FY 2023 SRSC Implementation and Monitoring of Skagit Salmon Recovery Goals: Test Fisheries

This project will conduct a single-boat test fishery for Chinook Salmon in the lower Skagit River, one day/week from the May through August, and a Coho Salmon/Chum Salmon test fishery in the lower Skagit River from the August through November. In addition, we will conduct spawn ground surveys (redd and carcass counts) for Chinook Salmon, Coho Salmon and Chum Salmon in the upper Skagit River two days a week from September to December. The information generated from this monitoring will be used to estimate in season changes in run composition, add to long term dataset to evaluate changes in populations status, timing phenology, improve estimates of spawning abundances that improve fisheries management and hatchery practices, and reconstruct fisheries impacts to ensure salmon populations are meeting Recovery goal objectives or managed at sustainable levels.

The test fishery and spawn ground data provide information that addresses major limiting factors affecting the recovery goals of Puget Sound salmon stocks include habitat, harvest, and artificial production. All project objectives associated with this project will provide invaluable information that will allow quantitative assessments of whether management decisions or actions within each category are having positive or negative effects on the productivity of target stocks of ESA. Therefore, management decisions related to each limiting factor category can be adaptively altered based on the outcome of analyses of data from test fisheries.