ATTACHED IS A STOCK ASSESSMENT
SUMMARY UPDATE FOR THE NASS RIVER (PDF FORMAT) FROM THE NISGA'A FISHERIES AND
WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT OF NISGA'A LISIMS GOVERNMENT. 
SAYT-K'IL'IM-GOOT.

ALL DATA PRESENTED IN THIS UPDATE ARE
PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITH FURTHER ASSESSMENT INFORMATION THAT
BECOMES AVAILABLE AND SHOULD BE INTERPRETATED CAUTIOUSLY FOR IN-SEASON
ASSESSMENT PURPOSES ONLY.

NASS FISHWHEEL OPERATIONAL NOTES:

FISHWHEEL
ASSESSMENT DATA UP TO MONDAY 4 AUGUST 2008. 

GW FISHWHEELS
(TEST FISHERY - 15TH YEAR):  FISHWHEELS 1 AND 2 WERE STARTED ON 5 JUNE FOR
TAGGING AND HISTORICAL CATCH INDEX ASSESSMENTS FOR SALMON AND STEELHEAD. 
FISHWHEELS 1 AND 2 ARE OPERATING WELL AT JUST BELOW AVERAGE WATER LEVEL FOR
DATE.  AVERAGE WATER LEVEL FROM 1992 TO 2007 WAS 1.9 M FOR DATE.  ALL
FISH THAT HAVE BEEN CAUGHT IN THE GITWINKSIHLKW FISHWHEELS HAVE BEEN RELEASED. 

GREASE HARBOUR FISHWHEELS:  THREE FISHWHEELS WILL OPERATE AT
GREASE HARBOUR IN 2008 FOR IN-SEASON MARK RECAPTURE TAG RECOVERIES.  THE
FISHWHEEL STARTUP DATES WERE: 11 JUNE (FW5), 12 JUNE (FW6) AND 13 JUNE (FW3). 
ALL THREE FISHWHEELS ARE OPERATIONAL.  ALL FISH CAUGHT IN THE GREASE
HARBOUR FISHWHEELS HAVE BEEN RELEASED. 

SINCE ONLY THREE FISHWHEELS
ARE FISHING AT GREASE HARBOUR COMPARED TO FOUR SINCE 2000, TOTAL FISHWHEEL
CATCHES IN 2008 AS REPORTED BELOW WILL NOT BE DIRECTLY COMPARABLE WITH FISHWHEEL
CATCH AVERAGES FROM 2000 TO 2007.  CATCH AVERAGE COMPARISONS AT THE GW
FISHWHEELS WILL BE COMPARABLE AND ARE PROVIDED ONCE A WEEK AS WEEK ENDING
COMPARISONS ON MONDAYS IN THE ATTACHMENT. 

NASS SOCKEYE
SALMON:
THE NASS SOCKEYE RUN SIZE ESTIMATE TO GITWINKSIHLKW TO DATE
(168,237) IS CURRENTLY TRACKING BELOW AVERAGE (218,000) RETURN
BASED ON A MEAN RUN SIZE TO GITWINKSIHLKW OF 281,000 FROM 1994 TO 2007. 
THE RUN SIZE HAS BEEN STEADILY DROPPING WITH LOWER WATER LEVELS OVER THE PAST
WEEK AND IS HOPED TO PICK UP ONCE WATER LEVELS RISE.

THE RUN SIZE
ESTIMATE IS A COMBINATION OF MARK-RECAPTURE AND HISTORICAL CATCH INDICES
METHODS.  NOTE THAT MARK RECAPTURE ESTIMATES WILL CHANGE OVER A 5 DAY PERIOD DUE
TO MARK RATES STABILIZING AT GREASE HARBOUR AS FISH TAGGED AT GITWINKSIHLKW PASS
THE UPSTREAM GREASE HARBOUR FISHWHEEL SITES OVER A 5 DAY PERIOD. AFTER THE MARK
RATE STABILIZES, THE DAILY ESTIMATE IS BETTER AT PREDICTING ACTUAL CATCH
EFFICIENCIES AT THE GW FISHWHEELS THAN THE HISTORICAL INDICES. AS SUCH WE WILL
USE HISTORICAL CATCH EFFICIENCIES DURING THE 5 D FLUCTUATING PERIOD WHILE MARK
RECAPTURE ESTIMATES ARE STABILIZING FOR LESS FLUCTUATING ESTIMATES THAT ARE
REPORTED.  CURRENTLY, MARK RECAPTURE ESTIMATES ARE FINAL TO 30 JULY AND
LATER DATES WILL FLUCTUATE FROM 31 JULY TO 9 AUGUST AS ADDITIONAL CATCH
AND TAG RECOVERY DATA BECOME AVAILABLE FROM THE GH FISHWHEELS.   A SPREADSHEET
OF THE CALCULATIONS AND RANGE OF ESTIMATES IS PROVIDED IN THE
ATTACHMENT.

