Fraser River Sockeye Fisheries and Fisheries Management - Cohen ...

Report is released in March and gives an overview of the pre-season forecast, anyregulatory changes that will be implemented, and the anticipated processing capacity.On a 3-year cycle that coincides with the BOF meetings for the Bay, an additional report,the Escapement Goal Review, is issued that details the results of updated spawner-recruitanalyses, makes recommendations for any escapement goal changes (Appendix L), andreviews management’s success in achieving these goals for each stock. The consistencywith which Bristol Bay escapement goals are met is illustrated in Figure 30 and Figure28. One exception was high escapement to the Wood River in 2006 during anabnormally large return of small-for-their-age 2-ocean fish when the fleet was incapableof exerting enough exploitation to stop the run with the gear they had available. Anotherappears to be the Alagnak River from 2003 to present. The Alagnak stock is passivelymanaged with a risk-based escapement goal to give way for actively managing theKvichak. Alagnak experienced a dramatic and substantial increase in run sizes beginningin 2003 and this coincided with an unproductive period for the Kvichak River. Note,however, that Figure 30 somewhat exaggerates the increase run size over earlier timesbecause the enumeration method on the Alagnak River switched from one based on aerialsurveys to tower counts in the early 2000s (J. Regnart, pers. comm.). These isolatedexceptions notwithstanding, the consistency with which escapement goals are met foreach stock across a wide range of run magnitudes is a testament to the quality andtimeliness of in-season data, the level of fishing power available to the managers, and theauthority with which they have to impose it.COMPARISON OF FRASER & BRISTOL BAY SOCKEYEFISHERIESThe purpose of this section is to examine the key components of the Bristol Bay andFraser River sockeye fisheries and provide the reader with the context for understandingthe perceived and actual differences in the approaches used to manage and assess thesefisheries.Management StructureThe Bristol Bay and Fraser sockeye fisheries are substantially different in the structureand complexity of the management process. Many aspects of the management of Frasersockeye stocks and fisheries are affected by the 1985 Canada/U.S. Pacific Salmon Treaty162