Recent returns of both sockeye and chinook salmon to chignik river have been below established escapement goals

Salmon escaping into the chignik river watershed are enumerated at the chignik river weir, operated by ADF g. Ten-minute expanded counts are used to index escaping salmon a 10-minute count is conducted every hour and multiplied by six to obtain an hourly escapement index. This method has been shown to be reliable for sockeye salmon indexing when compared to a complete census, as sockeye salmon pass in large numbers, and individual observation events (a single fish passing) number in the hundreds of thousands per year. Chinook salmon observation events are much rarer, with yearly individual observation events per year usually numbering in the hundreds. Expanded counts for chinook salmon may lack both precision and accuracy. Subsistence harvest estimates are lacking in the chignik area. Surveys conducted by ADF g in 2012 indicate that 61 chinook salmon were harvested for subsistence, however state subsistence permits only indicate that 37 chinook salmon were harvested. Federally qualified subsistence users (fqsu) are issued on average three federal subsistence permits a year, and the reported harvested per year on federal subsistence permits varies from between zero to five. Subsistence fish harvest is likely going underreported due to lack of knowledge of reporting requirements, lack of access to subsistence permits, or both. ADF g is mandated to manage for subsistence opportunity by ensuring an in-river run goal (irrg) is met each year for subsistence purposes. The irrg mandates that 10,000 sockeye salmon must escape past the weir specifically for subsistence purposes in both august and september (20,000 sockeye salmon). In recent years, the weir has been removed in mid- to late-august, making IT difficult to determine if the irrg has been met in august and september. The specific objectives of this project are: 1. Enumerate all chinook salmon that pass through the chignik river weir during the central 80% of the chinook salmon run using video cameras and fishticktm software. These counts will be compared to the traditional method of enumerating salmon (10-minute expansion). 2. Extend operation of the chignik river weir from august 1 to the latest date possible to obtain the most accurate estimate of escapement and provide the maximum number of observations. Exact removal date will be determined by tidal height. Extending the weir operations will also allow ADF g staff to continue collecting escapement information. 3. Collect in-season federal subsistence harvest data from federally qualified subsistence users in the chignik area from mid-june-november using a chignik area local hire.