THE RUN SIZE TARGET FOR NASS SOCKEYE TO GITWINKSIHLKW IS
225,000 TO 250,000 DEPENDING ON HARVESTS PROJECTED ABOVE GITWINKSIHLKW. 
NISGA'A FISHERIES IS ESTIMATING THAT APPROXIMATELY 78% (93-07 MEDIAN) OF
THE SOCKEYE RUN HAS PASSED GITWINKSIHLKW TO DATE.  USING FINAL MARK-RECAPTURE
ESTIMATES TO 30 JULY, CURRENT FORECAST METHODS ARE PREDICTING A
REASONABLE PROBABILITY OF REACHING THE RUN SIZE TARGET TO GW (225,000)
WITH ESTIMATES RANGING FROM 232,000 (MEAN RUN TIMING METHOD - RANGE
218,000-247,000) TO 246,000 (IN-SEASON TO FINAL METHOD).  THESE ESTIMATES
HAVE BEEN DROPPING FROM RECENT MARINE FISHERIES AND LOW NUMBERS OF SOCKEYE
PASSING THE FISHWHEELS OVER THE PAST WEEK BUT ARE EXPECTED TO STABILIZE WITH NO
FURTHER MARINE FISHERIES CONDUCTED IN THE FUTURE AND WHEN WATER LEVELS RISE
AGAIN.

THE NET ESCAPEMENT ESTIMATE FOR NASS SOCKEYE TO DATE IS
156,130.  THE NET ESCAPEMENT TARGET IS 200,000 (160,000 TO
MEZIADIN RIVER AND 40,000 TO NON-MEZIADIN SYSTEMS).

MEZIADIN FISHWAY
OPENED ON 1 JULY FOR ESCAPEMENT COUNTS TO RIVER.  TOTAL COUNTS OF SOCKEYE
AT MEZIADIN TO 4 AUGUST ARE:  90,816 ADULTS (3389 TAGS) AND 480
JACKS.  THE 2008 CUMULATIVE ADULT COUNT (90,816) TO DATE IS ABOVE
AVERAGE (79,000) BASED ON MEAN COUNTS AT THE MEZIADIN FISHWAY FROM 1994
TO 2007.  THE AVERAGE COUNT OF ADULT SOCKEYE FROM 1994 TO 2007 WAS
170,000.  CURRENT FORECAST METHODS ARE PREDICTING A REASONABLE
PROBABILITY OF REACHING THE ESCAPEMENT TARGET (160,000) OR JUST BELOW AT
MEZIADIN FISHWAY WITH RANGES FROM 144,000 (FISHWHEEL MEAN RUN TIMING AND
STOCK PROPORTION METHOD; RANGE 115,000-176,000) TO 183,000 (MEAN MEZIADIN
RUN TIMING AND IN-SEASON TO FINAL MEZIADIN COUNT METHODS).  THE FISHWHEEL
FORECAST METHOD WILL FLUCTUATE BASED ON DAILY ESCAPEMENT ESTIMATES PASSED GREASE
HARBOUR.  NISGA'A FISHERIES IS ESTIMATING THAT ~50% OF THE MEZIADIN
SOCKEYE RUN HAS REACHED THE FISHWAY TO DATE BASED ON MEAN COUNTS FROM 1990 TO
2007.

