Status of Pacific Salmon Resources in Southern British Columbia and the Fraser Ly 2009 U
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STATUS OF PACIFIC SALMON RESOURCES IN SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA AND THE FrASER LY 2009 U RIVER BASIN J PREPARED FOR PREPARED BY Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council Marc Labelle Suite 290, 858 Beatty Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 1C1 L4 Biotech 1150 Damelart Way, Brentwood Bay, British Columbia Canada V8M 1E3 Status of Pacific Salmon Resources in Southern British Columbia and the Fraser River Basin Marc Labelle Copyright © July 2009 Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council. All Rights Reserved. For non-commercial use, you are welcome to copy and distribute this document in whole or in part by any means, including digitally, as long as this copyright/contact page is included with all copies. As well, the content may not be modified, and no reference to the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council may be deleted from the document. Commercial users may use the material as above, as long as access to it by the general public is not restricted in any way, including but not limited to: purchase of print or digital document(s), singly or as part of a collection; the requirement of paid membership; or pay-per-view. For all such commercial use, contact the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council for permission and terms of use. The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be revoked by the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council. Note that this document, and the information contained in it, are provided on an “as is” basis. They represent the opinion of the author(s) and include data and conclusions that are based on information available at the time of first publication, and are subject to corrections, updates, and differences or changes in interpretation. The Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council is not responsible for use of this information or its fitness for a particular purpose. For quotes and short excerpts from the material covered under “fair use”, we recommend the following citation: Labelle, M. 2009. Status of Pacific Salmon Resources in Southern British Columbia and the Fraser River Basin. Vancouver, BC: Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council. For further information about this document and about the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council (PFRCC), contact: Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council 290 – 858 Beatty Street Vancouver, BC V6B 1C1 CANADA Telephone 604 775 5621 Fax 604 775 5622 www.fish.bc.ca [email protected] Printed and bound in Canada ISBN 1-897110-58-8 Cover photo credit: Fred Seiler STATUS OF PACIFIC SALMON RESOURCES IN SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA AND THE FRASER RIVER BASIN JULY 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Report Structure and Data Sources ............................................................................................... 1 1.2. Canada’s Policy for the Conservation of Pacific Salmon ................................................................ 2 1.3. Maps of Principal Regions and Boundaries ................................................................................... 4 2. FRASER RIVER ............................................................................................................................................... 7 2.1. Fraser River Sockeye .................................................................................................................... 7 2.2. Fraser River Pink ........................................................................................................................ 15 2.3. Fraser River Coho ....................................................................................................................... 17 2.4. Fraser River Chinook .................................................................................................................. 20 2.5. Fraser River Chum ...................................................................................................................... 24 3. OKANAGAN RIVER SOCKEYE AND CHINOOK ......................................................................................... 27 4. STRAIT OF GEORGIA (INCLUDING JOHNSTONE STRAIT) ...................................................................... 30 4.1. Strait of Georgia Sockeye ........................................................................................................... 30 4.2 Strait of Georgia Pink .................................................................................................................. 33 4.3. Strait of Georgia Coho................................................................................................................ 38 4.4. Strait of Georgia Chinook ........................................................................................................... 44 4.5. Strait of Georgia Chum .............................................................................................................. 49 5. WEST COAST OF VANCOUVER ISLAND ................................................................................................... 54 5.1. WCVI Sockeye ............................................................................................................................. 55 5.2 WCVI Pink ................................................................................................................................... 58 5.3. WCVI Chum ................................................................................................................................ 62 5.4. WCVI Coho ................................................................................................................................. 66 5.5. WCVI Chinook ............................................................................................................................ 71 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................................................................... 75 LITERATURE CITED ......................................................................................................................................... 76 GLOSSARY ........................................................................................................................................................ 80 APPENDIX A ..................................................................................................................................................... 83 APPENDIX B ..................................................................................................................................................... 86 APPENDIX C ..................................................................................................................................................... 87 APPENDIX D ..................................................................................................................................................... 88 APPENDIX E ..................................................................................................................................................... 90 PACIFIC FISHERIES RESOURCE CONSERVATION COUNCIL I STATUS OF PACIFIC SALMON RESOURCES IN SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA AND THE FRASER RIVER BASIN JULY 2009 TABLE OF FIGURES FIGURE 1.1. Maps of British Columbia regions, DFO statistical areas, and points of interest. ....................................... 4 FIGURE 1.2. Main points of reference for GS basin (top) and the WCVI region (bottom). ............................................... 5 FIGURE 1.3. Map of the Fraser River basin, with principal points of interest referred to in the text. ............................. 6 FIGURE 2.1. Total production of Fraser River sockeye salmon by cycle year (1954–2007). ........................................... 8 FIGURE 2.2. Total returns (catch + spawners) of Fraser River sockeye, 1954–2007. ..................................................... 8 FIGURE 2.3. Survival of sockeye smolts to Age-4 adults from Chilko Lake. ................................................................... 9 FIGURE 2.4. Typical migration periods of Fraser River sockeye stock groupings at the outer Juan de Fuca entrance. .......... 10 FIGURE 2.5. Pre-spawning mortality estimates for the Lower Adams River late-run stock. .......................................... 12 FIGURE 2.6. Pre-spawning mortality estimates for the Weaver Creek late-run stock. ................................................... 13 FIGURE 2.7. Total production of Fraser River pink salmon, 1959–2007. ..................................................................... 16 FIGURE 2.8. Estimates of total returns (catch+escapement) and annual exploitation rates of Thompson River coho. .......... 17 FIGURE 2.9. Survival of Interior Fraser tagged coho smolts form the Thompson River tributaries since the 1984 spawning year (adults return 3 years later). ................................................................................................................. 18 FIGURE 2.10. Survival rates for two the lower Fraser indicator stocks from the Chilliwack and Salmon rivers. ........... 19 FIGURE 2.11. Escapements trends of Fraser River spring-run stocks (groups 1–2), 1975–2007. ................................. 21 FIGURE 2.12. Escapement trends of Fraser River summer-run stocks (groups 3–4), 1975–2007. ............................... 21 FIGURE 2.13. Total returns of fall-run white chinook to the Harrison