Harvest Management Project 2022

The Tribes completed management of the 2023 Chinook salmon fishery prior to initiating the fishing season. The fishery officially began on 25 April 2023 with the Tribal Fish and Game Commission adopting the final approved harvest guidelines and regulations. SBT TRMPs (for the Salmon, Grande Ronde, and Imnaha rivers) identify fishery management areas (FMAs) that return natural-origin Chinook salmon populations targeted for Shoshone-Bannock harvest. Each FMA was managed by an abundance-based sliding scale harvest management framework that takes into account annual population viability. The framework protects all populations from over-harvest and especially those that are functioning below the critical population threshold, as defined by the ICTRT 2007. Conversely, the framework allows flexibility to increase harvest opportunities on populations that are performing above the viable population threshold. Tribal staff attended multiple US v. Oregon Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meetings in the fall of 2022 and spring 2023 by conference call. As the run progressed from the Columbia River Mouth upstream to Bonneville and Lower Granite Dams, the Tribes were involved in discussions with TAC and Snake Basin Coordinators on run size updates, lower river fishery impacts, PIT tag detections, as well as generating forecasts for Lower Granite Dam, and individual FMAs. The TAC pre-season forecast for the Columbia River mouth equaled 198,600 age-4, age-5, and age-6 adults with a predicted 19,100 being of wild origin. The pre-season Snake River hatchery forecast predicted 46,723 adults returning to project areas (as measured at Lower Granite Dam). After the pre-season forecast was finalized, Snake Basin Coordinators (IDFG, ODFW, SBT, and NPT) developed return estimates for natural adults to the entire basin (10,307 to Salmon, Clearwater, and Oregon) and individually by population (FMA). The FMA forecasts were used to generate the harvest regulations and guidelines for the Shoshone Bannock Tribes.

Harvest guidelines are developed using the approved abundance-based sliding-scale harvest management framework for natural-origin populations and hatchery programs, outlined in the TRMP. The harvest guidelines for natural-origin populations are developed to ensure an appropriate number of adult fish escape fisheries to spawn and reproduce. The harvest guidelines for hatchery programs are developed to ensure the hatchery programs meet their broodstock goals. If the co-managers, through TAC or weekly Snake Basin coordination calls, modify the production goals for the hatchery programs, the harvest management program will incorporate the changes in the harvest management frameworks and distribute such information accordingly. The ultimate project benefit and project responsibility is to ensure proper management of annual Chinook harvest in accordance with the Tribal TRMP to maintain natural/hatchery spawners for future generations.