In southern Southeast Alaska, the all-gear salmon harvest of 23.2 million was well below the record harvests in recent years but was still above the 1960-1996 average of 19.5 million fish. The harvest was comprised of 15.3 (65.8%) million pink, 5.3 (23.0%) million chum, 2.0 (8.7%) million sockeye, 0.5 (2.3%) million coho, and 37 (0.02%) thousand chinook salmon. Escapement indices for pink salmon were well distributed and within the goal range except in District 107 where escapements were slightly below goal. Escapements of sockeye, chum, and coho salmon were generally well distributed and at acceptable levels in southern Southeast Alaska.

In Northern British Columbia, pink returns were well below expected levels: 304,163 pink salmon were harvested in the Area 1 net fishery, 420,709 pink salmon were harvested in Canadian Area 3 and 370,966 in the Area 4 fishery. Pink escapements were much lower than expected pre-season and escapements were below target for most Skeena-Nass systems. Sockeye returns were near expected levels, 506,952 were harvested in Area 3 and 955,607 in Area 4. The Nass escapement levels for sockeye were near target. Skeena enhanced stocks were above target levels while wild stocks were variable, at or below escapement targets. Escapements of summer chum salmon were well below target.

For the 1997 fishing season, no agreement had been reached between Canada and the United States on the conduct of the Alaska District 104 purse seine fishery during Statistical Weeks 28-30 (July 6-26). Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s management intent was to allow fishermen the opportunity to harvest domestic stocks, to allow for standard fishing periods, to distribute the fishing fleet, and to coordinate purse seine fishing opportunities throughout Southeast Alaska. In order to achieve these objectives, openings in District 104 were based on the observed run strength of southern Southeast pink salmon and the number of vessels fishing in the district. For the 1997 season, fishing time allowed in the district would not exceed the amount of fishing time allowed in District 101, and to the extent possible conform to the 1985-96 average hours fished in District 104 prior to Statistical Week 31. The abundance of sockeye salmon was exceptionally high in these early weeks and 573,000 sockeye were harvested when the district was opened for portions of 6 days (56 hours total) before Statistical Week 31. The number of hours fished in 1997 was below the 1985-1996 average of 63 hours and well below the 114 hours fished in District 101 during this 3-week period. The catch per effort and early escapements of pink salmon were strong; however, ADF&G managers felt that the high catches of pink, sockeye, and chum salmon would increase the seine effort in District 104 beyond what was needed at that time of the season. Therefore, openings in Statistical Weeks 29 and 30 were shortened relative to openings in other seine areas to discourage effort in this district. In addition, District 104 was not opened when Districts 101, 102, and other seine districts were opened for 15-hours on July 24th.

In the Alaska District 101-11 (Tree Point) gillnet fishery the Pacific Salmon Treaty calls for an average annual harvest, beginning in 1985, of 130,000 sockeye salmon. In Weeks 27 and 29 fishing time at Tree Point was reduced to three days in response to below average returns of chum salmon to Portland Canal and sockeye salmon to the Nass River. In Weeks 30 and 31 the lower portion of Tree Point was closed during a 24-hour extension due to conservation concerns for Nass River sockeye. The fishery was managed according to the Pink Salmon Management Plan from Week 30 through Week 35. During this time period harvests of chum and sockeye salmon were generally above Treaty averages and harvests of pink and coho salmon were below average. Effort levels were low throughout the season. The 1997 harvest of sockeye salmon at Tree Point was 169,474 fish. This brings the 1985 to 1997 average to 168,442 sockeye.

Under the Pacific Salmon Treaty the outside portions of Canada's Statistical Areas 3 and 5 are to be managed such that an average annual pink harvest of 900,000 is achieved. In 1997, 348,373 pinks were harvested in Management Units 3(1-4). The current average annual pink harvest from 1985-1997 in the treaty area is 1,759,170.

As for Alaska's District 104 seine fishery, there were no specific annex arrangements under the Pacific Salmon Treaty governing the conduct of the Canadian Area 1 troll fishery for pink salmon. Preliminary saleslips indicate the Area 1 troll catch was 263,650 pinks with 187,000 taken in the A-B line strip.

Strong harvests are forecasted for Southeast Alaska pink salmon in 1998. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game forecasts a harvest of between 36 and 50 million pink salmon in all of Southeast Alaska in 1998. Separate forecasts for northern and southern Southeast are no longer made. Returns of coho, sockeye, and chum salmon are projected to be strong, comparable to the levels observed in recent years.

In Canada, average Nass sockeye returns and very poor Skeena sockeye returns are anticipated in 1998, while above average pink returns are predicted.