Yukon River Chinook and Chum Salmon Abundance in the Northern Bering Sea – 2024

This project will provide juvenile abundance estimates for Yukon River Chinook and chum salmon as part of the 2024 Northern Bering Sea Ecosystem Surface Trawl survey. The northern Bering Sea (NBS) is a key rearing area for juvenile salmon from the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim (AYK) Region, which has historically supported approximately 83% of the statewide subsistence harvest of Chinook salmon and 97% of the subsistence harvest of chum salmon. Juvenile abundance will provide insight into critical survival periods of Yukon River Chinook and chum salmon and assist with run-size forecast models.

This project will fill in knowledge gaps surrounding the critical survival periods of Yukon River Chinook and chum salmon and will assist with pre-season fisheries management strategies through pre-season forecast models of run size. Pre-season fisheries management strategies that are consistent with run size will promote sustainable fisheries through improved communication, planning, and management actions, allowing fishery managers and stakeholders to be more adaptive to changing run sizes years in advance. This project also helps support the long-term collection of ecosystem data in the NBS to provide insight into climate change impacts on salmon and why subsistence harvest opportunities have declined in the Yukon River.