High Time
Crew Member
1
No. 2 WEEKLY REPORT July 22, 2022
The Fraser River Panel (Panel) met today to review assessment data on Fraser River sockeye salmon.
Test fishing and stock identification information
For the season to date, test fishing catches have been similar to average on this cycle line and dominated by Early
Stuart and Early Summer run. The majority of sockeye en route to the Fraser River are currently migrating through
the Juan de Fuca Strait route rather than through Johnstone Strait and the current 5-day average diversion rate
is 44%. DNA analysis of a fish sample recently collected from the Area 20 gillnet test fishery, indicated Fraser River
sockeye contributions of 15% Early Stuart, 68% Early Summer and 17% Summer run.
Assessment results
The Early Stuart migration through the marine approach areas appears to be winding down. As of July 21,
213,300 Early Stuart sockeye have passed Mission. At Tuesday’s Panel meeting, the Panel adopted an Early
Stuart run size of 230,000 with an associated Area 20 timing of July 6. Despite the return exceeding the
p75 forecast level (172,000), migration conditions for Early Stuart and the early timed Early Summer runs are
extremely challenging due to the high discharge in the Fraser River. This substantially slowed down upstream
migration, and many fish have been observed pooling in areas of the lower Fraser River. As a result, the Panel
also adopted a Management Adjustment of 13.29, indicating that 93% of the Early Stuart run is not
expected to make it to the spawning grounds. In addition, there may be additional en route losses due to
potential passage challenges at Big Bar. At this time there are no fisheries expected to be directed on Early
Stuart sockeye.
In-season run size assessments of Early Summer-run sockeye should be available in late-July or early-August after
their peak migration through marine areas has been observed. To date, 53,000 Early Summer sockeye have passed
Mission. Especially early migrating Early Summer run stocks such as Nadina stocks would be similarly negatively
impacted by the high discharge levels and will experience challenges reaching their spawning grounds.
Migration conditions in the Fraser River
The very high discharge conditions in the Fraser River have impacted migration conditions for Fraser River sockeye,
resulting in salmon needing about 3 times longer to migrate from Matsqui to Qualark than normal. Especially near
the Yale rapids and at Hells Gate, sockeye had been observed struggling to migrate further upstream. In the last
few days, migration conditions have improved. On July 2 1 , the Fraser River water discharge at Hope was 7,479
cms, which, while still 52% greater than average for this date, is a substantial decrease from last week’s
discharge of 8,819 cms. The temperature of the Fraser River at Qualark remains benign at 15.6o C, which is
1.8o C lower than average for this date. Thanks to the decrease in discharge, more sockeye are starting to pass
Hells Gate and further up the Fraser River, resulting in 34 sockeye being caught in the fishwheel at Lillooet on July
20, compared to a total of 4 sockeye in the days prior. DFO’s Environmental Watch program projects that discharge
will further decrease to 6,901 cms over the next 10 days while river temperature will increase to average levels.
Thus far, a total of 290 sockeye have been radio tagged to monitor upstream migration.
600 – 1155 ROBSON STREET
VANCOUVER, B.C. V6E 1B5
TELEPHONE: (604) 684-8081
FAX: (604) 666-8707
2
It has also been reported that some sockeye have now made their way to and passed Big Bar. Two sockeye have
been caught and tagged in the fishwheel downstream of the Big Bar site and sonar counts upstream of the slide
area indicate 212 sockeye made it past. An additional 70 sockeye, caught and radio tagged at the Matsqui
fishwheel, have been transported to the Big Bar site to monitor their ability to pass the slide area. At discharge
levels between 4,300 and 5,000 cms, passage past Big Bar still remains a challenge. Tagging information indicates
both sockeye and Chinook salmon making multiple attempts at passage prior to successful passage and
unsuccessful passage still occurs. In the next few days discharge at Big Bar is predicted to decrease further.
Regulatory Announcements & Resources
The Panel announced the following regulations for commercial salmon fisheries in Panel Area waters:
CANADIAN FRASER RIVER PANEL AREA WATERS:
Remain closed to commercial salmon fishing.
UNITED STATES FRASER RIVER PANEL AREA WATERS:
Remain closed to commercial salmon fishing.
The next in-season meeting of the Panel is scheduled to occur on July 26. Weekly reports in this series will be
provided by the Panel through the Commission every Friday during the in-season management period to inform
those interested in the progress of the Fraser River sockeye salmon run. Weekly reports and regulatory
announcements can be obtained via http://www.psc.org/publications/fraser-panel-in-season-information or by
subscribing to our eNews http://tinyurl.com/PSCeNews. Regulations and resources for fishing schedules, test
fishing catch and DFO’s environmental watch program can be found in Table 1.
casted pre-season 105,000 1,579,000 4,403,000 3,688,000 9,775,000
Area 20 timing adopted in-season 6-Jul na na na
Area 20 timing expected pre-season 4-Jul 6-Aug 10-Aug 18-Aug
areas in Juan de Fuca and Johnstone straits.
2022 Run status of Fraser sockeye salmon Date: Jul. 22, 2022
Sockeye
Management Group
1 Run sizes are usually not adopted until after the peak of the run has passed through marine test fishery
PSC [WeeklyRep]WebStatus 11:43 AM 2022-07-22 1/2
No. 2 WEEKLY REPORT July 22, 2022
The Fraser River Panel (Panel) met today to review assessment data on Fraser River sockeye salmon.
