Copper River Commercial Salmon Fishery Management. Dan Ashe and Bert Lewis

Transcription

1 Copper River Commercial Salmon Fishery Management Dan Ashe and Bert Lewis

2 Ri chardson Highway CO PPER RIVER DRAINAGE Gu lkan a H atc heri es Denali Highway I II Summit Lak e P ax son N Paxso n La ke Slana River Chistochina River Midd le Fork S lana Gulkana River W est F ork Nabe sna Roa d Glenn H ighway Fish La ke Tanada Creek Cr ossw ind L ake Ew an Lak e Tazlina R ive r Ton sina River Va ldez G lenn Highway G lennallen N elchina River Klutina River Edg erto n Highway C hitina Richardson Highway McCa rt hy Nizin a Ri ver Chitina River Woo d C an yo n Brem er River Tas nuna River Co rdova Sonar Site Miles Lake M artin River Bering River Gulf o f Alas ka

3 Cordova Gov t. Rock Miles Lake Sonar Point Martin Hook Point COPPER RIVER DISTRICT Cape St.Elias

4

5 Copper River Fishery Management

6 The mission of the Division of Commercial Fisheries is to manage, protect, rehabilitate, enhance, and develop fisheries consistent with the sustained yield principle and subject to allocations established through public regulatory processes.

7 Management Plans 5 AAC COPPER RIVER DISTRICT SALMON MANAGEMENT PLAN 5 AAC COPPER RIVER CHINOOK SALMON FISHERY MANGEMENT PLAN These plans define escapement goals, allocations, and measures to achieve objectives

8 5 AAC COPPER RIVER DISTRICT SALMON MANAGEMENT PLAN ENACTED IN 1984 WITH SEVERAL CHANGES SINCE MANAGE FOR A SEG OF 300, ,000 SOCKEYE SALMON DEFINES ESCAPEMENT CATEGORIES AND GOALS (ALLOCATIONS)

9 MILES LAKE SONAR GOAL Sockeye Spawning Escapement 300,000 to 500,000 Other Salmon 17,500 Glennallen Subdistrict Subsistence 60-75,000 Chitina Subdistrict Personal Use ,000 Sport Fishery 15,000 Hatchery Brood (Sockeye Salmon) Estimated Annually Hatchery Surplus (Sockeye Salmon) Estimated Annually Total Announced Annually

10 5 AAC Copper River Chinook Salmon Fishery Management Plan Chinook salmon commercial district run-timing May to June 1996 BOF adopted Copper River Chinook Salmon Fishery Management Plan with 5% reduction in harvest potential In 1999 and 2003 BOF amended plan adopting Chinook salmon spawning escapement goals

11 Fishery Assessment Tools Preseason Forecast Abundance Based Management Lower River Sonar Miles Lake Sonar Counts Aerial Survey Estimates Marked Otolith Data

12 Preseason Forecast Forecasts are based on brood-year sibling returns Copper River sockeye salmon runs are dominated by 4 and 5 year old returns No Chinook salmon forecasts

13 Abundance Based Management Actual harvest is compared to anticipated forecasted harvest Other factors include harvest location, harvest consistency, effort, and environmental conditions Used in conjunction with Lower River sonar information before reliable sonar trends become available

14 Lower River Test Fishery and Sonar LRTF / Sonar used to confirm inriver migration LRTF Initiated in 2000 / Sonar in 2001 Used in conjunction with abundance based management Long term goal - correlate CPUE to Miles Lake sonar counts Provides gauge of early escapement against fishing pressure

15

16 Miles Lake Sonar Located 53 km upriver from the commercial district fishing grounds Management tool since 1978 Operates from mid-may until end of July Daily escapement goals derived from historical run timing curves No species apportionment

17 188,879 14, ,562 14,948 14, Jun 173,985 15, ,614 12,844 12, Jun 158,430 13, ,770 6,320 5, Jun 145,048 13, ,450 16,457 16, Jun 131,431 15, ,993 15,350 14, Jun 116,346 13, ,643 10,129 9, Jun 102,681 12, ,514 12,750 12, Jun 90,620 12, ,764 17,281 16, Jun 78,129 11, ,483 13,731 12, Jun 67,122 10, ,752 12,859 12, May 56,534 7, ,893 20,644 19,436 1, May 48,570 6, ,249 24,625 23,001 1, May 41,935 9, ,624 23,347 22, May 32,512 7, ,277 17,863 17, May 25,325 4,971 89,414 18,890 18, May 20,354 4,727 70,524 17,520 17, May 15,628 4,668 53,004 17,130 16, May Cumulative Daily Cumulative Daily Bank Bank Date South North Escapement Objective Estimated Daily Escapement

18 7/25/ DAILY SONAR ESCAPEMENT ACTUAL DAILY ANTICIPATED DAILY 6/13/2004 6/20/2004 6/27/2004 7/4/2004 7/11/2004 7/18/2004 DATE 6/6/2004 5/30/2004 5/16/2004 5/23/2004 ESCAPEMENT

19 7/25/0 4 7/18/04 7/11/ CUMULATIVE SONAR ESCAPEMENT Actual Anticipated 5/30/0 4 6/6/04 6/13/04 6/20/0 4 6/27/04 7/4/04 DATE 5/23/04 5/16/04 ESCAPEMENT

20 Delta Aerial Surveys Delta sockeye salmon run timing is mid-june through early August Copper River Delta sockeye salmon SEG is 55, , Index sites are surveyed

21 Marked Otolith Data and Gulkana Hatchery The 5-year mean release from Gulkana Hatchery is 22.5 million sockeye salmon Release sites include Paxson, Crosswind, and Summit Lakes Enhanced sockeye salmon mixed with wild sockeye salmon preventing targeted harvest of enhanced stocks Marked otoliths enable inseason assessment of enhanced salmon contributions

22 Is It Worth the Pain? Sustainable escapement goal oriented management provides for long term yield and fishing opportunity Not everyone agrees with ANY management decision Inaction and complacency are not options

23 Copper River Ten Year Average Commercial Salmon Harvest ( ) Sockeye salmon 1.5 Million Chinook salmon 48,000 Coho salmon 300,000 Pink salmon 10,000 Chum salmon 18,000 Total 1.9 Million

24 COMMERCIAL SOCKEYE SALMON HARVEST ,000,000 2,500,000 2,000,000 1,500,000 1,000, ,

25 COMMERCIAL CHINOOK SALMON HARVEST ,000 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,

26 It Is Worth the Pain The Copper River commercial fishery has existed uninterrupted since 1889 Current salmon runs are healthy Number of participants in the fisheries is increasing requiring precision management and assessment tools

27 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game Cordova Office Commercial Fisheries Staff Dan Ashe Dan Gray Steve Moffitt Richard Merizon