ABSTRACT
Salmon from the transboundary Stikine, Taku, and Alsek rivers are harvested in U.S. and Canadian aboriginal, subsistence, personal use, recreational, and commercial fisheries. Cooperative research programs for inseason run strength assessment and postseason escapement evaluation on these rivers involve state, provincial, federal, and First Nations personnel. Stikine salmon researchers use biological data obtained from commercial catch samples, weirs, aerial surveys, and test fisheries to estimate marine harvest and inriver run size or index escapements. Stikine sockeye Oncorhynchus nerka are experiencing record high abundance and chinook O. tshawytscha populations are healthy. Throughout Southeast Alaska coho O. kisutch, chum O. keta, and pink O. gorbuscha runs are at healthy to record high abundances, but data are lacking to determine how closely Stikine stocks follow the regional trend. For the Taku River, marine harvest and inriver run size or index escapement are estimated using a wide range of biological data, including coded wire tagging of juveniles, analysis of biological markers, adult mark-recapture estimates, weirs, and aerial surveys. Taku sockeye, coho, and pink salmon are experiencing above average to record high abundances, chinook populations are healthy, and chum salmon are declining. A weir and aerial surveys provide index escapement estimates for Alsek salmon. These data indicate that sockeye and coho salmon remain near historical average abundance and the chinook indices appear stable. The joint U.S./Canada transboundary river research programs, although of recent origin, have provided an array of information critical for maintaining sustainable fisheries on these salmon stocks. The transboundary river programs provide a good model for international and inter-agency cooperation in management of shared fisheries resources.