NISGA'A FISHERIES IS CURRENTLY USING A PRELIMINARY TOTAL RETURN TO
CANADA (TRTC) ESTIMATE FOR NASS SOCKEYE OF 350,000 (PRE-SEASON AND
IN-SEASON) FOR TRACKING THE NISGA'A ENTITLEMENT OF NASS SOCKEYE THAT IS
CURRENTLY ESTIMATED AT ~52,000.   THE IN-SEASON TRTC ESTIMATE
CONTINUED TO DROP THIS PAST WEEK BUT CATCH DATA FOR SEINE FISHERIES IN AREA 4 IN
THE PAST TWO WEEKS HAVE NOT BEEN AVAILABLE TO FULLY ESTIMATE THE NASS SOCKEYE
COMPONENT.  TRTC RETURNS WILL ALSO BE INFLUENCED BY ALASKAN CATCHES WHICH ARE
CURRENTLY BELOW AVERAGE TO DATE BUT SEINE FISHERIES ARE CURRENTLY BEING
CONDUCTED IN DISTRICTS 101 TO 104.  THE 2008 TRTC ESTIMATES ARE FORECASTING
BELOW AVERAGE (666,000) BASED ON TRTC RETURNS FROM 1994 TO 2007. 

THE TOTAL NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE OF NASS SOCKEYE TO DATE IS
39,990.  THE TOTAL INCLUDES FSC CATCH (22,262) TO WEEK ENDING
26 JULY AND INDIVIDUAL MARINE SALE FISHERY CATCH ESTIMATES TO DATE
(17,728).  THE TOTAL CUMULATIVE AVERAGE NISGA'A FSC HARVEST FOR
THE SAME WEEK ENDING PERIOD OF NASS SOCKEYE FROM 2000 TO 2007 WAS
20,000.  THE ANNUAL TOTAL AVERAGE NISGA'A FSC HARVEST FROM 2000 TO
2007 OF NASS SOCKEYE WAS 26,000.   THE NEXT NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE
FOR WEEK ENDING 2 AUGUST WILL BE UPDATED ON WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST.

NISGA'A FOOD FISH (FSC) HARVESTING IS OPEN FOR ALL SPECIES AND IS
ANTICIPATED TO REACH  35,000 SOCKEYE IN 2008.  GIVEN THAT TOTAL FSC AMOUNT IS
NOT EXPECTED TO EXCEED THE TOTAL NISGA'A ENTITLEMENT ESTIMATE FOR 2008, THE
REMAINING ENTITLEMENT (~20,000) WAS AVAILABLE FOR SALE FISHERIES.  THE DIRECTOR
OF NISGA'A FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE OPENED THE NISGA'A MARINE INDIVIDUAL SALE
FISHERY FOR HARVESTING NASS SOCKEYE AS A SALE FISHERY.   AS A RESULT OF PAST
MARINE INDIVIDUAL SALE FISHERIES CONDUCTED AND CURRENT TRTC AND NISGA'A
ENTITLEMENT ESTIMATES, THE MARINE SALE FISHERY WILL CLOSE FOR THE REMAINDER OF
2008.  IN-RIVER SALE FISHERIES WERE CLOSED FOR 2008.   IN ADDITION, NO
HARVESTING FROM THE FISHWHEELS OCCURRED IN 2008.   ALL FISH WERE RELEASED FROM
THE FISHWHEELS.

FOUR NISGA'A INDIVIDUAL SALE FISHERIES OCCURRED IN
2008 (16-17 JULY [17 BOATS]; 17-18 JULY [17 BOATS]; 23-25
JULY [17 BOATS]; 30 JULY - 1 AUGUST [~21 BOATS]) IN AREA 3-12.  TOTAL
CATCHES IN THE NISGA'A MARINE SALE FISHERIES TO 5 AUGUST WERE:  
17,728 SOCKEYE; 3,438 PINK; 793 COHO AND 283 CHUM.   LAST CATCHES IN 30
JULY TO 1 AUGUST FISHERY (21 BOATS) WERE:  2389 SOCKEYE, 1639 PINKS, 524 COHO
AND 116 CHUM.

