Friday, August 23, 2013
The Fraser River Panel met Friday, August 23 to receive an update on the migration of Fraser River sockeye and pink salmon and review the status of migration conditions in the Fraser River watershed.
The abundance of Fraser River sockeye migrating through Johnstone and Juan de Fuca Straits has been steady over the past week. At the meeting today, the run size estimates of 520,000 Early Summer-run and 2,300,000 Summer-run sockeye were unchanged. Current assessments suggest that the abundance of Late-run sockeye is below their median forecast level of abundance; however, there is still significant uncertainty in the Late-run sockeye abundance assessments. A more accurate assessment of their abundance should be available next week. At the meeting today, the Panel approved a run size estimate of 10,000,000 Fraser River pink salmon.
On August 22, the Fraser River water discharge at Hope was 2,900 cms, which is approximately 10% lower than average for this date. The temperature of the Fraser River at Qualark Creek on August 22 was 18.9C, which is 1.6C higher than average for this date. Water temperatures are forecast to decrease further over the next several days, which will improve migration conditions for Fraser sockeye.
The Panel announced the following regulations for Panel Area waters:
CANADIAN FRASER RIVER PANEL AREA WATERS:
Remains closed to fishing.
UNITED STATES FRASER RIVER PANEL AREA WATERS:
TREATY INDIAN FISHERY:
Areas 4B, 5 and 6C: Open to drift gillnets from 12:00 p.m. (noon) Saturday, August 24, 2013 to 12:00 p.m. (noon), Wednesday August 28, 2013.
Areas 6,7 and 7A: Open to net fishing from 5:00 a.m. Sunday, August 25 through 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, August 27, 2013, in the area southerly and easterly of a straight line drawn from Iwersen’s dock on Point Roberts in the State of Washington to the Georgina Point Light at the entrance to Active Pass in the Province of British Columbia.
ALL CITIZEN FISHERY:
Area 7: Open to reefnets with non-retention of sockeye salmon from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Saturday, August 24, 2013 and Sunday, August 25, 2013.
Areas 7 and 7A: Open to purse seines with non-retention of sockeye salmon from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Tuesday, August 27, 2013, in the area southerly and easterly of a straight line drawn from Iwersen’s dock on Point Roberts in the State of Washington to the Georgina Point Light at the entrance to Active Pass in the Province of British Columbia.
Areas 7 and 7A: Open to gillnets with non-retention of sockeye salmon from 8:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. (midnight) Tuesday, August 27, 2013, in the area southerly and easterly of a straight line drawn from Iwersen’s dock on Point Roberts in the State of Washington to the Georgina Point Light at the entrance to Active Pass in the Province of British Columbia.
(Note: U. S. All Citizen fishers should check the U.S. hotline and WDFW regulations before fishing as there are additional State of Washington regulations, including time restrictions that may be in effect).
The next in-season meeting of the Panel is scheduled to occur on Tuesday, August 27, 2013.
Author
Topic: 2013 Fraser River Sockeye Updates (Read 38587 times)