Hatchery‐Origin Stray Rates and Total Run Characteristics for Pink Salmon and Chum Salmon Returning to Prince William Sound, Alaska, in 2013–2015

Abstract

AbstractPacific salmon hatcheries support important commercial fisheries for Pink Salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha and Chum Salmon O. keta in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska. State policy mandates that hatchery‐produced fish must not negatively impact natural populations, which can occur during mixed fisheries and via ecological and genetic interactions. Therefore, we quantified the spatial and temporal overlap of natural‐ and hatchery‐origin salmon (1) as they migrated into PWS and (2) in PWS spawning streams. Intensive sampling during 2013–2015, combined with ancillary agency harvest and hatchery composition data, also allowed us to estimate the hatchery, natural, and total run sizes. Estimated annual proportions (SE in parentheses) of hatchery fish in the preharvest run ranged from 0.55 (0.01) to 0.86 (0.03) for Pink Salmon and from 0.51 (0.03) to 0.73 (0.02) for Chum Salmon. Proportions of hatchery fish across all sampled PWS spawning streams were much lower, ranging from 0.05 (0.03) to 0.15 (0.07) for Pink Salmon and from 0.03 (0.03) to 0.09 (0.03) for Chum Salmon. In both species, relatively high instream proportions of hatchery fish tended to be geographically localized, while many streams exhibited low proportions. The estimated total PWS runs were 50–142 million Pink Salmon and 2.3–5.4 million Chum Salmon. Commercial fisheries harvested 94–99% of hatchery‐origin fish of both species, 27–50% of natural‐origin Pink Salmon, and 17–20% of natural‐origin Chum Salmon. Despite very high harvest rates on hatchery‐produced fish, an estimated 0.8–4.5 million hatchery Pink Salmon and 30,000–90,000 hatchery Chum Salmon strayed into PWS spawning streams. Our findings provide context for further research on the relative productivity of hatchery‐ and natural‐origin salmon spawning in streams, density‐dependent survival, improvements in fidelity to hatchery release sites, the influence of hatchery production on escapement management and policy, and refinements in harvest management precision in PWS.