The Shaktoolik River has long been an important river for Norton Sound commercial and subsistence fishermen.  The Shaktoolik Subdistrict supports the second largest commercial salmon harvest in Norton Sound.  In the past, however, the strength of the Shaktoolik River salmon escapement was either un measured or measured with aerial surveys, for which accuracy is questionable due to variations from weather conditions, timing of flights, and the inherent difficulty of counting salmon from an airplane.

To address this problem and to help maximize the sustainable harvest of Shaktoolik River salmon, in 2006 NSEDC began looking for and found a site to operate a sonar counting station.  In 2007, NSEDC returned to the RIVER with DIDSON sonar equipment and confirmed that the sonar could be operated at the chosen location. In 2008 the sonar was deployed and operated for most of the summer with a focus on training the field crew to use the equipment. 2009 was the first year of complete normal counting operations with the sonar equipment on the Shaktoolik River. The sonar equipment has substantially increased the accuracy of escapement counts for the Shaktoolik Subdistrict.

For more information contact:

Wes Jones
Fisheries Biologist

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