Terms of Reference

Assessment of the Interior Fraser River Coho Salmon Management Unit

Regional Peer Review Meeting - Pacific Region

January 23-24, and February 14, 2014
Nanaimo, British Columbia

Chairperson: Jim Irvine

Context

During the 1990s, declines in the abundance of southern British Columbia Coho Salmon populations prompted the DFO to implement a number of fishery management measures to significantly reduce the harvest of these stocks.  In 2002, interior Fraser River Coho Salmon were designated by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) as endangered (COSEWIC, 2002).  In 2006 DFO published a conservation strategy outlining recovery objectives for interior Fraser River Coho. 

Objective 1: The 3-year average escapement in at least half of the sub-populations within each of the five populations is to exceed 1,000 wild-origin spawning coho salmon, excluding hatchery fish spawning in the wild. This represents a total Interior Fraser Coho spawning escapement of 20,000 to 25,000 wild-origin coho. This objective is designed to provide the abundance and diversity required to satisfy the recovery goal.

Objective 2: Maintain the productivity of Interior Fraser Coho so that recovery can be sustained. This objective is designed to ensure that the threats to recovery are addressed.

Recently, there have been improvements in escapements of southern British Columbia Coho Salmon.  In addition, there is anticipation of increased salmon harvest opportunities for more abundant stocks and species, which could be constrained under the current measures to protect Coho Salmon that are intercepted in this fishery.  These two factors have prompted a request from Fisheries Management Branch (FM), First Nations and client groups for science advice.  They have requested that Science Branch conduct an assessment of the status of the populations that make up the Interior Fraser River (IFR) Coho Salmon management unit to determine what would be the impact on coho of increased sockeye harvest.  To inform fishery planning and the development of the Integrated Fishery Management Plan (IFMP) for the 2014 season, science advice on the status of interior Fraser River Coho is required by January 2014.

This assessment will be developed in the context of the recovery objectives outlined in the 2006 Conservation Strategy (Interior Fraser Coho Recovery Team, 2006). A complete Wild Salmon Policy (WSP) status assessment is planned for the fall of 2014.

Objectives

The following working paper will be reviewed and provide the basis for discussion and advice on the specific objectives outlined below.

Decker, S., B.A. Patten, A.M. Tompkins, J. Sawada, T. Whitehouse, C. Parken.  Assessment of the Interior Fraser River Coho Salmon Management Unit. CSAP Working Paper 2013-14/P64

The specific objectives of this RPR are to:

1. Describe the fishery management actions have been taken since 2006 to meet the 2006 Conservation Strategy Recovery objectives.
2. Quantify aggregate, population and sub-population metrics for abundance, distribution and productivity.
3. Compare current population metrics to those outlined the 2006 Conservation Strategy recovery objectives.
4. Quantify annual exploitation rates and the level of uncertainty in these estimates.
5. Estimate the probability of achieving the 2006 Conservation Strategy Recovery objectives at a range of potential exploitation rates.

Expected publications

• CSAS Science Advisory Report
• CSAS Proceedings

Participation

Participants will be invited from:

• DFO Science Branch
• DFO Fisheries Management Branch
• PSC Coho Technical Committee members
• Commercial and recreational fishing interests
• First Nations
• Non-government organizations
• Academia

References Cited

COSEWIC. 2002. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch (Interior Fraser population) in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. viii + 34 pp.

Interior Fraser Coho Recovery Team. 2006. Conservation Strategy for coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), interior Fraser River populations. Fisheries and Oceans Canada.