Fishery Notice

The Fraser River Panel met Friday, August 31, 2018 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 low levels 
for the past several days with Area 12 having improved catches the last two 
days of just over 600 fish each day. This has resulted in an increase in the 
diversion rate from 38% on August 28 to 58% yesterday based on the most recent 
5 day average of catch in the Area 20 and 12 purse seine test fisheries. 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 through both routes. 

Gill net test fishery catches in the Fraser River dropped off considerably on 
August 29 partially due to a change in the tides being fished in previous days. 
This was followed by a slight increase on August 30 for both Whonnock and 
Cottonwood. Daily Mission escapement estimates have also declined in recent 
days to 26,000 on August 30. The estimated total Sockeye escapement past 
Mission to August 30 is 3,559,900. This is comprised of 121,400 Early Stuarts, 
1,079,900 Early Summers, 1,924,500 Summers and 434,100 Late run fish. Stock 
identification analyses from recent samples taken in the lower Fraser River 
indicate that Early Summers have dropped to 13% of the stock composition while 
Summers increased to 73% and Lates decreased to 14% 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 1.6 
to 2.2 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 30 was 17.3° Celsius which 
is 0.3° Celsius above average for this date. Water temperatures are forecast to 
decrease to 17.0° Celsius by September 5.  The Fraser River discharge at Hope 
on August 30 was 1,879 cubic meters per second which is 26% below the average 
discharge for this date.

During the Panel meeting today the run size for Early Summer stocks was reduced 
to 1.7 million from the most recent adopted run size of 1.8 million with no 
change to the run timing of 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 were reduced to a provisional run size for management 
purposes of 5.8 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 the Late Run return was estimated to be August 18 as a result of 
this reduction in run size. Future fisheries planning will be based on the 
revised run sizes for all run timing groups including the Late runs.

The sixth spawning ground report was released on August 30.  The Scotch Creek 
counting fence was operational on August 9 with 62,652 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 120,016 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 about 15,000 
fish have entered the spawning channel at this time.  The Stellako River 
hydroacoustic site was operational on August 1 with a total of 177,733 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 with 
loading of the spawning channel expected to begin on August 30. The Chilko 
River hydroacoustics site was operational on August 3 with a total of 170,851 
sockeye estimated to date. In the Quesnel River the hydroacoustics site was 
operational on August 7 with 401,623 sockeye estimated to date. The counting 
fence at Sweltzer Creek was installed on July 31 and 14 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 a few 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 currently underway for  
Areas B and H who still have some remaining quota to harvest. All other 
commercial fishing areas are currently closed.  

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

The next Panel meeting will be on Tuesday, September 4 at 11am.


FOR MORE INFORMATION:

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

Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN0921
Sent August 31, 2018 at 1542

Return to Main Menu

Visit Fisheries and Oceans Canada on the Web at http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Printed from the Pacific Region web site on April 23, 2024 at 0024