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Fishery resources of the Athabasca River downstream of Fort McMurray, Alberta Vol II
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- Author(s) / Creator(s)
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The fish populations of the Athabasca River between Fort McMurray and the mouth of the
Firebag River were sampled from early May to early October 1976. Fish were collected with gill
nets, seines, and angling gear in order to identify the species present and their distribution and
relative abundance over time, and to obtain samples for life history analysis. A tagging program
was undertaken to delineate migration patterns for the major fish species. Results indicate the
presence of 25 fish species within the study area, 11 of which are common. Major spawning
migrations of walleye, longnose suckers, and white suckers enter the study area in early spring
and a large spawning run of lake whitefish occurs in late summer. The entire study area appears
to be important as a summer feeding area for immature goldeye. These goldeye, which may
belong to the population that spawns in the Peace-Athabasca Delta, enter the study area in early
spring and apparently leave in late fall. Trout-perch, flathead chub, lake chub, and emerald
shiners are the major forage fishes occurring within the study area. Floy tags were applied to
2528 fish and the recapture rate to date is 2%. Preliminary tag return data indicate some
movement of suckers, goldeye, lake whitefish, and walleye between the study area and Lake
Athabasca. The fry of many fish species appear in the Athabasca River during June and July.
Most of these fry do not remain in the study area but are carried downstream to nursery areas in
the lower Athabasca River or Lake Athabasca. -
- Date created
- 1980-01-01
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- Type of Item
- Report
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- License
- This material is provided under educational reproduction permissions included in Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development's Copyright and Disclosure Statement, see terms at http://www.environment.alberta.ca/copyright.html. This Statement requires the following identification: \"The source of the materials is Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development http://www.environment.gov.ab.ca/. The use of these materials by the end user is done without any affiliation with or endorsement by the Government of Alberta. Reliance upon the end user's use of these materials is at the risk of the end user.