DFO North Coast Salmon Update to Aug.2nd, 2011

The latest DFO North Coast Salmon Update is out and can be found at the North Coast homepage here.
Some highlights include;

Area 3

Nisga'a Fisheries' Nass sockeye return to Canada forecast (updated to August 1) is 423,000 with a range of 376,000 to 549,000.

Seines

		Sockeye Salmon		Coho Salmon		Pink Salmon		Chum Salmon		Chinook Salmon		Steelhead
Date	Effort	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel
11-Jul	12	873	0	0	80	14362	0	0	3239	0	45	0	2
18-Jul	9	0	3033	0	189	28703	0	0	15525	0	56	0	0
28-Jul	49	16980	0	0	1486	88186	0	0	9249	0	188	0	108
29-Jul	48	29089	0	0	1802	108954	0	0	24317	0	360	0	149
01-Aug	17	3481	0	801	0	17455	0	0	471	0	79	0	15
	135	50423	3033	801	3557	257660	0	0	52801	0	728	0	274

Gillnets

		Sockeye Salmon		Coho Salmon		Pink Salmon		Chum Salmon		Chinook Salmon		Steelhead
Date	Effort	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel
19-Jun	125	6801	0	0	8	0	5	0	135	185	45	0	27
27-Jun	132	6585	0	0	5	3	12	0	75	168	69	0	19
28-Jun	127	1968	0	0	9	3	3	0	82	288	69	0	14
04-Jul	139	12417	0	0	25	980	25	0	871	149	29	0	11
05-Jul	139	9224	0	0	38	1881	33	0	794	148	28	0	14
07-Jul	145	10041	0	0	80	6243	76	0	1581	90	43	0	20
01-Aug	52	3154	0	114	21	1524	0	0	124	0	2	0	3
	859	50190	0	114	186	10634	154	0	3662	1028	285	0	108

Area 4

On average, 75% of the aggregate Skeena sockeye return has passed the Tyee Test Fishery by August 1st. The Skeena sockeye aggregate in-season return to Canada forecast is 1.60 million with a range of 1.4 to 2.3 million. Assuming a 5-year average Alaskan exploitation rate, the forecasted total Skeena sockeye return is 1.79 million (1.3 - 2.6 million). Under the IFMP, the allowable Canadian commercial exploitation rate is 16% (11% - 22%).

(Raised from 10% previously)

Tyee Indices

	2011 index	2000s average	90s average
Sockeye	1582.12	1440.04	872.49
Coho	13.31	9.33	7.57
Pink	289.37	281.32	153.91
Chum	5.52	4.69	7.66
Chinook	170.54	278.17	215.03
Steelhead	27.48	36.96	34.03

Seines:

		Sockeye Salmon		Coho Salmon		Pink Salmon		Chum Salmon		Chinook Salmon		Steelhead
Date	Effort	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel
15-Jul	22	7172	0	0	135	1086	0	0	61	0	97	0	0
16-Jul	22	16237	35	0	100	2314	0	0	51	0	103	0	0
17-Jul	6	2598	0	0	41	668	0	0	21	0	35	0	0
18-Jul	2	860	0	0	1	90	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
	52	26867	35	0	277	4158	0	0	133	0	239	0	0

Gillnets:

		Sockeye Salmon		Coho Salmon		Pink Salmon		Chum Salmon		Chinook Salmon		Steelhead
Date	Effort	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel	Kept	Rel
13-Jul	235	27662	0	0	281	1756	16	0	497	182	35	0	32
18-Jul	252	47888	0	0	353	8731	44	0	376	144	26	0	62
27-Jul	233	48095	0	0	362	23808	91	0	435	42	16	0	138
01-Aug	184	40104	0	0	305	11511	165	0	144	46	3	0	160
	972	163749	57	0	1301	45806	316	0	1452	1607	82	0	421

**Note:

-the higher reported steelhead catch in the later openings...not that hailed counts are at all accurate...And where is the Observer data to compare to the hailed counts??

-the 'requested release' doesnt seem to be working for chinook does it??

Allocation:

(This is the inter-gear split of the Skeena sockeye catch....75% to the gillnetters and 25% to seines.

The red shows the gillnetters are 'down' by approx 5000 fish.

How does DFO plan to move toward more selective fishing, as per MSC Conditions, when a highly non-selective method is guaranteed 75% of the sockeye catch....?????

	Gill Net	Seine	Totals
Area 3	50,190	50,423	100,613
Area 4	160,109	26,867	186,976
Area 5	1,610	0	1,610
Skeena Inland	14,984	5,100	20,084
Totals	226,893	82,390	309,283
Gear Allocation	73%	27%
Overage/underage	-5,069	5,069