River but is of minor importance as a spawning 

 stream; small numbers of spawners are found occasional- 

 ly in the upper reaches (Phinney 1970). 



The lower lake is drained by Chignik River (7.2 km 

 long), which is normally influenced by tidal action for 

 nearly one-half its length. The highest spring tides affect 

 the river up to the lake outlet. 



Mount 

 Veniaminof 



Kilometers 



Figure 1.— Map of the Chignik 

 River watershed with inset of 

 western Alaska. 



