Long Lake Fish Weir

The Long Lake population has the longest known annual spawning duration (August through April) of any sockeye salmon population in North America. Throughout the winter, sockeye spawn in the northwest corner of the lake which rarely freezes.

 

The weir at the outlet of Long Lake has been in operation since 1974.

The weir at the outlet of Long Lake (on the McCarthy Road) has been in operation since 1974. Initially the Alaska Department of Fish and Game ran it. In 1976 Cliff Collins, a local private citizen who owned the land where the weir is located, voluntarily took over operation of the weir when ADFG was no longer able to fund its operation. He operated the weir continuously from 1976 through 2003. In 2003 when Mr. Collins, at age 93, was no longer able to operate the weir, a cooperative agreement was formed between the Collins’ Family Trust, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park/Preserve and the Copper River Watershed Project to continue to keep the weir operating. Since 2004, funding has been by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Subsistence Management.

Starting in 2003 the weir operators began sampling sockeye salmon for age, sex, and length composition as well as counting the number of sockeye migrating into Long Lake. Thirty two years of weir data show annual variations in abundance of Long Lake runs ranging from 4,400 to over 50,000 sockeye. This is the longest running data set of weir counts of salmon in the Copper River drainage. The sockeye salmon stock that spawns within Long Lake is the largest salmon stock within the Chitina River drainage.

 

Count Totals
1974-2005

YEAR	SALMON
2005	7,770
2004	19,215
2003	4,604
2002	50,000
2001	26,939
2000	8,665
1999	12,922
1998	8,531
1997	4,433
1996	6,209
1995	17,933
1994	18,289
1993	16,101
1992	10,141
1991	11,501
1990	21,399
1989	17,760
1987	7,065
1986	13,323
1985	21,431
1984	10,729
1983	28,003
1982	28,064
1981	12,687
1980	39,978
1979	46,110
1978	15,458
1977	8,772
1976	24,689
1975	6,786
1974	4,501