ABSTRACT
International management of Fraser River sockeye salmon fisheries from 1946 to the present has evolved into a complex, week-to-week, in-season, decision-making process featuring a comprehensive data collection and analysis program designed to produce the information required for management action. Intensive catch monitoring, test fishing, racial analysis, and hydroacoustic programs are implemented each season. Analysis of catch, escapement, and biological information generates in-season updates of run size, arrival timing, and migration route by stock or stock group. The International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission regulated fisheries from 1946 to 1985 and, under the Pacific Salmon Treaty, the Fraser River Panel of the Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC) has regulated fisheries in Panel Area waters since 1986 (except 1992 and 1994) to harvest annual runs in a fashion that meets escapement objectives and achieves the required international allocation and domestic allocations of the available catch. The PSC’s monitoring programs provide the Panel with the ability to track the progress of escapement and catch objectives and to modify regulations in-season to achieve these objectives. The cooperative efforts of Canada and the U.S. in the rational management of the Fraser River sockeye salmon resource over a period of 50 years have resulted in the rebuilding of Fraser River sockeye stocks. The yield to all fisheries over the 8 years from 1987–1994 totals 81 million fish or just over 10 million per year.
