Nass Update to July 31

Just thought I would post the complete Nass Update that the Nisga'a Fisheries sends out. It gives quite a thorough update on the various fisheries and fish stocks.
Here's a quick summary for those with a passing interest:
Nass sockeye: Tracking a little below average to date( 195,000) at 162,781. Mean run size of 281,000 from 1994-2007.
Net escapement estimate for Nass sockeye to date is 150,674.....target is 200,000
Area 3 Nass commercial fishing: to date July 31 have been 7 gillnet and 4 seine openings. Harvest estimates are 33,830 sockeye; 11,682 pink; 13,881 chum;396 chinook
Alaskan Fisheries: to July 31 estimated sockeye catch of 65,384; Average catch from 1999-2007 is 714,000
Of the total AK catch approx 25,000 are Nass sockeye and below the average of 165,000
Nass steelhead: the fishwheel catch of stld 58 to date is above average catch level of 28 from 2000-2007
Information courtesy of Nisga'a Fisheries
For the complete update click below:


2008 NASS STOCK ASSESSMENT UPDATE

ATTACHED IS A STOCK ASSESSMENT SUMMARY UPDATE FOR THE NASS RIVER (PDF FORMAT) FROM THE NISGA'A FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT OF NISGA'A LISIMS GOVERNMENT. SAYT-K'IL'IM-GOOT.

ALL DATA PRESENTED IN THIS UPDATE ARE PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITH FURTHER ASSESSMENT INFORMATION THAT BECOMES AVAILABLE AND SHOULD BE INTERPRETATED CAUTIOUSLY FOR IN-SEASON ASSESSMENT PURPOSES ONLY.

ARCHIVED UPDATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM NISGA'A FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT ARE AVAILABLE AT THE FOLLOWING LINK:

FTP://ftp.lgl.com/pub//NASS_STOCK_ASSESSMENT_UPDATES

(NOTE: IT IS RECOMMENDED TO COPY FILES TO YOUR MACHINE BEFORE OPENING)

NASS FISHWHEEL OPERATIONAL NOTES:

FISHWHEEL ASSESSMENT DATA UP TO WEDNESDAY 30 JULY 2008.

GW FISHWHEELS (TEST FISHERY - 15TH YEAR): FISHWHEELS 1 AND 2 WERE STARTED ON 5 JUNE FOR TAGGING AND HISTORICAL CATCH INDEX ASSESSMENTS FOR SALMON AND STEELHEAD. FISHWHEELS 1 AND 2 ARE OPERATING WELL AT JUST BELOW AVERAGE WATER LEVEL FOR DATE. AVERAGE WATER LEVEL FROM 1992 TO 2007 WAS 2.3 M FOR DATE. ALL FISH THAT HAVE BEEN CAUGHT IN THE GITWINKSIHLKW FISHWHEELS HAVE BEEN RELEASED.

GREASE HARBOUR FISHWHEELS: THREE FISHWHEELS WILL OPERATE AT GREASE HARBOUR IN 2008 FOR IN-SEASON MARK RECAPTURE TAG RECOVERIES. THE FISHWHEEL STARTUP DATES WERE: 11 JUNE (FW5), 12 JUNE (FW6) AND 13 JUNE (FW3). ALL THREE FISHWHEELS ARE OPERATIONAL. ALL FISH CAUGHT IN THE GREASE HARBOUR FISHWHEELS HAVE BEEN RELEASED.

SINCE ONLY THREE FISHWHEELS ARE FISHING AT GREASE HARBOUR COMPARED TO FOUR SINCE 2000, TOTAL FISHWHEEL CATCHES IN 2008 AS REPORTED BELOW WILL NOT BE DIRECTLY COMPARABLE WITH FISHWHEEL CATCH AVERAGES FROM 2000 TO 2007. CATCH AVERAGE COMPARISONS AT THE GW FISHWHEELS WILL BE COMPARABLE AND ARE PROVIDED ONCE A WEEK AS WEEK ENDING COMPARISONS ON MONDAYS IN THE ATTACHMENT.