Test fishing and stock identification information
For the season to date, test fishing catches have been similar to average on this cycle line and dominated by Early
Stuart and Early Summer run. The majority of sockeye en route to the Fraser River are currently migrating through
the Juan de Fuca Strait route rather than through Johnstone Strait and the current 5-day average diversion rate
is 44%. DNA analysis of a fish sample recently collected from the Area 20 gillnet test fishery, indicated Fraser River
sockeye contributions of 15% Early Stuart, 68% Early Summer and 17% Summer run.
Assessment results
The Early Stuart migration through the marine approach areas appears to be winding down. As of July 21,
213,300 Early Stuart sockeye have passed Mission. At Tuesday’s Panel meeting, the Panel adopted an Early
Stuart run size of 230,000 with an associated Area 20 timing of July 6. Despite the return exceeding the
p75 forecast level (172,000), migration conditions for Early Stuart and the early timed Early Summer runs are
extremely challenging due to the high discharge in the Fraser River. This substantially slowed down upstream
migration, and many fish have been observed pooling in areas of the lower Fraser River. As a result, the Panel
also adopted a Management Adjustment of 13.29, indicating that 93% of the Early Stuart run is not
expected to make it to the spawning grounds. In addition, there may be additional en route losses due to
potential passage challenges at Big Bar. At this time there are no fisheries expected to be directed on Early
Stuart sockeye.
In-season run size assessments of Early Summer-run sockeye should be available in late-July or early-August after
their peak migration through marine areas has been observed. To date, 53,000 Early Summer sockeye have passed
Mission. Especially early migrating Early Summer run stocks such as Nadina stocks would be similarly negatively
impacted by the high discharge levels and will experience challenges reaching their spawning grounds.
Migration conditions in the Fraser River
The very high discharge conditions in the Fraser River have impacted migration conditions for Fraser River sockeye,
resulting in salmon needing about 3 times longer to migrate from Matsqui to Qualark than normal. Especially near
the Yale rapids and at Hells Gate, sockeye had been observed struggling to migrate further upstream. In the last
few days, migration conditions have improved. On July 2 1 , the Fraser River water discharge at Hope was 7,479
cms, which, while still 52% greater than average for this date, is a substantial decrease from last week’s
discharge of 8,819 cms. The temperature of the Fraser River at Qualark remains benign at 15.6o C, which is
1.8o C lower than average for this date. Thanks to the decrease in discharge, more sockeye are starting to pass
Hells Gate and further up the Fraser River, resulting in 34 sockeye being caught in the fishwheel at Lillooet on July
20, compared to a total of 4 sockeye in the days prior. DFO’s Environmental Watch program projects that discharge
will further decrease to 6,901 cms over the next 10 days while river temperature will increase to average levels.
Thus far, a total of 290 sockeye have been radio tagged to monitor upstream migration.
600 – 1155 ROBSON STREET
VANCOUVER, B.C. V6E 1B5
TELEPHONE: (604) 684-8081
FAX: (604) 666-8707
2
It has also been reported that some sockeye have now made their way to and passed Big Bar. Two sockeye have
been caught and tagged in the fishwheel downstream of the Big Bar site and sonar counts upstream of the slide
area indicate 212 sockeye made it past. An additional 70 sockeye, caught and radio tagged at the Matsqui
fishwheel, have been transported to the Big Bar site to monitor their ability to pass the slide area. At discharge
levels between 4,300 and 5,000 cms, passage past Big Bar still remains a challenge. Tagging information indicates
both sockeye and Chinook salmon making multiple attempts at passage prior to successful passage and
unsuccessful passage still occurs. In the next few days discharge at Big Bar is predicted to decrease further.
Regulatory Announcements & Resources
The Panel announced the following regulations for commercial salmon fisheries in Panel Area waters:
CANADIAN FRASER RIVER PANEL AREA WATERS:
Remain closed to commercial salmon fishing.
UNITED STATES FRASER RIVER PANEL AREA WATERS:
Remain closed to commercial salmon fishing.
The next in-season meeting of the Panel is scheduled to occur on July 26. Weekly reports in this series will be
provided by the Panel through the Commission every Friday during the in-season management period to inform
those interested in the progress of the Fraser River sockeye salmon run. Weekly reports and regulatory
announcements can be obtained via http://www.psc.org/publications/fraser-panel-in-season-information or by
subscribing to our eNews http://tinyurl.com/PSCeNews. Regulations and resources for fishing schedules, test
fishing catch and DFO’s environmental watch program can be found in Table 1.
casted pre-season 105,000 1,579,000 4,403,000 3,688,000 9,775,000
Area 20 timing adopted in-season 6-Jul na na na
Area 20 timing expected pre-season 4-Jul 6-Aug 10-Aug 18-Aug
areas in Juan de Fuca and Johnstone straits.
2022 Run status of Fraser sockeye salmon Date: Jul. 22, 2022
Sockeye
Management Group
1 Run sizes are usually not adopted until after the peak of the run has passed through marine test fishery
PSC [WeeklyRep]WebStatus 11:43 AM 2022-07-22 1/2
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