Pacific Region Commercial Salmon Fishery In-season Catch Estimates

Study Extent

Areas fished by licensed seine, gillnet and troll vessels are outlined in each year's Integrated Fisheries Management Plans (IFMPs) (https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/ifmp-eng.html).

Sampling

The Fishery Operations System (FOS) is the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) centralized Oracle database that holds commercial salmon fishery catch, effort and biological data. The FOS database was built in 2001 and continues to be the current repository for all data pertaining to DFO’s Pacific Region Commercial Salmon Logbook program. The Commercial Salmon Logbook program was initiated in 1998 with fleet wide participation made mandatory during the 2001 season. The program requires all commercial salmon fishers to record their daily catch and effort information in a harvest logbook and to subsequently report it to DFO using a service provider within deadlines defined in the conditions of licence. A portion of the information collected from the logbook program contains fisher personal information and is therefore protected and un-releasable. Fishery Managers use the fisher reported catch and effort, in addition to information collected from other sources such as overflights, to calculate in-season catch estimates. NOTES: This report contains ONLY commercial catch estimates — it DOES NOT include testfishing, recreational or First Nations data. These figures are preliminary in-season catch estimates and are subject to change. Consult the applicable Fishery Manager or Biologist as to the status of particular catch estimates. All catch estimates are reported in pieces (numbers of fish). Catch estimates include adults and jacks combined ("jacks" are small but sexually mature early-return male salmon).

Method steps

1. The program requires all commercial salmon fishers to record their daily catch and effort information in a harvest logbook and to subsequently report it to DFO using a service provider within deadlines defined in the conditions of licence. For additional information on reporting requirements, refer to DFO's Integrated Fisheries Management Plans for salmon.
2. Northern BC: https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/40881398.pdf
3. Southern BC: https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/40881404.pdf
4. To prepare this dataset for OBIS Canada publication, data was structured into an OBIS-compatible format using Microsoft Excel and laid out in four tables: an Event Core, Occurrence Core and two Extended Measurement or Fact extensions. Defined vocabularies listed on the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Vocabulary Server (NVS) were used whenever possible. Requests will be submitted for the inclusion to NVS of terms not presently defined including "fish captured (retained)" and "fish captured (released)." Events represent the total commercial fishing activity per year and gear type within a single Pacific Fishery Management Area.
5. Note that if fewer than three vessels fish using a particular gear type — gillnet, seine net or troll — within a management area during a fishery year, catch records are withheld from the public for that gear type and year. Events where information was withheld from publication include the following remark: "Catch figures omitted due to privacy restrictions."
6. This dataset references counts of "boat days." Boat Days are defined as follows: A unit of measure used to describe fishing effort. It is the total number of days that a management area has been fished during the applicable timeframe.
7. Definitions for seine net, gill net and troll fishing can be found here: https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/salmon-saumon/comm-gear-engin-eng.html

1. Oncorhynchus nerka
   common name: Sockeye Salmon rank: species
2. Oncorhynchus kisutch
   common name: Coho Salmon rank: species
3. Oncorhynchus gorbuscha
   common name: Pink Salmon rank: species
4. Oncorhynchus keta
   common name: Chum Salmon rank: species
5. Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
   common name: Chinook Salmon rank: species
6. Oncorhynchus mykiss
   common name: Steelhead Trout rank: species

Canadian waters of the Pacific Region of British Columbia are divided into Pacific Fisheries Management Areas (PFMAs) and subareas. A map of Pacific Region management areas and links to maps of subareas is available here: https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/maps-cartes/areas-secteurs/index-eng.html (note: locationIDs listed in this dataset represent PFMAs).
Legal descriptions for the boundaries of all PFMA subareas are outlined in the Pacific Fishery Management Area Regulations, 2007, located here: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2007-77/index.html