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

utility of pre-season forecasts. Pre-season forecasts have been very unreliable in recentyears due to high variability in marine survival and few if any decisions regarding Fraserfisheries are based on pre-season forecasts.Recommendation #8, only relates to Cultus sockeye because one of our tasks was to assessthe status and recovery plan for Cultus sockeye. We agree that Cultus is not the onlysockeye stock at risk within the Fraser watershed and recovery plans for these other stocksat risk should be developed. However, we do not agree that the concerns identified forthese few stocks would justify concerns regarding the sustainability of the species.5. What information, if any, should be collected in the future to improve our understandingof this subject area?The authors state that escapement goals should be established for each run timing group for easeof performance. The single escapement goals have tradeoffs between stock conservation, FirstNation fisheries, commercial fisheries, recreational fisheries, and ecosystem values as stated inthe Wild salmon policy.The constraints, tradeoffs and benefits between these areas need to be quantified.The priority and minimum goal for stock conservation is to achieve the Low EscapementBenchmarks or Limit Reference Points; both are technically straightforward to establish at a MUlevel.Escapement goals incorporating the other values increase complexity. Moving from wild salmonpolicy to practise at the MU level will require quantification of the values. The analyticalresources currently allocated to pre-season forecasts.LGL Response: It is not clear what additional information the reviewer would like to seecollected. Escapement goals for each run-timing group and indicator stock must be definedbased on the biological characteristics of these groups. The Low Escapement Benchmarksor Limit Reference Point (the point when no fisheries are permitted to target a specificindicator stock or run-timing group) should take into consideration biological factors andthe tradeoffs between conservation and harvest opportunities for the various indicatorstocks within overlapping migration timing.6. Please provide any specific comments for the authors.M-12