Central to the surface water system of the Athabasca Oil Sands region is the Athabasca River. This large river connects the Lake Athabasca fisheries with virtually all tributary rivers in the oil sands region. Thus, an adequate description of the fishery resources of this river was sought at the beginning of the Alberta Oil Sands Environmental Research Program. Investigation of the fishery resources of the Athabasca River downstream of Fort McMurray to the Athabasca Delta was an early component of a broadly based program designed to describe the baseline states of this resource throughout the oil sands area. The study of this portion of the river took place during the open water seasons of 1976 and 1977. Specific objectives of this project can be found in the Introduction. The reader is referred to AOSERP Reports 36 and 84 for work on the Athabasca River upstream of Fort McMurray.