THE NISGA'A NATION PASSED A RESOLUTION AT THE SPECIAL
ASSEMBLY IN MAY 2008 RECOMMENDING THE CLOSURE OF THE GENERAL COMMERCIAL FISHERY
IN AREA 3-12 DUE TO PRE-SEASON CONSERVATION CONCERNS OF NASS SOCKEYE AND
CHINOOK.  DFO KEPT AREA 3-12 CLOSED TO 20 JULY DUE TO THE POOR RETURN OF
CHINOOK AND ENSURING GOOD ESCAPEMENT OF NASS SOCKEYE INTO THE RIVER.  DFO OPENED
AREA 3-12 TO THE GENERAL COMMERCIAL FISHERY STARTING ON 21 JULY WITH THE
MAJORITY OF NASS CHINOOK THROUGH THE MARINE WATERS AND THE NASS SOCKEYE RUN
CURRENTLY ON TRACK TO REACH THE ESCAPEMENT GOAL.   AREA 3-12 HAS BEEN CLOSED
SINCE 27 JULY AND THE REST OF AREA 3 SINCE 29 JULY.

NISGA'A
FISHERIES WILL BE RECOMMENDING TO DFO TO SHUTDOWN AREA 3 TO ANY FURTHER SOCKEYE
COMMERCIAL FISHERIES SO THAT THE ESCAPEMENT GOAL CAN HOPEFULLY BE REACHED IN
2008.

AREA 3 IS CURRENTLY CLOSED TO THE GENERAL COMMERCIAL FISHERY. 
LAST OPENING WAS FOR SEINE ON TUESDAY 29 JULY.  NO DATA ARE AVAILABLE ON
CATCHES.  NO ANNOUNCEMENT HAS BEEN MADE BY DFO REGARDING FURTHER FISHERIES IN
AREA 3.  AREA 3 FISHERIES CONDUCTED TO 5 AUGUST HAVE BEEN 7
GILLNET [24 JUNE (170 BOATS), 1 JULY (209 BOATS), 7 JULY (174 BOATS), 14
JULY (179 BOATS), 15 JULY (5 BOATS), 21 JULY (16) AND 27 JULY (33)] AND 4
SEINE (14 JULY (13 BOATS), 15 JULY (5 BOATS), 21 JULY (13 BOATS) AND 29 JULY
(? BOATS)) FISHERIES.  TOTAL COMMERCIAL HARVEST ESTIMATES IN AREA 3 TO
5 AUGUST ARE:   36,892 SOCKEYE; 13,642 PINK; 14,135 CHUM AND 405
CHINOOK (SOURCE OF DATA IS FROM DFO PRINCE RUPERT FISHERIES MANAGEMENT).  

ALASKA GILLNET FISHERIES IN DISTRICTS 101 (TREE POINT) AND 106 (SUMNER
AND UPPER CLARENCE) BEGAN ON 15 JUNE AND 8 JUNE, RESPECTIVELY. 
ALASKAN SEINE FISHERIES OPENING DATES TO DATE ARE:   DISTRICTS 101 (LOWER
CLARENCE/REVILLA; OPENED ON 6 JULY), 102 (MIDDLE CLARENCE; OPENED
ON 22 JUNE), 103 (CORDOVA; OPENED 24 JULY) AND 104
(NOYES/DALL; OPENED ON 6 JULY).  

TOTAL IN-SEASON CATCH ESTIMATE
OF SOCKEYE IN SOUTHEAST ALASKAN FISHERIES IS 73,404 BASED ON DATA TO 5
AUGUST ON THE ADFG WEBSITE AND IS COMPLETE CATCH REPORTING FOR
WEEK 31 (ENDED 2 AUGUST).  REPORTED CATCHES ARE WELL BELOW AVERAGE TO
DATE.  THE AVERAGE CATCH OF SOCKEYE IN SOUTHEAST ALASKAN FISHERIES IS
714,000 SOCKEYE FROM 1999 TO 2007.  OF THE TOTAL ALASKAN CATCH OF
SOCKEYE, NISGA'A FISHERIES IS ESTIMATING APPROXIMATELY 27,000 ARE NASS
SOCKEYE BASED ON AVERAGE STOCK % DATA (1982-98) AND IS BELOW AVERAGE TO DATE.
AVERAGE CATCH OF NASS SOCKEYE IS 165,000 FROM 1999 TO 2007

