Performance of Mixed-Stock Management Strategies Aimed At Meeting Bi-National Objectives for the Yukon River Fall Chum Salmon Fishery

Salmon fisheries of the Yukon River are managed under a bi-national agreement between the U.S. and Canada.  The Yukon River fall chum salmon fishery consists of a mix of stocks bound for Canada and those spawning in Alaskan tributaries.  Downstream harvest in Alaska occurs on this mixed stock, which creates challenges for managing the Alaskan harvest such that agreed-upon salmon passage into Canada is met.  The degree of temporal overlap in run timing of Canadian and U.S. stocks should determine the potential efficacy of in-season management strategies aimed at meeting Canadian escapement objectives.  We examined stock-specific run timing data and built a simulation model of the in-season dynamics of the fishery to test the relative performance of different harvest strategies at meeting a suite of performance objectives including fish passage into Canada.