Atlantic Fisheries Research Document 1996/124
Stock status of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in the Miramichi River, 1995
By G. Chaput; M. Biron; D. Moore; B. Dubé; C. Ginnish; M. Hambrook; T. Paul; B. Scott
Abstract
Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in the Miramichi River. New Brunswick, were harvested by two user groups in 1995; First Nations and recreational fishers. The Aboriginal food fishery catches in 1995 represented an increase of 76% for small and a decrease of 50% for large salmon relative to previous years. Essentially all of the large salmon (98%) harvests and 80% of the small salmon harvests were taken prior to September 1 in 1995. Recreational fishery catches for 1995 were not available at the time of the assessment by indications from a creel survey and from Crown Reserve waters were that angling catches were less than half of 1994 and the previous five years. For the Southwest Miramichi, 30,500 small salmon and 17,100 large salmon were estimated to have returned in 1995. After accounting for all removals, egg depositions in the Southwest Miramichi by both small and large salmon were 139% of target. For the Northwest Miramichi, 21,700 small salmon and 15,200 large salmon were estimated to have returned. Egg depositions by small and large salmon in the Northwest in 1994 were 265% of target. Egg depositions have exceeded the target in each branch during the last three years. The 1996 forecast for large salmon returning to the Miramichi is 30,507 with a probability of 81% meeting spawning requirements. The increased densities of juvenile salmon, since 1985 for fry and 1986 for parr, at the index sites sampled since 1971, indicate that the long-term prospect for the Atlantic salmon stock of the Miramichi is for continued and increased abundance of salmon.
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