Fishery Notice

The Fraser River Panel met Monday and Tuesday, August 27 and 28, to receive an 
update on the migration of the Fraser Sockeye runs to date and review the 
status of migration conditions in the Fraser River watershed.	

Purse Seine test fishery catches in both Areas 12 and 20 remained at very low 
levels for the past several days which was not expected based on patterns 
observed in past years for this cycle line. Catches did increase slightly in 
Area 12 to 446 on August 27. Big tides over the past several days and signs of 
fish travelling deep may have contributed to this pattern. Stock identification 
samples from both Areas are continuing to show larger contributions from Early 
Summer and Summer run stocks than would be expected for the time of year with 
Late Run stocks being the largest contributor at this time.  The current 
estimate for the diversion rate through Johnstone Strait has increased to 38% 
based on the average of the estimates derived from the most recent 5 days of 
catch in the Areas 20 and 12 purse seine test fisheries. 

Gill net test fishery catches in the Fraser River peaked on August 24 with 
Cottonwood catching 513 and Whonnock 492. Since then catches have declined in 
both test fisheries to 288 and 85 respectively on August 27.  Daily Mission 
escapement estimates also peaked on August 24 reaching 159,400 with a 
subsequent decline to 51,800 on August 27. The estimated total Sockeye 
escapement past Mission to August 27 is 3,450,200. This is comprised of 121,400 
Early Stuarts, 1,067,400 Early Summers, 1,864,100 Summers and 397,300 Late run 
fish. Stock identification analyses from recent samples taken in the lower 
Fraser River indicate that Early Summers continue to make 16% of the stock 
composition while Summers make up about 62% and Lates are contributing 22% in 
the most recent below Bridge sample. Within the Early Summer run group the 
later timed South Thompson Early Summer stocks continue to be the dominant 
stock with very low levels of Nadina continuing to be present. The Summer Run 
run timing group are primarily Chilko/Quesnel with lower proportions of Late 
Stuart/Stellako and Raft/North Thompson. The current estimate for holding Late 
Run fish is approximately 1.9 million fish.

Pre-season the Fraser Panel adopted management adjustments(MA) for Early Stuart 
based on the historical median for all years, Early Summer based on the 
historical median for dominant years only (2018 cycle) and Summer run Sockeye 
based on the historical median for all years. Model predicted management 
adjustments based on the water discharge and temperature predictions were not 
adopted largely due to the high degree of uncertainty in the temperature 
forecasts and run timing. Management adjustments are additional fish that are 
removed from identified harvest levels and allowed to escape upstream in an 
attempt to assist in achievement of identified escapement objectives for the 
different run timing groups. In-season information over the coming weeks will 
help to inform future decisions on management adjustments for the Early Summer, 
Summer and Late run management groups while the Early Stuart management group 
continues to be managed based on the Low Abundance Exploitation Rate (LAER) of 
10%. It is anticipated the Early Stuart Sockeye return will result in a 
spawning escapement being below goal.

The observed water temperature at Qualark on August 27 decreased to 16.9° 
Celsius which is 0.3° Celsius below average for this date. Water temperatures 
are forecast to decrease to 16.7° Celsius by August 29.  The Fraser River 
discharge at Hope on August 27 was 1,984 cubic meters per second which is 24% 
below the average discharge for this date.

During the Panel meeting today the run size for Early Summer stocks was reduced 
to 1.8 million from the p50 forecast level of 2.155 million with revised run 
timing from August 8 to August 6. No changes were made to the Management 
Adjustment for this run timing group as water temperatures have decreased 
significantly over the past two weeks and there have been very few observations 
of stressed or moribund fish in-river. The Summer Run run size remained at the 
p50 forecast level of 4.344 million fish and no changes were made to the 
management adjustment for this group for the same reasons as for Early 
Summers.  Late run stocks are continuing to track below the p50 forecast of 7.4 
million and were reduced to a provisional run size for management purposes of 
6.0 million based on a relationship between the smolt out-migration of Early 
South Thompson Early Summer stocks and the Late South Thompson Late Run stocks 
and the in-season run size of Early South Thompson Early Summer stocks being 
used to predict the return of Late South Thompson stocks. Run timing for this 
Late Run run size has been modified to August 19 from the pre-season prediction 
of August 17. Future fisheries planning will be based on the revised run sizes 
for all run timing groups including the Late runs.

The fifth spawning ground report was released on August 23. Early Stuart 
Sockeye migration is now over with the final survey occurring on August 19. The 
Scotch Creek counting fence was operational on August 9 with 13,855 sockeye 
enumerated to date, the majority of which being in good condition. Some fish 
had net marks and wounds. The Eagle River Hydroacoustic site was operational on 
August 10 with 20,123 fish having been estimated to have passed the site to 
date.  The Nadina Spawning Channel operations continue to be influenced by 
forest fire in the immediate area. Water has been turned on in the channel and 
several thousand fish have entered the spawning channel at this time.  The 
Stellako River hydroacoustic site was operational on August 1 with a total of 
117,058 sockeye estimated to have passed to date. The majority of these fish 
would be Nadina sockeye at this time. Sockeye have recently been observed in 
Gates Creek however none have been permitted to enter the spawning channel at 
this time. The Chilko River hydroacoustics site was operational on August 3 
with a total of 71,149 sockeye estimated to date. In the Quesnel River the 
hydroacoustics site was operational on August 7 with 187,843 sockeye estimated 
to date. The counting fence at Sweltzer Creek was installed on July 31 and 12 
Sockeye have been counted into Cultus Lake to date. 

Currently, First Nations food, social and ceremonial (FSC) Sockeye fisheries 
are underway in Marine areas and the Fraser River. In addition several First 
Nation Economic Opportunity fisheries are being planned in the lower Fraser 
River. Fishers in marine approach areas, as well as the Fraser River are 
requested to check for the opening times and any restrictions in their local 
area. 

Retention of Sockeye in marine and in-river recreational fisheries began on 
August 1 and 7 respectively. Commercial fisheries are either underway or being 
considered for Areas B, D, E, G and H. The details for these fisheries will be 
identified in separate Fisheries Notices.  

US commercial fisheries are now complete unless run size increases above the 
current adopted levels. 

The next Panel meeting will be on Friday, August 31 at 11am.


FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Regional Salmon Team - DFO Pacific
DFO.PacificSalmonRMT-EGRSaumonduPacifique.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN0883
Sent August 28, 2018 at 1511

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Printed from the Pacific Region web site on February 17, 2026 at 0908