2014 Summer Mark-Selective Recreational Chinook Fisheries

In the marine environments of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound, abundant runs of hatchery Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) have been mixed with depressed runs of wild Chinook salmon. Providing recreational anglers with opportunities to harvest abundant hatchery stocks while simultaneously protecting weaker, wild stocks has proven to be a significant conservation and management challenge. The combination of large-scale hatchery marking (i.e., fin clipping) programs and mark-selective harvest regulations makes it possible for anglers to pursue and harvest hatchery Chinook salmon while minimally impacting wild salmon populations. In such "mark-selective fisheries" (MSFs), anglers are generally allowed to retain adipose-fin clipped ("marked") hatchery fish and are required to release unharmed any unclipped ("unmarked", predominantly wild) salmon encountered¹.

Since the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) implemented the first marine mark-selective Chinook fishery in Marine Catch Areas 5 and 6 (Strait of Juan de Fuca) in 2003 based on state-tribal agreements (Thiesfeld and Hagen-Breaux 2005a ,WDFW 2008a), mark-selective Chinook salmon fishing regulations have been implemented on a basis in multiple Puget Sound Marine Catch Areas during both the summer and winter seasons. As of the close of the summer 2014 fishing season, summer Chinook MSFs have occurred in Areas 5 and 6 for twelve consecutive seasons, in Areas 9, 10, 11, and 13 for eight consecutive seasons and in Area 12 for three consecutive seasons. Additionally, winter Chinook MSFs have occurred in Areas 8-1 and 8-2 for nine consecutive seasons, in Areas 7, 9 and 10 for seven consecutive seasons, in Areas 11 and 12 for five consecutive seasons and in Area 6 for two seasons².

During the 2014 summer season (May through September), WDFW implemented seven mark-selective Chinook fisheries in Areas 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13. The Chinook MSF seasons in each area were scheduled as follows:

• Areas 5 and 6 from July 1 through August 15, 2014;
• Areas 9 and 10 from July 16 through August 15, 2014;
• Area 11 from June 1 through September 30, 2014;
• Area 12 from July 1 through September 30, 2014; and
• Area 13 from May 1 through September 30, 2014.

Consistent with the 2004 (and 2010 update) Puget Sound Chinook Harvest Management Plan (Puget Sound Indian Tribes and WDFW 2004 and 2010), a key goal of implementing each of these Chinook MSFs has been to provide meaningful opportunity to the recreational angling public while minimally impacting ESA-listed Puget Sound Chinook salmon.

Comprehensive Sampling and Monitoring Program

WDFW’s Puget Sound Sampling Unit (PSSU) was tasked with implementing a comprehensive sampling and monitoring program in Areas 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 to collect the data needed to evaluate each Chinook MSF and its impact on unmarked salmon. Through state-tribal agreement (WDFW and NWIFC 2014), we developed area-specific sampling plans consisting of several comprehensive and complementary sampling components, including dockside creel sampling, test fishing, on-water or aerial effort surveys, and angler-completed voluntary trip reports (VTRs). We tailored area-specific sampling plans so that we could reliably estimate the following critical parameters needed for evaluating MSFs:

i) the mark rate of the targeted Chinook population

ii) the total number of Chinook salmon harvested (by size [legal or sublegal] and mark-status [marked or unmarked] group)

iii) the total number of Chinook salmon released (by size and mark-status group)

iv) the coded-wire tag- (CWT) and/or DNA-based stock composition of marked and unmarked Chinook mortalities³

v) the total mortality of marked and unmarked double index tag (DIT) CWT stocks

In addition, we acquired and analyzed relevant data characterizing other aspects of the fisheries, including descriptors of fishing effort, fishing success (catch [landed Chinook] per unit effort), the length composition of encountered Chinook, and the overall intensity of our sampling efforts.

Reporting Efficiencies

In the following pages, we report the summarized data and estimates generated from our monitoring activities during the summer 2014 Chinook MSFs. We report results following the reporting format agreed-to between state and tribal technical representatives⁴, in which we focus on presenting data tables and figures rather than interpretive text (unless needed to specify noteworthy in-season adjustments or other circumstances unique to the particular season). We present summer 2014 Chinook MSF results in separate chapters (1 through 7) by area, and within each chapter the data are presented in a series of tables and figures generally according to the following sequence: i) estimates of fishery characteristics obtained from the dockside creel survey data, including catch and effort total estimates, Chinook length-frequency data, and CWT recovery results; ii) results from our recreational test fishery (where applicable); iii) results from our VTR collection efforts; iv) total fishery Chinook encounters and impactsâ€"estimated based on creel survey and test fishery or VTR dataâ€"which we compare with pre-season expectations (based on Fishery Regulation Assessment Model [FRAM] predictions); v) sample rate information based on dockside sampling of harvested Chinook; vi) total mortality estimates of marked and unmarked DIT CWT stocks by hatchery and brood year; and vii) historical Chinook encounters estimates for each area’s summer mark-selective Chinook fishery.

¹The regulations specific to summer mark-selective fisheries in Puget Sound Marine Catch Areas allowed for the retention of up to two legal-sized (≥22 inches [56 cm]) marked Chinook salmon per day and required the immediate release of all unmarked or sublegal Chinook. Additionally, anglers were: i) required to use single-point, barbless hooks while fishing for salmon, ii) held to a combined (all salmon species) two-fish daily limit, and iii) held to a handling rule that prevented them from bringing unmarked and/or sublegal Chinook aboard their vessels.

² For information regarding effort, harvest and impacts estimates related to these fisheries, see the references listed at the end of this report, or visit: http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/search.php?Cat=Fishing / Shellfishing&SubCat=Selective Fishing.

³ Though the necessary tissue samples have been collected, DNA-based estimates of stock composition are presently unavailable for Puget Sound/Strait of Juan de Fuca mark-selective fisheries. In the present report, methods for producing CWT-based (unexpanded) estimates of the stock composition of marked Chinook harvest are provided.

⁴ Details available in a WDFW memo dated August 16, 2010 summarizing a July 2010 meeting to discuss reporting efficiencies.