This report provides a description of the chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, fisheries in the Unalakleet Area; summarizes available harvest, escapement, age and sex information for returns to the Unalakleet River; and provides recommendations for improved data collection and escapement goals.

This report summarizes statewide Pacific salmon escapement goals in effect in 2022 and documents escapements for all species and stocks with goals from 2014 through 2022. Annual escapements are compared against escapement goals in place at the time to assess outcomes, with summaries by the Division of Commercial Fisheries regions. We list methods used to enumerate escapements and to develop current escapement goals (with brief descriptions) for each monitored stock. For the 2021–2022 Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting cycle, escapement goals were reviewed for the Southeast Region and Prince William Sound Management Area, which had been postponed from the 2020–2021 meeting cycle because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of these reviews, there were 7 escapement goal changes for 2022. In the Southeast Region, 2 escapement goals were updated (1 coho and 1 sockeye salmon), and in Prince William Sound, 4 escapement goals were updated (2 coho and 2 sockeye salmon) and the Copper River Chinook salmon escapement goal was revised from a lower-bound SEG to an SEG with an upper and lower bound. The number of salmon escapement goals in Alaska remained at 264. In 2022, 67% of the escapement goals in Alaska were met or exceeded and 33% of the stocks did not meet minimum escapement goals.

Escapement goal analyses for stocks of Chinook salmon in the transboundary Alsek River and in one of its tributaries, the Klukshu River, are described. Data and estimates for harvest, inriver run size, harvest rates, relative age composition, and escapements for calendar years 1976 through 2007 are provided.

An age-structured state-space spawner–recruit model was fit to estimates of relative and absolute abundance, harvest, and age composition for Copper River Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) from 1980 to 2018. Bayesian statistical methods were employed to assess uncertainty in the presence of measurement error, serial correlation, and missing data. Ricker spawner–recruit parameters and management reference points were estimated, including the escapement that provides for maximum sustained yield (SMSY). An additional analysis was performed on a subset of data from 1999 to 2018 that used only mark–recapture estimates of escapement and excluded abundance indices used in the full data set. The full data set produced an SMSY of 22,844 spawners (95% credibility interval of 12,920–84,942 spawners) and the 1999–2018 data set produced an SMSY of 26,951 spawners (95% credibility interval of 15,371–98,262 spawners). Different results may be partially explained by differences in data structure and may also indicate reduced productivity in more recent years. It is important to note that many escapements observed since 1999 were greater than those observed prior to 1999 and the increased contrast in observed escapements increased information and our understanding of true underlying stock production. After examining both analyses, it is recommended that a sustainable escapement goal range of 21,000 to 31,000 fish be adopted for Copper River Chinook salmon. Escapement is evaluated by subtracting estimates of inriver harvest from estimates of inriver abundance. Escapements within this range have a high probability of producing sustainable yields.

This report contains recommendations after the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Escapement Goal Review Committee reviewed Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus spp., escapement goals for the major river systems in Bristol Bay. Spawner-return data were evaluated for: sockeye salmon, O. nerka, in the Ugashik, Egegik, Kvichak, Naknek, Alagnak, Wood, Nushagak, Igushik, Togiak, and Kulukak Rivers; chinook salmon, O. tshawytscha, in the Nushagak, Togiak, Alagnak, Naknek, and Egegik Rivers; chum salmon, O. keta, in the Nushagak River; coho salmon, O. kisutch, in the Togiak, Nushagak, and Kulukak Rivers; and pink salmon, O. gorbuscha, in the Nushagak River.

This report is a summary of escapement goal reviews and recommendations for major salmon stocks of the Upper Copper River and Prince William Sound Management Areas. Escapement goals were reviewed based on the Policy for the Management of Sustainable Salmon Fisheries (5 AAC 39.222) and the Policy for Statewide Salmon Escapement Goals (5 AAC 39.223) adopted by the Alaska Board of Fisheries into regulation in 2001. The escapement goal committee reviewed 29 existing escapement goals, including 1 Chinook Oncorhynchus tshawytscha , 5 chum O. keta , 2 coho O. kisutch, 16 pink O. gorbuscha (8 goals for each even- and odd-year brood line), and 5 sockeye O. nerka salmon stocks. The escapement goal committee also reviewed escapement data for Gulkana River Chinook salmon, but decided not to consider establishing an escapement goal until a sufficient time series of data are available to better understand how well the current tower count project indexes escapement. All of the existing goals were adopted in 2002, 2005, 2008, or 2011 except for the 2 coho salmon goals that were adopted in 1991. The escapement goal committee recommends all Chinook, chum, and pink salmon escapement goals be updated. The escapement goal committee recommends no modifications be made to the existing coho and sockeye salmon escapement goals, and that no goals are eliminated or created at this time.

Declining run sizes and ensuing state and federal restrictions and closures to Unalakleet River Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha fisheries highlighted the need to obtain more complete estimates of spawning escapement. In response, multiple agencies and entities began the Unalakleet River weir in 2010 funded by United States Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Subsistence Management. The goal was to obtain estimates of the mainstem Chinook salmon escapement and age, sex, and length (ASL) composition. An estimated 505 Chinook salmon were enumerated during the 2016 season. High water and numerous pink salmon O. gorbuscha contributed to an incomplete count of Chinook salmon in 2016, therefore the escapement estimate should be considered a minimum count and run timing could not be determined. A total of 25 ASL samples were collected but did not meet minimum sample size requirements and could not be used to estimate female percentage or age composition. Despite issues with operations in 2016, the Unalakleet River weir is an important tool for fishery managers and increased oversight and training will ensure it remains a viable option for monitoring Chinook salmon in the Unalakleet River.