NASS SOCKEYE SALMON:

THE NASS SOCKEYE RUN SIZE ESTIMATE TO GITWINKSIHLKW TO DATE (162,781) IS CURRENTLY TRACKING BELOW AVERAGE (195,000) RETURN BASED ON A MEAN RUN SIZE TO GITWINKSIHLKW OF 281,000 FROM 1994 TO 2007.

THE RUN SIZE ESTIMATE IS A COMBINATION OF MARK-RECAPTURE AND HISTORICAL CATCH INDICES METHODS. NOTE THAT MARK RECAPTURE ESTIMATES WILL CHANGE OVER A 5 DAY PERIOD DUE TO MARK RATES STABILIZING AT GREASE HARBOUR AS FISH TAGGED AT GITWINKSIHLKW PASS THE UPSTREAM GREASE HARBOUR FISHWHEEL SITES OVER A 5 DAY PERIOD. AFTER THE MARK RATE STABILIZES, THE DAILY ESTIMATE IS BETTER AT PREDICTING ACTUAL CATCH EFFICIENCIES AT THE GW FISHWHEELS THAN THE HISTORICAL INDICES. AS SUCH WE WILL USE HISTORICAL CATCH EFFICIENCIES DURING THE 5 D FLUCTUATING PERIOD WHILE MARK RECAPTURE ESTIMATES ARE STABILIZING FOR LESS FLUCTUATING ESTIMATES THAT ARE REPORTED. CURRENTLY, MARK RECAPTURE ESTIMATES ARE FINAL TO 25 JULY AND LATER DATES WILL FLUCTUATE FROM 26 JULY TO 4 AUGUST AS ADDITIONAL CATCH AND TAG RECOVERY DATA BECOME AVAILABLE FROM THE GH FISHWHEELS. A SPREADSHEET OF THE CALCULATIONS AND RANGE OF ESTIMATES IS PROVIDED IN THE ATTACHMENT.

THE RUN SIZE TARGET FOR NASS SOCKEYE TO GITWINKSIHLKW IS 225,000 TO 250,000 DEPENDING ON HARVESTS PROJECTED ABOVE GITWINKSIHLKW. NISGA'A FISHERIES IS ESTIMATING THAT APPROXIMATELY 67% (93-07 MEDIAN) OF THE SOCKEYE RUN HAS PASSED GITWINKSIHLKW TO DATE. USING FINAL MARK-RECAPTURE ESTIMATES TO 25 JULY, CURRENT FORECAST METHODS ARE PREDICTING A GOOD PROBABILITY OF REACHING THE RUN SIZE TARGET TO GW (225,000) WITH ESTIMATES RANGING FROM 254,000 (MEAN RUN TIMING METHOD - RANGE 234,000-274,000) TO 259,000 (IN-SEASON TO FINAL METHOD). THESE ESTIMATES HAVE BEEN AFFECTED BY RECENT MARINE FISHERIES AND LOW NUMBERS OF SOCKEYE PASSING THE FISHWHEELS OVER THE PAST WEEK.

THE NET ESCAPEMENT ESTIMATE FOR NASS SOCKEYE TO DATE IS 150,674. THE NET ESCAPEMENT TARGET IS 200,000 (160,000 TO MEZIADIN RIVER AND 40,000 TO NON-MEZIADIN SYSTEMS).

MEZIADIN FISHWAY OPENED ON 1 JULY FOR ESCAPEMENT COUNTS TO RIVER. TOTAL COUNTS OF SOCKEYE AT MEZIADIN TO 30 JULY ARE: 78,735 ADULTS (2943 TAGS) AND 262 JACKS. THE 2008 CUMULATIVE ADULT COUNT (78,735) TO DATE IS ABOVE AVERAGE (65,000) BASED ON MEAN COUNTS AT THE MEZIADIN FISHWAY FROM 1994 TO 2007. THE AVERAGE COUNT OF ADULT SOCKEYE FROM 1994 TO 2007 WAS 170,000. THE PRELIMINARY FISHWHEEL MEAN-RUN TIMING FORECAST IS PREDICTING ~159,000 (RANGE: 125,000-197,000) TO REACH THE FISHWAY BASED ON CURRENT ESCAPEMENT PASSED GW AND AVERAGE STOCK PROPORTION. OTHER FORECAST METHODS RANGE FROM 183,000 (IN-SEASON TO FINAL MEZIADIN COUNT METHOD) TO 191,000 (MEZIADIN MEAN RUN TIMING METHOD). NISGA'A FISHERIES IS ESTIMATING THAT ~41% OF THE MEZIADIN SOCKEYE RUN HAS REACHED THE FISHWAY TO DATE BASED ON MEAN COUNTS FROM 1990 TO 2007.

