Fishery Notice

The Fraser River Panel met Friday, September 6, 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.	

Sockeye catches in the Fraser River gill net test fisheries have continued to 
decline in recent days while Pink catches have remained above average with 
highs of 362 on September 1 at Cottonwood and 737 on September 5 at Whonnock. 
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. 

In-river stock identification samples are indicating a Sockeye stock 
composition comprised of 0% to 4% Early Summers, 88% to 96% Summers and 0% to 
12% Late run stocks. 

During the Panel call today there was no change made to the run size or timing 
for any of the four Sockeye run timing groups. 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 September 4 is 25,900, 92,400, 312,000 and 11,500 
respectively. Four year old Sockeye make up approximately 39% to 52% of the age 
composition from recent river 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 created a migration passage challenge for all 
salmon destined for rivers and streams upstream of this slide. Recent 
information suggests there has been a significant increase in levels of Chinook 
and Sockeye passage since late August, as well as confirmation of Pink salmon 
now migrating above the slide. As such airlifting fish above the slide has been 
temporarily postponed. 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 September 5 was 18.2° Celsius 
which is  1.9° Celsius above average for this date. Water temperatures are 
forecast to decrease to 17.3° Celsius by September 11. The Fraser River 
discharge at Hope on September 4 was 2,279 cubic meters per second which is 7% 
below the average discharge for this date and is predicted to decrease to 2,073 
cubic meters per second by September 11.

During the Panel meeting today the run size for Pink salmon remained unchanged 
at 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 be reassessed on Tuesdays Panel call.

The sixth spawning ground report of the season was provided by DFO Stock 
Assessment on September 5. The Scotch Creek fence was installed on August 6 
with 1,098 Sockeye enumerated to August 28 with fish in the early stages of 
spawning. The Stellako River hydroacoustics site was operational on August 1 
and 1,078 Sockeye have been observed to August 31 with the majority likely to 
be Nadina stocks. No fish have been observed in the Nadina spawning channel 
however some have been observed holding below the channel in the Nadina River. 
The Gates Creek spawning channel is now operational with 1,978 Sockeye counted 
into the channel at this time. The Chilko and Quesnel hydroacoustics sites were 
operational on August 9 and 12 respectively and 704 and 845 Sockeye have been 
observed to date. Since August 31, 904 Sockeye have been enumerated through the 
Stellako hydroacoustics site which are thought to be Stellako stocks. The 
Cultus Lake fence was installed on July 30 with 2 Sockeye observed to date. 
Water temperature in Sweltzer Creek is 24° Celsius. The Birkenhead River 
hydroacoustics site was operational on August 27 with 74 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 12.
 
First Nations food, social and ceremonial (FSC) Sockeye directed fisheries in 
all areas remain closed. Due to the very low abundance of Fraser Sockeye 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 10, 2019.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

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

Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN0893
Sent September 6, 2019 at 1401

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