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Exploration of Data and Methods for Developing Estimates of a Biologically-Based Spawning Goal and Biological Benchmarks for Little Tahltan Chinook (Stikine River Drainage)

author Pestal, G.; Etherton, P.; Boyce, I.; Richards, P.; Jaecks, T.
published year 2016
species Chinook
location Stikine River
subjects Transboundary Region, spawner abundance, biological benchmarks
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This paper evaluates the quantitative basis for establishing a biological frame of reference for spawner abundances of Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Little Tahltan River, which is a tributary of the Stikine River in northwestern British Columbia. Stikine River Chinook Salmon are a transboundary stock aggregate, and are managed cooperatively by Canada and the US under the Pacific Salmon Treaty.

The project originally focused on fitting various Spawner-Recruit (SR) models and estimating biological benchmarks for each model, but during the peer-review process for this work, hosted by DFO’s Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS), reviewers and participants raised serious concerns regarding the available data. After intensive debate, the consensus conclusion was that biological benchmarks based on spawner-recruit data cannot be estimated with the data currently available, but that it would be nevertheless informative for decision-makers to document our benchmark estimates and summarize the data concerns identified during the peer-review.