NISGA'A FISHERIES IS CURRENTLY USING A PRELIMINARY TOTAL RETURN TO CANADA (TRTC) ESTIMATE FOR NASS SOCKEYE OF BETWEEN 350,000 (PRE-SEASON) AND 398,000 (IN-SEASON) FOR TRACKING THE NISGA'A ENTITLEMENT OF NASS SOCKEYE THAT IS CURRENTLY RANGING BETWEEN 52,000 AND 63,000. THE IN-SEASON TRTC ESTIMATE HAS DROPPED THIS WEEK BUT CATCH DATA FOR SEINE FISHERIES IN AREAS 3 AND 4 LAST WEEK HAVE NOT BEEN AVAILABLE TO FULLY ESTIMATE THE NASS SOCKEYE COMPONENT. TRTC RETURNS WILL ALSO BE INFLUENCED BY ALASKAN CATCHES WHICH ARE CURRENTLY BELOW AVERAGE TO DATE (SEE BELOW). THE 2008 TRTC ESTIMATES ARE FORECASTING BELOW AVERAGE (666,000) BASED ON TRTC RETURNS FROM 1994 TO 2007.

THE TOTAL NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE OF NASS SOCKEYE TO DATE IS 37,609. THIS ESTIMATE HAS DROPPED FROM THE LAST UPDATE WITH AN ADJUSTMENT TO FSC HARVESTS IN THE KINCOLITH STRATUM LAST WEEK. THE TOTAL INCLUDES FSC CATCH (22,270) TO WEEK ENDING 26 JULY AND INDIVIDUAL MARINE SALE FISHERY CATCH ESTIMATES TO DATE (15,339). THE TOTAL CUMULATIVE AVERAGE NISGA'A FSC HARVEST FOR THE SAME WEEK ENDING PERIOD OF NASS SOCKEYE FROM 2000 TO 2007 WAS 20,000. THE ANNUAL TOTAL AVERAGE NISGA'A FSC HARVEST FROM 2000 TO 2007 OF NASS SOCKEYE WAS 26,000. THE NEXT NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE FOR WEEK ENDING 2 AUGUST WILL BE UPDATED ON WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST.

NISGA'A FOOD FISH (FSC) HARVESTING IS OPEN FOR ALL SPECIES AND IS ANTICIPATED TO REACH 35,000 SOCKEYE IN 2008. GIVEN THAT TOTAL FSC AMOUNTS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO EXCEED THE TOTAL NISGA'A ENTITLEMENT ESTIMATE FOR 2008, THE REMAINING ENTITLEMENT (~20,000 TO 30,000) WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR SALE FISHERIES. THEREFORE THE DIRECTOR OF NISGA'A FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE HAS OPENED THE NISGA'A MARINE INDIVIDUAL SALE FISHERY FOR HARVESTING NASS SOCKEYE AS A SALE FISHERY. IN-RIVER SALE FISHERIES ARE CLOSED AND ARE NOT EXPECTED TO OPEN IN 2008. NO HARVESTING FROM THE FISHWHEELS WILL OCCUR IN 2008. ALL FISH ARE BEING RELEASED FROM THE FISHWHEELS.

FOUR NISGA'A INDIVIDUAL SALE FISHERIES HAVE OCCURRED TO DATE (16-17 JULY [17 BOATS]; 17-18 JULY [17 BOATS]; 23-25 JULY [17 BOATS]; 30 JULY - 1 AUGUST [~25 BOATS]) IN AREA 3-12. TOTAL CATCHES IN THE NISGA'A MARINE SALE FISHERIES TO 29 JULY ARE: 15,339 SOCKEYE, 1,799 PINK, 269 COHO AND 178 CHUM.

