FishWatch

Harvesting Coho Salmon

Coho salmon are mainly harvested in commercial troll fisheries in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Troll vessels catch salmon by "trolling" their lines with bait or lures through groups of feeding fish. To retrieve hooked fish, the lines are wound on spools by hand or hydraulically, and the fish are gaffed when alongside the vessel. The troll fishery produces low-volume, high-quality product. Troll gear does not contact the ocean floor so it doesn't impact habitat. Bycatch is also low and usually consists of other salmon species.

Coho are also harvested in commercial seine and gillnet fisheries (described here ), both in fisheries targeting healthy stocks of coho and as bycatch in fisheries targeting other species of salmon.

The Pacific Northwest and Alaska also have important subsistence and sport fisheries for salmon. Salmon is an important source of spiritual and physical sustenance for Northwest and Alaskan Indian tribes, and salmon are culturally important to many other residents of these areas. Subsistence and recreational fishermen use a variety of fishing gear to harvest coho salmon.

Management

Who’s in charge? NOAA Fisheries, the Pacific and North Pacific Fishery Management Councils, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Current management:
West Coast: Pacific Coast Salmon Plan
Every year, the Council reviews reports of the previous fishing season and current estimates of salmon abundance. Using this information, they make recommendations for management of the upcoming fishing season. Their general goal is to allow fishermen to harvest the maximum amount of salmon that will support the fishery while preventing overharvest of the resource and ensuring that salmon populations with low abundance can rebuild to a healthy level. Specific management measures vary year to year depending on current salmon abundance, and include size limits, season length, quotas, and gear restrictions. The Council usually increases harvest limits for coho salmon in odd years when more adults are returning to spawn. Management of coho salmon must also comply with laws such as the Endangered Species Act. Final recommendations are implemented by NOAA Fisheries on May 1 each year. Check here for the current season’s management. State and tribal managers use Council management recommendations to shape their policies for inland fisheries, to ensure that conservation objectives are met.

Alaska: Fishery Management Plan for Salmon Fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone off the Coast of Alaska
All management of the salmon fisheries in federal waters is deferred to the State of Alaska , which is also responsible for managing the commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries for salmon in state waters. This ensures that management is consistent throughout salmon’s range. Managers regulate the fishery based on “escapement goals” to ensure harvests are sustainable – they want enough salmon to be able to escape the fishery and return to freshwater to spawn and replenish the population.

Salmon fishery management largely relies on in-season assessment of how many salmon return to freshwater to spawn. Managers set harvest levels based on these returns – when abundance is high and the number of fish returning is much higher than that needed to meet escapement goals, harvest levels are set higher. In years of low abundance, harvest levels are lowered. During the season, scientists monitor catch and escapement, comparing current returns with those from previous years, to keep an eye on abundance and actively manage the fishery.

International: Adult salmon returning to Washington migrate through both U.S. and Canadian waters and are harvested by fishermen from both countries. To coordinate management, research, and enhancement of these shared Pacific salmon stocks, the United States and Canada signed the Pacific Salmon Treaty in 1985. They created the Pacific Salmon Commission to implement the treaty and provide regulatory advice and recommendations to U.S. and Canadian management agencies that regulate salmon fisheries. In 2009, the two countries ratified a new abundance-based management agreement, extending this bilateral management process through 2018.

Annual Harvest

The U.S. coho salmon harvest was up about 1 percent in 2010, totaling 33.3 million pounds. Most of the coho harvest comes from Alaska (29.1 million pounds in 2010) with a smaller amount from Washington (3.6 million pounds) and Oregon (585,000 pounds).

Economy

The United States also imports coho salmon, mainly from Canada and Chile.

Recreational

Coho salmon are a favorite catch of recreational fishermen. They're spectacular fighters and the most acrobatic of the Pacific salmon. To ensure recreational fisheries are sustainable, West Coast anglers are only allowed to keep a certain number of salmon per fishing trip. In Alaska, regulations vary by area and individual fisheries. Recreational fisheries in high-use areas (Cook Inlet, Southeast Alaska, Copper River) are regulated through management plans that allocate fish between competing commercial and recreational fishermen.