NASS CHINOOK
SALMON:
THE NASS CHINOOK RUN SIZE ESTIMATE TO GITWINKSIHLKW
(13,747) IS TRACKING BELOW AVERAGE TO DATE (22,000) BASED ON A
MEAN RUN SIZE TO GITWINKSIHLKW OF 22,000 FROM 1994 TO 2007.  THE RUN SIZE
TARGET FOR NASS CHINOOK TO GITWINKSIHLKW IS 17,000 DEPENDING ON HARVESTS
PROJECTED ABOVE GITWINKSIHLKW.  THE IN-SEASON TRACKING OF THE NASS CHINOOK RUN
TO GITWINKSIHLKW IS PREDICTING 14,000 [MEAN RUN TIMING METHOD AND
IN-SEASON TO FINAL METHOD] AS THE FINAL IN-SEASON RUN SIZE TOTAL TO
GITWINKSIHLKW.  THE 2008 RETURN TO DATE IS THE THIRD WORST ON RECORD SINCE THE
START OF THE NISGA'A FISHERIES PROGRAM IN 1992.  NISGA'A FISHERIES IS ESTIMATING
THAT 98% (93-07 MEDIAN) OF THE RUN HAS PASSED GITWINKSIHLKW TO DATE.  THE
NET ESCAPEMENT ESTIMATE FOR NASS CHINOOK IS 12,573.  THE NET ESCAPEMENT
TARGET FOR NASS CHINOOK ABOVE GREASE HARBOUR IS 15,000.

TOTAL
COUNTS OF CHINOOK AT MEZIADIN FISHWAY TO 4 AUGUST ARE:  336 ADULTS (5
TAGS) AND 29 JACKS.  THE 2008 CUMULATIVE ADULT COUNT (336) TO DATE IS
ABOVE AVERAGE (191) BASED ON MEAN COUNTS AT THE MEZIADIN FISHWAY FROM
1994 TO 2007.  THE AVERAGE COUNT OF ADULT CHINOOK AT MEZIADIN FISHWAY FROM 1994
TO 2007 WAS 480. THE FISHWHEEL MEAN-RUN TIMING FORECAST IS PREDICTING
590 CHINOOK (RANGE: 580-600) TO REACH THE FISHWAY BASED ON CURRENT
ESCAPEMENT PASSED GW AND A HIGHER ESTIMATED STOCK COMPOSITION (4.7%) THAN
PREVIOUSLY REPORTED.  OTHER FORECASTS RANGE BETWEEN 600 (IN-SEASON TO
FINAL MEZIADIN COUNT METHOD) AND 800 (MEZIADIN MEAN RUN TIMING METHOD). 
NISGA'A FISHERIES IS ESTIMATING THAT ~44% OF THE MEZIADIN CHINOOK RUN HAS
PASSED THE FISHWAY TO DATE BASED ON MEAN COUNTS FROM 1990 TO 2007.  
MARK-RECAPTURE SURVEYS FOR FINAL ESCAPEMENT ESTIMATES ARE ALSO PLANNED AT
KWINAGEESE AND DAMDOCHAX RIVERS IN SEPTEMBER 2008.

THE KINCOLITH
VIDEO-COUNTING FENCE BEGAN OPERATION ON 11 JUNE FOR COLLECTING ESCAPEMENT
DATA FOR THE KINCOLITH RIVER AND PROVIDING AN INDEX OF ESCAPEMENT TO COASTAL
STREAMS IN AREA 3.  NET UPSTREAM COUNTS AT THE WEIR TO 2 AUGUST ARE: 
815 CHINOOK (171 AFC AND 35 BROODSTOCK), 204 PINK, 7 COHO AND 4
CHUM.  OTHER WEIR COUNTS TO DATE ARE: 16 STEELHEAD (8 DOWN AND 8
UP).  THE CURRENT COUNT OF CHINOOK PASSING THE WEIR IS ABOVE THE AVERAGE
COUNT (750) FOR THE DATE FROM PAST OPERATIONS (2001, 2002, 2005-2007). 
NISGA'A FISHERIES PROJECTED THAT THE ESCAPEMENT GOAL (700) WOULD BE
REACHED IN 2008 BASED ON THE RUN SIZE FORECAST METHOD WHICH IS CURRENTLY
ESTIMATING ~1,300 (RANGE 800-1700) FROM MEAN RUN TIMING FROM PAST
OPERATIONS (2001, 2002, 2005-2007).  NISGA'A FISHERIES IS ESTIMATING THAT
~63% OF THE KINCOLITH CHINOOK RUN HAS PASSED THE WEIR TO DATE BASED ON
THE RECONSTRUCTED MEAN RUN TIMING.