A NISGA'A MARINE SALE FISHERY IS CURRENTLY BEING CONDUCTED IN AREA 3-12 FROM WEDNESDAY, 30 JULY (OPENED 6 PM) TO FRIDAY 1 AUGUST (CLOSES 6 PM). NO CATCH DATA ARE AVAILABLE FOR THIS UPDATE.

THE NISGA'A NATION PASSED A RESOLUTION AT THE SPECIAL ASSEMBLY IN MAY 2008 RECOMMENDING THE CLOSURE OF THE GENERAL COMMERCIAL FISHERY IN AREA 3-12 DUE TO PRE-SEASON CONSERVATION CONCERNS OF NASS SOCKEYE AND CHINOOK. DFO KEPT AREA 3-12 CLOSED TO 20 JULY DUE TO THE POOR RETURN OF CHINOOK AND ENSURING GOOD ESCAPEMENT OF NASS SOCKEYE INTO THE RIVER. DFO OPENED AREA 3-12 TO THE GENERAL COMMERCIAL FISHERY STARTING ON 21 JULY WITH THE MAJORITY OF NASS CHINOOK THROUGH THE MARINE WATERS AND THE NASS SOCKEYE RUN CURRENTLY ON TRACK TO REACH THE ESCAPEMENT GOAL.

AREA 3 IS CURRENTLY CLOSED TO THE GENERAL COMMERCIAL FISHERY. LAST OPENING WAS FOR SEINE ON TUESDAY 29 JULY. NO DATA ARE AVAILABLE ON CATCHES. NO ANNOUNCEMENT HAS BEEN MADE BY DFO FOR FURTHER FISHERIES IN AREA 3. AREA 3 FISHERIES CONDUCTED TO 31 JULY HAVE BEEN 7 GILLNET [24 JUNE (170 BOATS), 1 JULY (209 BOATS), 7 JULY (174 BOATS), 14 JULY (179 BOATS), 15 JULY (5 BOATS), 21 JULY (16) AND 27 JULY (33)] AND 4 SEINE (14 JULY (13 BOATS), 15 JULY (5 BOATS), 21 JULY (13 BOATS) AND 29 JULY (? BOATS)) FISHERIES. TOTAL COMMERCIAL HARVEST ESTIMATES IN AREA 3 TO 28 JULY ARE: 33,830 SOCKEYE, 11,682 PINK, 13,881 CHUM AND 396 CHINOOK (SOURCE OF DATA IS FROM DFO PRINCE RUPERT FISHERIES MANAGEMENT).

ALASKA GILLNET FISHERIES IN DISTRICTS 101 (TREE POINT) AND 106 (SUMNER AND UPPER CLARENCE) BEGAN ON 15 JUNE AND 8 JUNE, RESPECTIVELY. ALASKAN SEINE FISHERIES OPENING DATES TO DATE ARE: DISTRICTS 101 (LOWER CLARENCE/REVILLA; OPENED ON 6 JULY), 102 (MIDDLE CLARENCE; OPENED ON 22 JUNE), 103 (CORDOVA; OPENED 24 JULY) AND 104 (NOYES/DALL; OPENED ON 6 JULY).

TOTAL IN-SEASON CATCH ESTIMATE OF SOCKEYE IN SOUTHEAST ALASKAN FISHERIES IS 65,384 BASED ON DATA TO 31 JULY ON THE ADFG WEBSITE AND IS INCOMPLETE CATCH REPORTING FOR WEEK 31 (ENDS 2 AUGUST). NOTE THAT THERE WAS A DOWNWARD ADJUSTMENT IN CATCH FROM THE LAST UPDATE BASED ON UPDATED DATA FROM ADFG. REPORTED CATCHES ARE WELL BELOW AVERAGE TO DATE. THE AVERAGE CATCH OF SOCKEYE IN SOUTHEAST ALASKAN FISHERIES IS 714,000 SOCKEYE FROM 1999 TO 2007. OF THE TOTAL ALASKAN CATCH OF SOCKEYE, NISGA'A FISHERIES IS ESTIMATING APPROXIMATELY 25,000 ARE NASS SOCKEYE BASED ON AVERAGE STOCK % DATA (1982-98) AND IS BELOW AVERAGE TO DATE. AVERAGE CATCH OF NASS SOCKEYE IS 165,000 FROM 1999 TO 2007.



