Pacific salmon abundance still near record levels
Cordova Times, December 9, 2013
Data compiled by its member countries during the 21st annual meeting of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission shows that Pacific salmon abundance in the North Pacific remains at near record high levels, the NOAFC said in late November.
The meeting took place Nov. 12-15 in an email format for the first time in the commission's history, with 71 participants from NPAFC member countries Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the United States.
The vast majority of North Pacific salmon originate from NPAFC member countries, the organization said in comments from Vancouver, British Columbia headquarters.
Initial North Pacific-wide 2013 commercial catch data indicate catches of 313,800 tons of pink salmon in Alaska, 241,292 tons in Russia and 13,171 tons in Canada, plus catches of 101,395 tons of chum salmon in Russia and 65,120 tons in Alaska. Catches of Chinook salmon remain at low levels, with reported landings of 1,640 tons in Alaska, 512 tons in Russia and 214 tons in Canada.
The 2013 commercial catches are preliminary estimates and are incomplete because some regions had not finished their fishery seasons at the time of compilation, the NPAFC said.
While the North Pacific Ocean continues to produce large quantities of Pacific salmon, abundance levels vary among species, often from year to year.
The total commercial salmon catch by commissioner member countries in 2012 was over 889,000 tons. Sixty-four percent of the total 2012 salmon catch was from Russia, Japan an Korea, and 36 percent from the United States and Canada. Pink and chum salmon made up the vast majority, a total of 81 percent of the total catch.
Hatchery release data for 2013 were not available yet, the NPAFC said.
Salmon hatchery releases in 2012 from NPAFC member countries totaled 5 billion fish, a quantity that has been quite stable since 1993.
For 2012, the hatchery releases included 1,999 million fish from United States hatcheries, 1,793 million, Japan; 916 million, Russia; 313 million, Canada; and 10 million, Korea. Hatchery releases were primarily chum, totaling 3,092 million or 61.5 percent, and pink salmon, 1,349 million, or 26.8 percent. Chinook salmon releases were 252 million, or 5 percent. Hatcheries also released 223 million sockeye, of 4.4 percent; 79 million coho , or 1.6 percent; 22 million steelhead trout, or 0.4 percent, and 14 million, or 0.3 percent cherry salmon.
The NPAFC said it member countries continued their successful enforcement collaboration in 2013 to deter and eliminate illegal high seas fishing.
Patrols in the convention area include use of approximately 10 aircraft and 21 surface vessels, plus radar satellite surveillance used to support long range aircraft and surface patrols. Regularly scheduled enforcement conference calls maintained real-time coordination among member countries at the operational level throughout the high-treat season, the NPAFC said.
