The Evolution of Salmon Monitoring and Assessment on the Yukon River

The Yukon River drainage is the fifth largest in North America, flowing from the Yukon Territory and British Columbia westward across the State of Alaska into the Bering Sea.  The magnitude and location of the river presents numerous obstacles to fishery assessment and monitoring.  Not only is the Yukon River remote, with few locations accessible by roads, but also it is a high latitude river, covered in ice throughout most of the year.  Overlapping runs of multiple species of salmon, along with whitefish and resident species, adds another layer of complexity to both assessment and management of these fisheries.  Over time, assessment of Yukon salmon fisheries has grown and evolved.  New technologies and techniques, such as sonar, acoustic tags, and genetic stock identification have improved the accuracy and precision of assessment and allowed long-standing assumptions to be tested.  However, these changes have brought new challenges: comparisons of modern and historical data have become problematic, and long-term trends are difficult to decipher.  The history and evolution to the current suite of assessment projects, undertaken by government agencies, NGOs and private citizens, will be reviewed and challenges of a constantly evolving assessment program will be presented.