NASS CHINOOK SALMON:

THE NASS CHINOOK RUN SIZE ESTIMATE TO GITWINKSIHLKW (13,686) IS TRACKING BELOW AVERAGE TO DATE (21,000) BASED ON A MEAN RUN SIZE TO GITWINKSIHLKW OF 22,000 FROM 1994 TO 2007. THE RUN SIZE TARGET FOR NASS CHINOOK TO GITWINKSIHLKW IS 17,000 DEPENDING ON HARVESTS PROJECTED ABOVE GITWINKSIHLKW. THE IN-SEASON TRACKING OF THE NASS CHINOOK RUN TO GITWINKSIHLKW IS PREDICTING 14,000 [MEAN RUN TIMING METHOD [RANGE 14,000-15,000] AND IN-SEASON TO FINAL METHOD] AS THE FINAL IN-SEASON RUN SIZE TOTAL TO GITWINKSIHLKW. THE 2008 RETURN TO DATE IS THE THIRD WORST ON RECORD SINCE THE START OF THE NISGA'A FISHERIES PROGRAM IN 1992. NISGA'A FISHERIES IS ESTIMATING THAT 97% (93-07 MEDIAN) OF THE RUN HAS PASSED GITWINKSIHLKW TO DATE. THE NET ESCAPEMENT ESTIMATE FOR NASS CHINOOK IS 12,512. THE NET ESCAPEMENT TARGET FOR NASS CHINOOK ABOVE GREASE HARBOUR IS 15,000.

TOTAL COUNTS OF CHINOOK AT MEZIADIN FISHWAY TO 30 JULY ARE: 281 ADULTS (4 TAGS) AND 21 JACKS. THE 2008 CUMULATIVE ADULT COUNT (281) TO DATE IS ABOVE AVERAGE (135) BASED ON MEAN COUNTS AT THE MEZIADIN FISHWAY FROM 1994 TO 2007. THE AVERAGE COUNT OF ADULT CHINOOK AT MEZIADIN FISHWAY FROM 1994 TO 2007 WAS 480. THE PRELIMINARY FISHWHEEL MEAN-RUN TIMING FORECAST IS PREDICTING 320 CHINOOK (RANGE: 310-320) TO REACH THE FISHWAY BASED ON CURRENT ESCAPEMENT PASSED GW AND ESTIMATED STOCK COMPOSITION. OTHER FORECASTS RANGE BETWEEN 600 (IN-SEASON TO FINAL MEZIADIN COUNT METHOD) AND 850 (MEZIADIN MEAN RUN TIMING METHOD). NISGA'A FISHERIES IS ESTIMATING THAT ~33% OF THE MEZIADIN CHINOOK RUN HAS PASSED THE FISHWAY TO DATE BASED ON MEAN COUNTS FROM 1990 TO 2007. MARK-RECAPTURE SURVEYS FOR FINAL ESCAPEMENT ESTIMATES ARE ALSO PLANNED AT KWINAGEESE AND DAMDOCHAX RIVERS IN SEPTEMBER 2008.

THE KINCOLITH VIDEO-COUNTING FENCE BEGAN OPERATION ON 11 JUNE FOR COLLECTING ESCAPEMENT DATA FOR THE KINCOLITH RIVER AND PROVIDING AN INDEX OF ESCAPEMENT TO COASTAL STREAMS IN AREA 3. NET UPSTREAM COUNTS AT THE WEIR TO 27 JULY ARE: 786 CHINOOK (161 AFC AND 32 BROODSTOCK), 36 PINK AND 1 CHUM. OTHER WEIR COUNTS TO DATE ARE: 16 STEELHEAD (8 DOWN AND 8 UP). THE CURRENT COUNT OF CHINOOK PASSING THE WEIR IS ABOVE THE AVERAGE COUNT (650) FOR THE DATE FROM PAST OPERATIONS (2001, 2002, 2005-2007). NISGA'A FISHERIES PROJECTED THAT THE ESCAPEMENT GOAL (700) WOULD BE REACHED IN 2008 BASED ON THE RUN SIZE FORECAST METHOD WHICH IS CURRENTLY ESTIMATING ~1,500 (RANGE 800-2000) FROM MEAN RUN TIMING FROM PAST OPERATIONS (2001, 2002, 2005-2007). NISGA'A FISHERIES IS ESTIMATING THAT ~50% OF THE KINCOLITH CHINOOK RUN HAS PASSED THE WEIR TO DATE BASED ON THE RECONSTRUCTED MEAN RUN TIMING.

