Chinook age, sex, and length data from East Side Cook Inlet, Alaska, 1970-2012

Age, sex and length (ASL) data provide population dynamics information that can indicate how population trends occur and may be changing. These data can help researchers estimate population growth rates, age-class distribution, and population demographics. Knowing population demographics, growth rates and trends is particularly valuable to fisheries managers who must perform population assessments to inform management decisions. These data are therefore important in valuable fisheries like the salmon fisheries of Alaska. This dataset includes age, sex and length data compiled from annual sampling of commercial catch from East Side Cook Inlet, Alaska. It includes data on chinook salmon collected from the commercial set net fishery. Age estimates were made by examining scales or bony structures (e.g. otoliths - ear bones). Scales were removed from the side of the fish; usually the left side above the lateral line. Scales or bony structures were then mounted on gummed cards and pressed on acetate to make an impression. The number of freshwater and saltwater annuli (i.e. rings) was counted to estimate freshwater and saltwater ages in years. Fish sex was determined by either examining external morphology (eg. head and belly shape) or internal sex organ. Length was measured in millimeters, from mid-eye to the fork of the tail. This data package includes a .csv of ASL data (ASL_formatted_EastSideChinook.csv), a .csv of the original data file (EastSideSetNetChinookASL.csv), and an R script detailing the processing and reformatting steps (ASL_Formatting_EastSide_SetNet.R).