NISGA'A FISHERIES IS USING A
PRELIMINARY TRTC ESTIMATE FOR NASS CHINOOK OF BETWEEN 20,000 (IN-SEASON)
AND 21,000 (PRE-SEASON) FOR TRACKING THE NISGA'A ENTITLEMENT OF NASS
CHINOOK.  THE 2008 TRTC ESTIMATES ARE FORECASTING BELOW AVERAGE (36,000)
BASED ON TRTC RETURNS FROM 1994 TO 2007.  UNCERTAINTY OF MARINE COMMERCIAL AND
RECREATIONAL CATCHES OF NASS CHINOOK MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO ACCURATELY ESTIMATE
IN-SEASON TRTC ESTIMATES FOR NASS CHINOOK. HOWEVER, BASED ON THE IN-SEASON TRTC
ESTIMATES FOR 2008, THE NISGA'A ENTITLEMENT OF NASS CHINOOK IS ~4,000.  A
CUMULATIVE UNDERAGE OF 3300 FROM PAST YEAR'S MANAGEMENT UNCERTAINTY MAY
BE NEEDED TO FULFILL NISGA'A FSC NEEDS IN 2008 WHICH ON AVERAGE TOTAL
6200 NASS CHINOOK.  AS A RESULT OF FSC REQUIREMENTS, THE ENTITLEMENT
TARGET IS EXPECTED TO RANGE BETWEEN 4000 AND 7300 DEPENDING ON
IN-SEASON RUN SIZE ESTIMATES DURING THE SEASON.

THE NISGA'A CATCH
ESTIMATE OF NASS CHINOOK TO WEEK ENDING 26 JULY IS 4120 AND BELOW
AVERAGE (00-07).  THE TOTAL CUMULATIVE AVERAGE NISGA'A FSC HARVEST OF
NASS CHINOOK FROM 2000 TO 2007 FOR THE SAME WEEK ENDING PERIOD WAS 6000. 
THE ANNUAL TOTAL AVERAGE NISGA'A FSC HARVEST OF NASS CHINOOK FROM 2000 TO
2007 WAS 6200.  THE NEXT NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE FOR WEEK ENDING 2
AUGUST WILL BE UPDATED ON WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST.   THE UPDATED FSC
NUMBERS INCLUDE HARVESTS IN THE NISGA'A MARINE FISHERIES CONDUCTED IN THE TIME
PERIOD OF THE ESTIMATES.  NO CHINOOK WERE PERMITTED FOR SALE IN ANY INDIVIDUAL
SALE FISHERIES IN 2008.

NASS COHO SALMON:
THE NASS COHO RUN
SIZE ESTIMATE TO GITWINKSIHLKW (9374) IS TRACKING ABOVE AVERAGE TO DATE
(7700) BASED ON A MEAN RUN SIZE TO GITWINKSIHLKW OF 76,000 FROM
1994 TO 2007.  THE RUN SIZE TARGET FOR NASS COHO TO GITWINKSIHLKW IS ~50,000
DEPENDING ON HARVESTS PROJECTED ABOVE GITWINKSIHLKW.  NISGA'A FISHERIES IS
ESTIMATING THAT ~11% (93-07 MEDIAN) OF THE RUN HAS PASSED GITWINKSIHLKW
TO DATE.  THE NET ESCAPEMENT ESTIMATE FOR NASS COHO IS 9372.  THE NET
ESCAPEMENT TARGET FOR NASS COHO ABOVE GREASE HARBOUR IS ~41,000.

THE RUN SIZE ESTIMATE IS NOW A COMBINATION OF MARK-RECAPTURE AND
HISTORICAL CATCH INDICES METHODS.  NOTE THAT MARK RECAPTURE ESTIMATES WILL
CHANGE OVER A 7 DAY PERIOD DUE TO MARK RATES STABILIZING AT GREASE HARBOUR AS
COHO TAGGED AT GITWINKSIHLKW PASS THE UPSTREAM GREASE HARBOUR FISHWHEEL SITES
OVER THE 7 DAY PERIOD.  A SPREADSHEET OF THE CALCULATIONS AND RANGE IN ESTIMATES
IS PROVIDED IN THE ATTACHMENT.