NISGA'A FISHERIES IS USING A PRELIMINARY TRTC ESTIMATE FOR NASS CHINOOK OF BETWEEN 20,000 (IN-SEASON) AND 21,000 (PRE-SEASON) FOR TRACKING THE NISGA'A ENTITLEMENT OF NASS CHINOOK. THE 2008 TRTC ESTIMATES ARE FORECASTING BELOW AVERAGE (36,000) BASED ON TRTC RETURNS FROM 1994 TO 2007. UNCERTAINTY OF MARINE COMMERCIAL AND RECREATIONAL CATCHES OF NASS CHINOOK MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO ACCURATELY ESTIMATE IN-SEASON TRTC ESTIMATES FOR NASS CHINOOK. HOWEVER, BASED ON THE IN-SEASON TRTC ESTIMATES FOR 2008, THE NISGA'A ENTITLEMENT OF NASS CHINOOK IS ~4,000. A CUMULATIVE UNDERAGE OF 3300 FROM PAST YEAR'S MANAGEMENT UNCERTAINTY MAY BE NEEDED TO FULFILL NISGA'A FSC NEEDS IN 2008 WHICH ON AVERAGE TOTAL 6200 NASS CHINOOK. AS A RESULT OF FSC REQUIREMENTS, THE ENTITLEMENT TARGET IS EXPECTED TO RANGE BETWEEN 4000 AND 7300 DEPENDING ON IN-SEASON RUN SIZE ESTIMATES DURING THE SEASON.

THE NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE OF NASS CHINOOK TO WEEK ENDING 26 JULY IS 3947 AND BELOW AVERAGE (00-07). THE TOTAL CUMULATIVE AVERAGE NISGA'A FSC HARVEST OF NASS CHINOOK FROM 2000 TO 2007 FOR THE SAME WEEK ENDING PERIOD WAS 6000. THE ANNUAL TOTAL AVERAGE NISGA'A FSC HARVEST OF NASS CHINOOK FROM 2000 TO 2007 WAS 6200. THE NEXT NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE FOR WEEK ENDING 2 AUGUST WILL BE UPDATED ON WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST. THE UPDATED FSC NUMBERS INCLUDE HARVESTS IN THE NISGA'A MARINE FISHERIES CONDUCTED IN THE TIME PERIOD OF THE ESTIMATES. NO CHINOOK WERE PERMITTED FOR SALE IN ANY INDIVIDUAL SALE FISHERIES IN 2008.

NASS COHO SALMON:

THE NASS COHO RUN SIZE ESTIMATE TO GITWINKSIHLKW (4653) IS TRACKING ABOVE AVERAGE TO DATE (2600) BASED ON A MEAN RUN SIZE TO GITWINKSIHLKW OF 76,000 FROM 1994 TO 2007. THE RUN SIZE TARGET FOR NASS COHO TO GITWINKSIHLKW IS ~50,000 DEPENDING ON HARVESTS PROJECTED ABOVE GITWINKSIHLKW. NISGA'A FISHERIES IS ESTIMATING THAT ~4% (93-07 MEDIAN) OF THE RUN HAS PASSED GITWINKSIHLKW TO DATE. THE NET ESCAPEMENT ESTIMATE FOR NASS COHO IS 4651. THE NET ESCAPEMENT TARGET FOR NASS COHO ABOVE GREASE HARBOUR IS ~41,000.

