Fishery Notice

The Fraser River Panel met Tuesday, August 20, to receive an update on the 
migration of the Fraser Sockeye and pink runs to date and review the status of 
migration conditions in the Fraser River watershed.	

Gill net test fishing catches in the Fraser River have fluctuated in recent 
days with Whonnock catching between 30 and 5 in the last 4 days while 
Cottonwood has fluctuated between 1 and 11. The Area 20 purse seine test 
fishery has continued to have very poor Sockeye catches while pink salmon 
catches have ranged between 2,923 and 9,620 over the last several days. The 
Areas 12 and 13 purse seine vessels have had slightly better Sockeye catches 
than Area 20 but continue to be well below expected for this date, while pink 
catches in Area 13 have fluctuated between 3,408 and 6,253. Area 12 purse seine 
pink catches have been considerably lower than Area 13. The current 5 day 
average estimate of diversion rate for Sockeye through Johnstone Strait is 91% 
while the Fraser pink diversion rate is estimated to be 6%. No Sockeye payfish 
are being retained by test fisheries however retention of pink salmon is 
beginning this week in the Area 13 and 20 purse seine test fisheries.

Stock composition information for Sockeye from the marine purse seine test 
fisheries indicates Early Summers has dropped to between 2% and 8%, Summers 
between 89% and 94%, and Lates between 0% and 5%. In-river stock identification 
samples are indicating a Sockeye stock composition comprised of between 13 and 
38% Early Summers, 62 and 87% Summers and 0 and 2% Late run stocks. 

During the Panel call today there was no change made to the run size for Early 
Stuart Sockeye of 27,000 with an Area 20 timing of July 8. The Early Stuart 
migration through the marine and lower river areas is now complete. 

As a result of the recent increased Sockeye abundances in the marine approach 
areas the Panel decided to increase the run sizes for Early Summers from 85,000 
to 90,000 with an Area 20 timing of July 27, and Summers from 224,000 to 
400,000 with an Area 20 timing of August 21.  The run size for Lates remained 
at 111,000 (pre-season p10 forecast) with an Area 20 timing of August 25. At 
these run sizes and pre-season adopted Management Adjustments, Early Summer, 
Summer and Late Run Sockeye are in a Low Abundance Exploitation Rate (LAER) 
management scenario and there is currently no TAC available. Additional changes 
to Sockeye run size will continue to be evaluated on a weekly basis.

The estimated escapement of Early Stuart, Early Summer, Summer and Late Run 
Sockeye past Mission as of August 19 is 25,900, 80,300, 111,100 and 4,900 
respectively. Four year old Sockeye are now making up approximately 50% of the 
age composition in marine test fisheries.

A significant rock slide in the Big Bar area of the Fraser River just upstream 
from the community of Lillooet has created a 5 meter high waterfall/cascade in 
this section of the river. This has created a migration passage challenge for 
all salmon that are destined for rivers and streams upstream of this slide. 
Results to date from hydroacoustics and radio tagging indicate the slide 
continues to be an impediment to natural fish passage. Significant efforts are 
being made to move Sockeye and Chinook past the blockage by airlifting and 
other methods. In a further attempt to mitigate the lack of fish passage, some 
fish have been captured for enhancement purposes. A Unified Command Incident 
Management Team has been developed which includes participation of the Federal 
and Provincial governments as well as a number of Fraser First Nations. 
Information and updates regarding the slide and work being done to address it 
is located at the link below.  

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-preparedness-response-
recovery/emergency-response-and-recovery/incident-summaries/big-bar-landslide-
incident

The observed water temperature at Qualark on August 19 was 18.8° Celsius which 
is  0.7° Celsius above average for this date. Water temperatures are forecast 
to decrease to 18.6° Celsius by August 25. The Fraser River discharge at Hope 
on August 19 was 3,037 cubic meters per second which is 3% below the average 
discharge for this date and is predicted to decrease to 2,919 cubic meters per 
second by August 25.

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. At current run sizes all run timing groups would normally be managed 
based on their respective Low Abundance Exploitation Rates (LAER's) of 10% 
(Early Stuarts) and 20% (other run timing groups). However due to the very low 
run sizes at this time combined with the potential impacts from the Big Bar 
Slide for numerous stocks the Department intends to manage fisheries to LAER's 
of less than 10% for all run timing groups.

Fraser pink salmon have continued to increase in abundance in the marine 
approach test fisheries. Stock composition information in the Area 12 and 20 
purse seine test fisheries indicates proportions of Fraser pinks of 65% and 67% 
respectively. Non-Fraser Southern BC and Washington State pink stocks are 
making up the balance of the pink abundance at this time.

During the Panel call today the run size for pink salmon remained unchanged at 
the p50 forecast level of 5,018,600 and an Area 20 timing of August 28. At this 
run size there is international TAC available and US commercial fisheries were 
approved beginning Wednesday, August 21 through Friday, August 23. For details 
on these fisheries refer to Pacific Salmon Commission Regulatory Announcement 
from today's Panel meeting. The pink run size will continue to be assessed and 
will be re-evaluated during upcoming Panel meetings.

The third spawning ground report of the season was provided by DFO Stock 
Assessment on August 15. To date 4 live and 2 dead Sockeye have been observed 
in the Early Stuart spawning tributaries. The Scotch Creek fence was installed 
on August 6 and no fish have been enumerated into the system at this time 
however fish have been observed holding below the counting fence. The Stellako 
River hydroacoustics site was operational on August 1 and no Nadina Sockeye 
have been observed to date. The Chilko and Quesnel hydroacoustics sites were 
operational on August 9 and 12 respectively and no Sockeye have been observed 
to date. The Cultus Lake fence was installed on July 30 and no Sockeye have 
been observed to date. Water temperature in Sweltzer Creek is 25° Celsius. The 
Gates Creek spawning channels are now operational with no Sockeye observed to 
date. Visual surveys have begun in a number of other tributaries with the only 
Sockeye observations to date being recorded in the upper Chilliwack River. The 
next spawning ground update will be provided on Thursday, August 22.
 
Currently, First Nations food, social and ceremonial (FSC) Sockeye directed 
fisheries in all areas remain closed. Due to the very low abundance of Fraser 
Sockeye to date, the start-up of Sockeye directed FSC fisheries will continue 
to be delayed until the identification of Sockeye TAC if run sizes improve. 
Potential impacts from the rock slide at Big Bar will also be taken into 
consideration for fisheries planning. The marine and Fraser River areas that 
originally planned to open to Sockeye retention in late July or early August 
will remain closed to Sockeye retention until further notice. FSC 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 as additional 
restrictions are being considered as a result of the slide. Commercial and 
recreational Sockeye fisheries are not being considered at this time. 

The next in-season meeting of the Fraser River Panel is scheduled to occur on 
Friday, August 23, 2019.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

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

Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN0822
Sent August 21, 2019 at 0946

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Printed from the Pacific Region web site on April 30, 2024 at 0948