Although the Chilkoot sockeye run met the escapement goal this year, the outlook for Chilkat River sockeye is less promising.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) pulled the Chilkoot fish weir on Sept. 9. The sockeye count was 60,218 fish, within the department’s 38,000 to 86,000 escapement range, which is based on the number needed to ensure a sustainable population.
“We were happy with what we ended up with,” ADFG biologist Nicole Zeiser said. “The escapement was below the recent ten-year average of eighty-four thousand fish, but as long as we’re within the goal, that’s what we manage for.”
Zeiser said the other salmon species, with the exception of kings, are still running on the Chilkoot, so the department doesn’t have an official run tally. When the weir went down, ADFG had counted 45 kings, 156 coho, 759 chum and 31,000 pinks.
Zeiser said based on counts from this time of year in past years, it looks like a good year for the Chilkoot River pink salmon run.
On the Chilkat side, runs for sockeye, coho and chum appear low compared to past years, based on current ADFG data, although the runs are still in progress.
So far, the department has counted just under 37,000 fish at the Chilkat weir, well below the 10-year average of 80,000 fish. Zeiser said at this point in the season, it’s doubtful the run will hit the escapement range of 70,000 to 150,000 fish.
“It’s so far behind that I don’t think we’ll catch up,” she said.
Zeiser said it’s unusual for the Chilkat sockeye run to miss the escapement goal. The last time this occurred was in 2007.
“There’s no rhyme or reason that led us to predict the run would be low this year,” Zeiser said. The parent year runs in 2015 and 2016 met or exceeded the escapement range, suggesting this year’s run should have been average or above average.
Zeiser said the low run, despite strong parent years, suggests ocean conditions may have led to a lower return.
The Chilkat River chum run is looking like it might fail to meet the escapement goal for the first time in decades, Zeiser said. She said the low Chilkat salmon returns have led to conservative management decisions throughout this year’s drift gillnet season, limiting fishing to two days per week and restricting fishing to areas south of Seduction Point.
Regionwide, salmon runs have been low this year.
Hatchery and wild chum salmon runs are low statewide, Zeiser said. “The pink salmon harvest for Southeast is the lowest on record since 1976, and the total harvest of all salmon species has been well below the ten-year average throughout the season.”