Hi everybody.
This will be my last update for spring and summer Chinook Salmon fisheries in the Clearwater Region (7/18/2023). Based on harvest, broodstock collection, and changes in fisheries management, all open fisheries will remain open until the end of fishing hours on August 10, 2023. Because this is my last update, I have provided my "way to early forecast" for next year’s adult spring Chinook Salmon return to the Clearwater River basin and Rapid River. Additionally, I have been receiving many questions and comments on the status of the Lochsa summer run fisheries. As such, I have provided an update on our plans for this fishery below.
FISHERIES
Clearwater River Basin Fishery
Right now, the only place people are fishing for spring Chinook Salmon in the Clearwater River basin is in the North Fork Clearwater River. Last week we estimated that 32 fish were harvested with catch rates running at 4 hours a fish. As of last Sunday, we have harvested 2,182 adult fish out of our 3,337 fish harvest share. For this reason, all river sections in the Clearwater River basin will remain open until the end of fishing hours on August 10, 2023.
Rapid River Run Fishery
This fishery closed at the end of fishing hours on June 14, 2023. Since then, we have met full broodstock needs for Rapid River hatchery. Our portion of the excess fish are being transported to the Boise River to provide fishing opportunities there. To date, we have moved about 100 adults and 200 jacks to the Boise River. Plans are to move another 100 adults and 200 jacks to the Boise River later this week.
Hells Canyon Fishery
We have not observed any fishing effort in Hells Canyon for the last two weeks. For the season we estimate that 291 adult fish were harvested out of our 358 fish harvest share. This fishery will remain open until the end of fishing hours on August 10, 2023.
Lochsa Summer Run Fishery
Last week we estimated that 14 adult summer Chinook Salmon were harvested in the Lochsa River. That brings our total harvest for the season to 39 adults.
Many people have heard that the IDFG and Nez Perce Tribe have decided to end the summer Chinook Salmon program in the Lochsa River. This is disappointing to us, as we had great hopes to expand and spread this program to other areas in the Clearwater River basin. However, this is the right thing to do as we have not been able to collect enough broodstock to fully support this program since 2018. In fact, this spring about half the smolts we released at Powell were spring Chinook Salmon and about half were summer Chinook Salmon, and next year we also will not be able to meet our summer Chinook smolt release goal. Additionally, when we provided fisheries in the past, they were small with harvest shares typically less than 100 fish. Some of the reasons for this is these fish just haven’t survived well in their migration to the ocean and back, and when they have returned in sufficient numbers to meet broodstock needs, many didn’t return to the trap to be collected for broodstock.
Because we are ending this summer Chinook Salmon program, we will not be collecting any fish for broodstock this year. All fish that are trapped will be transported downstream to the lower Lochsa River so they can continue to provide fishing opportunities as they migrate back upriver. This fishery will remain open until the end of fishing hours on August 10, 2023.
The space once used to rear summer Chinook will now be used to raise more spring Chinook Salmon (640,000 more smolts). With both the sport and Tribal fisheries being short of their harvest shares this year, we should be able to easily collect extra spring Chinook Salmon adults to fill these additional needs.
At this point, we are not sure where we are going to release these 640,000 spring Chinook Salmon smolts. Some of the things to consider as we (IDFG and Nez Perce Tribe) make this decision include:
- Survival rates to the ocean and back at different release sites – where do we get the biggest bang for the buck.
- What sites are best for broodstock collections.
- Where can we provide ample fishing opportunities for both sport and Tribal anglers.
These smolts will not be released until the spring of 2025, so we have some time to figure this out. In the meantime, adult Chinook Salmon will be returning to Lochsa River at least through 2026 based on fish that have already been released and we plan to release next year.
We will keep you appraised as we learn more.
Next Year’s Way to Early Forecast
One of my traditions for my last Weekly Chinook Salmon update is to provide a rough forecast for next year’s spring Chinook Salmon returns based on the number of jacks we saw this year. You need to be aware that the method I am using is based on PIT tag return estimates which are not as accurate as the “official” forecasts we will put out at the end of the year that utilize genetic data collected from fish trapped at Lower Granite Dam.
The principle behind this forecasts is there is a relationship between the number of jacks that return one year and the number of adults the will return the following year. The more jacks that return, the more adults we can expect to return the following years. The two figures below show the number of adults (yellow bars) and jacks (red bars) that have passed over Bonneville Dam that are destined for the Clearwater basin and Rapid River since 2009. If you look at these graphs, you will notice that in the years we had large jack returns, the following year the adult return tended to be big. On the other hand, when the jack return was small, we tended to see small adult returns the following year.