THE RUN SIZE ESTIMATE IS NOW A COMBINATION OF MARK-RECAPTURE AND HISTORICAL CATCH INDICES METHODS. NOTE THAT MARK RECAPTURE ESTIMATES WILL CHANGE OVER A 7 DAY PERIOD DUE TO MARK RATES STABILIZING AT GREASE HARBOUR AS COHO TAGGED AT GITWINKSIHLKW PASS THE UPSTREAM GREASE HARBOUR FISHWHEEL SITES OVER THE 7 DAY PERIOD. A SPREADSHEET OF THE CALCULATIONS AND RANGE IN ESTIMATES IS PROVIDED IN THE ATTACHMENT.

TOTAL COUNTS OF COHO AT MEZIADIN FISHWAY TO 30 JULY ARE: 1 ADULTS (0 TAGS) AND 0 JACKS. THE 2008 CUMULATIVE ADULT COUNT (1) TO DATE IS ABOVE THE AVERAGE (0) BASED ON MEAN COUNTS AT THE MEZIADIN FISHWAY FROM 1994 TO 2007. THE AVERAGE COUNT OF ADULT COHO AT MEZIADIN FISHWAY FROM 1994 TO 2007 WAS 3600.

NISGA'A FISHERIES IS USING A PRELIMINARY TRTC ESTIMATE FOR NASS COHO OF BETWEEN 104,000 (IN-SEASON) AND 177,000 (PRE-SEASON - EARLY INTO RUN) FOR TRACKING THE NISGA'A ENTITLEMENT OF NASS COHO THAT IS CURRENTLY RANGING BETWEEN 8,000 AND 14,000. THE 2008 PRE-SEASON TRTC ESTIMATE IS FORECASTED FOR A BELOW AVERAGE (162,000) RETURN BASED ON TRTC RETURNS FROM 1994 TO 2007.

THE TOTAL NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE OF NASS COHO TO DATE IS 339. THIS TOTAL INCLUDES FSC CATCH (70) TO WEEK ENDING 26 JULY AND INDIVIDUAL MARINE SALE FISHERY CATCH ESTIMATE TO DATE (269). THE NEXT NISGA'A FSC CATCH ESTIMATE FOR WEEK ENDING 2 AUGUST WILL BE UPDATED ON WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST.

NASS PINK SALMON:

THE FISHWHEEL CATCH OF PINK SALMON (226) TO DATE IS WELL BELOW THE MEAN CATCH (1700) FOR EVEN YEAR RETURNS FROM 2000 TO 2007.

NISGA'A FISHERIES IS CURRENTLY USING THE PRE-SEASON TRTC ESTIMATE FOR NASS PINKS OF 569,000 FOR TRACKING THE NISGA'A ENTITLEMENT (54,000) OF NASS PINK. THE 2008 TRTC ESTIMATE IS FORECASTING ABOVE AVERAGE (524,000) BASED ON TRTC RETURNS OF EVEN YEAR PINKS FROM 1994 TO 2007. HOWEVER, THE LAST NASS PINK SALMON EVEN RETURN YEAR (2006) WAS EXTREMELY LOW (230,000) AND CURRENT COMMERCIAL CATCHES OF PINK HAVE BEEN LOW.

THE TOTAL NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE OF NASS PINK TO DATE IS 1931. THIS ESTIMATE HAS DROPPED FROM THE LAST UPDATE WITH AN ADJUSTMENT TO FSC HARVESTS IN THE KINCOLITH STRATUM LAST WEEK. THIS TOTAL INCLUDES FSC CATCH (132) TO WEEK ENDING 26 JULY AND INDIVIDUAL MARINE SALE FISHERY CATCH ESTIMATE TO DATE (1799). THE NEXT NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE FOR WEEK ENDING 2 AUGUST WILL BE UPDATED ON WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST.

NASS CHUM SALMON:

THE FISHWHEEL CATCH OF CHUM (15) TO DATE IS JUST BELOW THE MEAN CATCH (16) LEVEL FROM 2000-2007.

NISGA'A FISHERIES IS CURRENTLY USING THE PRE-SEASON TRTC ESTIMATE FOR NASS CHUM OF 90,000 FOR TRACKING THE NISGA'A ENTITLEMENT (7,000) OF NASS CHUM. THE 2008 TRTC ESTIMATE IS FORECASTING AN AVERAGE (91,000) RETURN BASED ON TRTC RETURNS FROM 1994 TO 2007.

