JOINT NORTHERN BOUNDARY TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

Joint Northern Boundary Technical Committee. U.S./Canada Northern Boundary Area 1994 Salmon Fisheries Management Report and 1995 Preliminary Expectations. TCNB (94)-1. November, 1994.

This report reviews: 1) catch, effort, and management actions in the 1994 Northern Boundary Area pink, chum, and sockeye salmon fisheries of southern Southeast Alaska Districts 101 to 106 and northern British Columbia Areas 1, 3, 4, and 5; 2) management performance relative to Treaty requirements; 3) historical catches and escapements; and 4) preliminary 1995 expectations and fishing plans for 1995.

In southern Southeast Alaska, the all-gear salmon harvest was 28.0 million which is close to the 1980 to 1993 average of 28.8 million. The harvest was comprised of 21.1 (75.3%) million pink, 3.4 (12.2%) million chum, 1.7 (6.2%) million coho, 1.7 (6.1%) million sockeye, and 55 (0.2%) thousand chinook salmon. Pink salmon escapements were reasonably well distributed and near index goals in all southern Southeast Alaska districts. Escapement indices totaled 7.1 million or 1.1 million above the 6.0 million escapement target. Escapements of sockeye, chum, and coho salmon were generally strong throughout the region.

In Northern British Columbia, pink returns were very poor relative to recent years; 354,988 pink salmon were harvested in Canadian Area 3 and only 160,250 pink in the Area 4 fishery. Pink escapements to most areas were extremely poor. Sockeye returns were below average; 326,125 were harvested in Area 3 and only 555,229 in Area 4. Escapement levels for sockeye were near target for the Nass and Skeena Rivers. Escapements of summer chum salmon were relatively good in Area 3.

For the 1994 purse seine fishing season no formal agreement had been reached with Canada on the conduct of the District 104 fishery. However, this fishery was managed to limit fishing time and sockeye harvest to levels similar to the 1990 to 1993 annex arrangement under the Pacific Salmon Treaty. The total sockeye salmon harvest prior to Statistical Week 31 was 158,524 fish.

In the Alaska District 101-11 (Tree Point) gillnet fishery the U.S./Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty calls for an average annual harvest, beginning in 1985, of 130,000 sockeye salmon. The 1994 harvest of sockeye salmon at Tree Point was 100,377 fish. This brings the 1985 to 1994 average to 164,360 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 1994, 249,651 pinks were harvested in Management Units 3 (1-4) and 5-11 combined. The current average annual pink harvest from 1985-1994 in the treaty area is 1,824,943.

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 sales slips indicate the Area 1 troll catch was 220,500 fish with 73,820 taken in the A-B line strip.

Weak harvests are forecast for Southeast Alaskan pink salmon in 1995. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game forecasts a harvest of between 15 and 25 million pink salmon in all of Southeast Alaska in 1995. Separate forecasts for northern and southern southeast are no longer made. Returns of coho salmon are projected to be below recent year averages but returns of sockeye and chum salmon are projected to be comparable to the levels observed in recent years.

In Canada, average sockeye fisheries are anticipated in Area 3 and Area 4 in 1994, while lower than average pink catches are predicted.