Science Advisory Report 2016/042

Integrated Biological Status of Southern British Columbia Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) Under the Wild Salmon Policy

Summary

• A workshop entitled “Assessment of Southern British Columbia Chinook Salmon Conservation Units, Benchmarks and Status” was conducted to determine an integrated Wild Salmon Policy (WSP) status for each of the 35 southern BC Chinook Salmon Conservation Units (CU). The status integration method used was similar to that applied to Fraser Sockeye (Grant & Pestal 2013). A characteristic of southern BC Chinook Salmon CUs that is distinct from the Sockeye Salmon CUs assessed so far is the significant presence of hatchery-origin fish in addition to wild-origin fish in many of the CU area/watersheds.
• For this workshop, multi-page standardized data summaries were produced for each southern BC Chinook Salmon CU. The data used to generate these summaries had been previously reviewed through two Regional Peer Review processes.
• Participants were asked to determine a single WSP status zone from Red (poor status) to Amber (cautious status) to Green (healthy status) for the CU based on a combination of the information from the individual status metrics.
• Status evaluations were completed and consensus reached on an integrated WSP status designation for 15 of the 35 CUs. Of these, 11 were assigned a Red status, one was assigned a Red/Amber status, one was assigned an Amber status and two were assigned a Green status. For another nine of the 35 CUs, an integrated status evaluation was not possible based on the information presented at the workshop. For these CUs, the status designation is “data deficient” and this designation is not expected to change until more information becomes available. For the remaining 11 of the 35 CUs, status evaluations were not completed. Instead, the status of these CUs was classified as “to be determined”. These CUs are a component of units where the enhanced sites are predominant; consensus was not reached on how to derive a WSP status assessment for such units.
• In addition to providing final integrated status for each CU, the expert interpretation of the data summaries was documented in status commentaries. These commentaries provide the details underlying the final integrated status decisions. Status zones on their own do not provide an indication of which factors drive their designation, which would influence subsequent WSP strategies. The commentaries are an important source of information to inform management considerations.
• The designation of seven Fraser River CUs as Red and two others with a status of Amber is especially noteworthy. A review of all Chinook populations in BC carried out more than 30 years ago found compelling evidence of substantial declines in abundance in all geographic regions, except within the Fraser River watershed. The last 12 to 15 years have been a period during which most groups of Chinook within the Fraser River have declined in numbers, and the outlook for Chinook outside of the Fraser River has generally not shown sustained improvement since the earlier review.
• Integrated WSP status designations could not be developed for 20 of the 35 southern BC Chinook CUs based on the information and methods available to the workshop participants, which is very concerning. This highlights the need for additional work relating to information collection and assembly and for the development of a suitable method for status assessment when there is a significant contribution to recruitment and spawner abundance from enhanced sites.
• A proposal on the frequency of status re-assessments was agreed to: DFO staff should recalculate the individual status metrics annually, update the standardized data summaries, and check for any substantial changes. If results from individual metrics indicate a change that could affect the overall status for the CU, a meeting would be convened to address the affected CUs only. A full re-assessment of all CUs would take place every four years.

This Science Advisory Report is from the February 4-6, 2014 Assessment of Southern British Columbia Chinook Salmon Conservation Units, Benchmarks and Status. Additional publications from this meeting will be posted on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Science Advisory Schedule as they become available.

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