THE TOTAL NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE OF NASS CHUM TO DATE IS 229. THIS ESTIMATE HAS DROPPED FROM THE LAST UPDATE WITH AN ADJUSTMENT TO FSC HARVESTS IN THE KINCOLITH STRATUM LAST WEEK. THE TOTAL INCLUDES FSC CATCH (62) TO WEEK ENDING 26 JULY AND INDIVIDUAL MARINE SALE FISHERY CATCH ESTIMATE TO DATE (167). THE NEXT NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE FOR WEEK ENDING 2 AUGUST WILL BE UPDATED ON WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST.

NASS SUMMER-RUN STEELHEAD:

THE FISHWHEEL CATCH OF STEELHEAD (58) TO DATE IS ABOVE AVERAGE CATCH LEVEL (28) FROM 2000-2007. BASED ON EARLY FISHWHEEL CATCH DATA, THE NASS SUMMER RUN STEELHEAD ESTIMATE TO GITWINKSIHLKW (777) IS TRACKING ABOVE AVERAGE (387) TO DATE BASED ON A MEAN RUN SIZE TO GITWINKSIHLKW OF 7,800 DURING FISHWHEEL OPERATIONS FROM 1994 TO 2007 (BASED ON PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL RUN SIZE DATA).

THE RUN SIZE ESTIMATE IS A COMBINATION OF MARK-RECAPTURE AND HISTORICAL CATCH INDICES METHODS. THE MARK-RECAPTURE ESTIMATE IS USING MARK RATES DERIVED FROM THE COHO ASSESSMENT PROGRAM THAT ASSUMES SIMILAR CATCHABILITY BETWEEN COHO AND STEELHEAD. MARK-RATE SAMPLE SIZES ARE MUCH LARGER AND MORE RELIABLE FOR COHO THAN USING STEELHEAD MARK RATE DATA. STEELHEAD RUN SIZE ESTIMATES WILL CHANGE OVER A 7 DAY PERIOD DUE TO MARK RATES STABILIZING AT GREASE HARBOUR AS COHO TAGGED AT GITWINKSIHLKW PASS THE UPSTREAM GREASE HARBOUR FISHWHEEL SITES OVER A 7 DAY PERIOD. A SPREADSHEET OF THE CALCULATIONS AND RANGE OF ESTIMATES IS PROVIDED IN THE ATTACHMENT.

DURING FISHWHEEL OPERATION, THE PRELIMINARY RUN SIZE TARGET FOR NASS SUMMER-RUN STEELHEAD TO GITWINKSIHLKW IS 4,200 DEPENDING ON ANY HARVESTS PROJECTED ABOVE GITWINKSIHLKW. THE NET RUN SIZE ESTIMATE ABOVE GREASE HARBOUR FOR NASS SUMMER-RUN STEELHEAD IS 771. THE NET RUN SIZE TARGET FOR NASS SUMMER-RUN STEELHEAD ABOVE GREASE HARBOUR IS ~4,000.

TOTAL COUNTS OF STEELHEAD AT MEZIADIN FISHWAY TO DATE ARE: 0 ADULTS (0 TAGS). THE 2008 CUMULATIVE ADULT COUNT (0) TO DATE IS THE SAME AS THE AVERAGE (0) BASED ON MEAN COUNTS AT THE MEZIADIN FISHWAY FROM 1994 TO 2007. THE AVERAGE COUNT OF STEELHEAD DURING OPERATION OF MEZIADIN FISHWAY FROM 1994 TO 2007 WAS 50. STEELHEAD BEGIN PASSING THE FISHWAY IN LATE AUGUST.

THE NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE OF NASS STEELHEAD TO WEEK ENDING 26 JULY IS 58. THIS TOTAL INCLUDES ANY INCIDENTAL FSC HARVESTS DURING THE NISGA'A MARINE FISHERIES IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS. NEXT NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE FOR WEEK ENDING 2 AUGUST WILL BE UPDATED ON WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST. THE AVERAGE HARVEST OF NASS SUMMER-RUN STEELHEAD IN NISGA'A FISHERIES IS 400 FROM 1994 TO 2007.