Fishery Notice

The Fraser River Panel met for the last time this season on Friday, August 
26th, to receive an update on the migration of the Fraser sockeye runs during 
the past week.	

Fraser River gillnet test fishery catches have declined in recent days 
resulting in the termination of the Cottonwood test fishery on August 23rd. 
Daily Mission passage estimates have ranged between 6,400 and 14,500 over the 
last 5 days. The Mission hydroacoustics site is scheduled to close on Sunday, 
August 28th, 2016, after which escapement estimates will be based on the 
Whonnock test fishery catches.

In-river DNA samples from the Whonnock test fishery had stock proportions of 4% 
Early Summer, 70% Summer and 25% Late run stocks for samples from August 20 to 
23. Age proportions continue to contain a higher number of 5 year olds than 
expected.

During the Panel meeting today there were no changes made to the run size for 
any of the Fraser sockeye management groups. The estimated escapement of Early 
Summer, Summer and Late run sockeye past Mission through August 25th is 
226,700, 427,300 and 49,600 fish respectively. 

FSC fisheries in the marine area are currently closed to the retention of 
sockeye in areas where Fraser sockeye are present. FSC fisheries in the lower 
and mid-Fraser River are currently closed and terminal fisheries in a few upper 
Fraser tributaries are winding down with very low harvests occurring. Fishers 
in marine approach areas as well as the Fraser River are requested to check for 
any restrictions in their local area. There will be no commercial or 
recreational sockeye fisheries in 2016 directed on Fraser sockeye.

The fifth in-season update on the escapement of Fraser sockeye was released on 
August 25th.  Early Stuart sockeye are past the peak of die-off in all creeks 
with improved spawning success observed compared to earlier surveys. At Scotch 
Creek the counting fence was installed on August 9th with 515 sockeye 
enumerated into the system to date. Water levels are low and large numbers of 
the fish are reported to have lesions. The Didson program in the Chilliwack 
system began on July 20th with an estimated 55,959 sockeye past the sonar site 
as of August 23rd. Gates Creek spawning channel began operations on August 6th 
however daily counts are not available at this time. The Nadina River spawning 
channel was operational on August 15th with 3,330 sockeye in the channel at 
this time. Sockeye appear to be in good condition with very few pre-spawn 
mortalities to date. The Chilko River Didson program began on August 5th with 
32,965 sockeye estimated to have past the sonar site as of August 23rd. The 
Sweltzer Creek counting fence in the Cultus Lake system began operations on 
July 11th and to date 756 sockeye have passed through the fence. The water 
temperature in Sweltzer Creek is 21°C. The next escapement update will be on 
Thursday, September 1st, 2016.

This was the last Fraser River Panel in-season meeting for 2016.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jennifer Nener 604-666-0789.

Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN0914
Sent August 26, 2016 at 1648

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Printed from the Pacific Region web site on April 24, 2024 at 0828