Estimating the Abundance of Adult Steelhead in the Babine River Using Mark Recapture Methods

A mark recapture study was conducted by angling on the upper 20 kilometers of the Babine River in an attempt to estimate the abundance of overwintering adult steelhead. The initial tagging was conducted by fisheries staff and volunteers during the 1992 fishing season. A total of 473 steelhead was considered to be the first sample of this mark recapture study. This total was used to develop a sampling strategy that would produce acceptable statistical precision. The sampling strategy was also designed to ensure as much accuracy as possible by minimizing the potential violation of mark recapture assumptions.