Upper Salmon River Chinook update 6/1/2023

Following up from last weeks’ blog, we’ve seen another 690 adult hatchery Chinook headed for Sawtooth hatchery cross over Bonneville Dam. We saw an additional PIT-tagged Pahsimeroi fish over the weekend, but still not much information on this return. 

Since last weeks’ update, we continue to see the return of adult Chinook bound for Sawtooth hatchery be slightly better than forecasted. The table below shows release groups from Sawtooth hatchery and the Yankee Fork Salmon River (a release of ~300,000 Sawtooth hatchery smolts), the preseason forecast to Bonneville Dam (orange column), the current estimate over Bonneville Dam (blue column), the projected return to Bonneville Dam (based on historic run timing – yellow column), and the estimated harvest share above Lower Granite Dam (green column). The estimated harvest share in the table below is based on the projected return over Bonneville, multiplied by the conversion (or survival) of Chinook from Bonneville Dam to Lower Granite Dam, minus the broodstock need, and then split 50:50 between tribal and non-tribal anglers. As I mentioned last week, the harvest share should land somewhere between 500 and 1,000 fish. We’re on track to be in that range, but we’ll know more as we see the remainder of the Sawtooth run cross over Bonneville and track conversion through the Columbia and Snake rivers. 

The IDFG Commission will be meeting on June 13th to review proposals for Chinook salmon  fisheries in the upper Salmon River, South Fork Salmon River, and the Lochsa River. I’ll include more details on the run, potential harvest shares, and what the fishery boundaries/proposal will look like in next weeks’ update. 

If you have questions, comments, or would like to be added to my email update list, please reach out to me at: greg.schoby@idfg.idaho.gov or at the Salmon Regional Office at (208) 756-2271.