Commercial Salmon Fisheries
Taku River Fishwheels - Coho Counts

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Fish wheels on the Taku River are an essential platform for the Chinook, sockeye, and coho salmon mark-recapture program, which provides inseason and postseason escapement estimates. Because fish wheel catchability can be affected by factors such as water level, fish size, abundance, daily spin time, etc., daily fish wheel catches do not necessarily have a meaningful relationship with upriver abundance. In 2023, fish wheel operation protocols were changed (fish wheels operations are now 8 hours a day instead of 16 hours a day) so catch numbers are not comparable to previous years. Questions related to the Taku River fish wheel project can be directed to Jeff Williams at (907) 465-8251.

Bilateral mark-recapture data for Taku River coho salmon through day 3 of statistical week (SW) 37 (September 09) includes 534 tags released, 8,106 fish inspected, and 94 recoveries. Assuming a sulk rate of 2 days between the release and recapture locations, a Pooled Petersen was used to generate an inriver run estimate of coho salmon past Canyon Island as of September 09 (10-year average run timing = 64%).

Current estimates are as follows:

Inriver Run: 45,654 (SE = 4,201)
Canadian Harvest to Date: 8,106 (6,214 after SW33)
Current Escapement: 37,548
Projected Inriver Run: 71,223

U.S. Harvest to Date: 12,900 (8,100 after SW33)
Projected Terminal Run: 89,666

Preseason Forecast (terminal run): 121,000
10-year Average Terminal Run: 92,000

The Taku River coho salmon biological escapement goal range is 50,000 to 90,000 fish, with a management objective of 70,000 fish.

Chilkoot Lake Weir | Chilkat Lake Weir | Hugh Smith Weir | Redoubt Lake Weir (Sockeye)
Situk (Lower) Weir (Chinook) | Situk (Lower) Weir (Sockeye) | Taku River Fishwheels (Sockeye)
Taku River Fishwheels (Coho)