Harvest Management Project 2023

The 2024 Salmon River fishery management activities included developing population forecasts, harvest guidelines and regulations, coordination and reporting; all of which are necessary to evaluate the previous and future fisheries. The Salmon River fishery management process started by developing forecasts for the Columbia River. The Upriver Columbia River spring Chinook salmon forecast was developed and converted to a Lower Granite Dam escapement estimate. This estimate was then divided into the four major river systems: 1) Grande Ronde/Imnaha; 2) Snake; 3) Clearwater; and 4) Salmon River. The Salmon River forecast was divided into 22 and the Grande Ronde/Imnaha into four natural-origin fishery management areas (FMAs), which are similar to the Interior Columbia Basin Technical Recovery Team (ICTRT) population designations. Hatchery-origin returns were estimated to each hatchery facility. Harvest guidelines were 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 were developed to ensure an appropriate number of adult fish escape fisheries to spawn and reproduce. Post all fisheries and prior to the start of the following year, the SBT, in conjunction with other agencies, including the IDFG, WDFW, ODFW, NPT, and CRITFC evaluated fisheries to determine a total catch in the process of estimating final downriver escapement at the Columbia River mouth. This information was used to assess the impacts as allocated in the US v OR management plan between the states and tribes. Based on our TRMP, the SBT assessed our individual impacts on populations (26) in our Annual Fishery Implementation Plan and reports take/impact rate under the 4(d) to NOAA Fisheries. At the same time, the parties determined specific age class returns by broodyear and used that information in modeling parameters to generate a Spring/Summer Chinook forecast for the following year.

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.