Fishery Notice

The Fraser River Panel met Friday, August 30, 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 Sockeye catches in the Fraser River have fluctuated in 
recent days with catches at Whonnock being larger than Cottonwood while Pink 
catches have been increasing at both locations. Due to the abundance of Pink 
salmon in-river the daily Sockeye escapement estimates have been generated from 
the Whonnock test fishery catch information rather than the normal 
hydroacoustic estimates since August 20. The Area 20 purse seine test fishery 
has continued to have very poor Sockeye catches while Pink salmon catches have 
continued to decrease in recent days. The Area 12 purse seine test fishery has 
continued to have low but better Sockeye catches than Area 20, while Pink 
catches in Area 12 have fluctuated between 190 and 440 in the last three days.  
The current 5 day average estimate of diversion rate for Sockeye through 
Johnstone Strait is estimated to be 90% while the Fraser Pink diversion rate 
has increased to be 59% due to the decline in the Area 20 Pink catches over 
this time period. During the Panel meeting today the decision was made to 
terminate the two remaining marine test fisheries at the end of testing today. 

Stock composition information for Sockeye from recent samples taken in the 
Johnstone Strait purse seine test fishery indicate Early Summers have been in 
the 1% to 4% range, Summers have increased to  93% to 96%, and Lates have 
dropped to between 0% and 6%. In-river stock identification samples are 
indicating a Sockeye stock composition comprised of between 2% and 9% Early 
Summers, 91% to 97% Summers and 0% 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, Early Summers of 
90,000 with an Area 20 timing of July 27, Summers of 400,000 with an Area 20 
timing of August 21 and Lates of 40,000 with an Area 20 timing of August 26. At 
current Sockeye run sizes all run timing groups would normally be managed based 
on their respective Low Abundance Exploitation Rates (LAERs) 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 LAERs of 
less than 10% for all run timing groups. Additional changes to Sockeye run size 
will continue to be evaluated through the duration of the return.

The estimated escapement of Early Stuart, Early Summer, Summer and Late Run 
Sockeye past Mission as of August 29 is 25,900, 89,800, 265,500 and 10,000 
respectively. Four year old Sockeye continue to make up approximately 49% to 
64% of the age composition in marine test fishery samples.

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. Recent information 
suggests that low levels of Chinook and Sockeye passage is occurring. 
Significant efforts continue to be made to move Sockeye, Chinook, Coho, 
Steelhead and Pink salmon 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 29 was 17.6° Celsius which 
is  0.5° Celsius above average for this date. Water temperatures are forecast 
to increase to 18.2° Celsius by September 4. The Fraser River discharge at Hope 
on August 29 was 2,829 cubic meters per second which is 11% above the average 
discharge for this date and is predicted to decrease to 2,543 cubic meters per 
second by September 4.



Fraser Pink salmon catches in marine test fisheries have remained at lower 
levels in recent days and CPUE data from recent US commercial fisheries 
suggests the Pink return may be lower than previously estimated. Stock 
composition information in the Area 12 and 20 purse seine test fisheries 
indicates proportions of Fraser Pinks have increased to 70% and 64% 
respectively; with recent samples from US fisheries indicating Fraser Pink 
stock proportions of 74% to 92%. Non-Fraser Southern BC and Washington State 
Pink stocks are making up the balance of the Pink abundance at this time.

During the Panel meeting today the run size for Pink salmon was reduced from 
7,400,000 to 5,000,000 with Area 20 timing of August 17. At this run size the 
international TAC is reduced to a level where no additional US fisheries would 
be considered. As well, given the uncertainty in the Pink run size, the limited 
amount of commercial TAC identified is insufficient to initiate commercial or 
recreational fisheries directed on Fraser Pink salmon in Canada. First Nations 
fisheries for FSC purposes will continue to be considered at this time for Pink 
salmon. Unless the Pink run size increases in the near future there will be no 
directed commercial or recreational fisheries for Fraser Pink salmon this year. 
The Pink run size will continue to be assessed and evaluated during upcoming 
Panel meetings.

The fifth spawning ground report of the season was provided by DFO Stock 
Assessment on August 29. Low numbers of Sockeye have been observed in several 
Early Stuart spawning tributaries to date. The Scotch Creek fence was installed 
on August 6 with 431 Sockeye enumerated to August 28. The Early Stuart program 
has now been terminated. The Stellako River hydroacoustics site was operational 
on August 1 and 706 Sockeye have been observed to date with the majority likely 
to be Nadina stocks. No fish have been observe at the Nadina spawning channel 
or the Nadina River at this time. The Chilko and Quesnel hydroacoustics sites 
were operational on August 9 and 12 respectively and 26 and 9 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 23° Celsius. 
The Gates Creek spawning channel is now operational with 670 Sockeye counted 
into the channel at this time. The Birkenhead River hydroacoustics site was 
operational on August 27 with 21 Sockeye estimated to have passed the site to 
date. Visual surveys have begun in a number of other tributaries with Sockeye 
observations in several systems at this time. The next spawning ground update 
will be provided on Thursday, September 5.
 
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 it is unlikely there will be any directed Sockeye fisheries for the 
remainder of the year.  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 fisheries for Fraser Sockeye and Pink 
salmon are not being considered at this time and will likely not occur in 2019. 

The next in-season meeting of the Fraser River Panel is scheduled to occur on 
Tuesday, September 3, 2019.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

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

Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN0872
Sent August 30, 2019 at 1540

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Printed from the Pacific Region web site on September 6, 2026 at 0448