TOTAL COUNTS OF COHO AT MEZIADIN FISHWAY
TO 4 AUGUST ARE: 3 ADULTS (0 TAGS) AND 0 JACKS. THE 2008
CUMULATIVE ADULT COUNT (3) TO DATE IS ABOVE THE AVERAGE (0) BASED
ON MEAN COUNTS AT THE MEZIADIN FISHWAY FROM 1994 TO 2007.  THE AVERAGE COUNT OF
ADULT COHO AT MEZIADIN FISHWAY FROM 1994 TO 2007 WAS 3600.

NISGA'A FISHERIES IS USING A PRELIMINARY TRTC ESTIMATE FOR NASS COHO OF
BETWEEN 104,000 (IN-SEASON) AND 152,000 (PRE-SEASON - EARLY INTO
RUN) FOR TRACKING THE NISGA'A ENTITLEMENT OF NASS COHO THAT IS CURRENTLY RANGING
BETWEEN 8,000 AND 12,000.  THE 2008 PRE-SEASON TRTC ESTIMATE IS
FORECASTED FOR A BELOW AVERAGE (162,000) RETURN BASED ON TRTC RETURNS
FROM 1994 TO 2007.

THE TOTAL NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE OF NASS COHO TO DATE
IS 866.  THIS TOTAL INCLUDES FSC CATCH (73) TO WEEK ENDING 26
JULY AND INDIVIDUAL MARINE SALE FISHERY CATCH ESTIMATE TO DATE
(793).  THE NEXT NISGA'A FSC CATCH ESTIMATE FOR WEEK ENDING 2
AUGUST WILL BE UPDATED ON WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST.

NASS PINK
SALMON:
THE FISHWHEEL CATCH OF PINK SALMON (446) TO DATE IS
WELL BELOW THE MEAN CATCH (4100) FOR EVEN YEAR RETURNS FROM 2000 TO 2007.

NISGA'A FISHERIES IS CURRENTLY USING THE PRE-SEASON TRTC ESTIMATE FOR
NASS PINKS OF 569,000 FOR TRACKING THE NISGA'A ENTITLEMENT
(54,000) OF NASS PINK. THE 2008 TRTC ESTIMATE IS FORECASTING ABOVE
AVERAGE (524,000) BASED ON TRTC RETURNS OF EVEN YEAR PINKS FROM 1994 TO
2007.  HOWEVER, THE LAST NASS PINK SALMON EVEN RETURN YEAR (2006) WAS EXTREMELY
LOW (230,000) AND CURRENT COMMERCIAL CATCHES OF PINK CONTINUE TO BE
POOR.

THE TOTAL NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE OF NASS PINK TO DATE IS
3584. THIS TOTAL INCLUDES FSC CATCH (146) TO WEEK ENDING 26
JULY AND INDIVIDUAL MARINE SALE FISHERY CATCH ESTIMATE TO DATE
(3438).  THE NEXT NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE FOR WEEK ENDING 2 AUGUST
WILL BE UPDATED ON WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST.

NASS CHUM
SALMON:
THE FISHWHEEL CATCH OF CHUM (17) TO DATE IS JUST BELOW
THE MEAN CATCH (29) LEVEL FROM 2000-2007.

NISGA'A FISHERIES IS
CURRENTLY USING THE PRE-SEASON TRTC ESTIMATE FOR NASS CHUM OF 90,000 FOR
TRACKING THE NISGA'A ENTITLEMENT (7,000) OF NASS CHUM.  THE 2008 TRTC
ESTIMATE IS FORECASTING AN AVERAGE (91,000) RETURN BASED ON TRTC RETURNS
FROM 1994 TO 2007.

THE TOTAL NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE OF NASS CHUM TO DATE
IS 346.  THE TOTAL INCLUDES FSC CATCH (63) TO WEEK ENDING 26
JULY AND INDIVIDUAL MARINE SALE FISHERY CATCH ESTIMATE TO DATE
(283).  THE NEXT NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE FOR WEEK ENDING 2 AUGUST
WILL BE UPDATED ON WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST.

NASS SUMMER-RUN
STEELHEAD:
THE FISHWHEEL CATCH OF STEELHEAD (97) TO DATE IS
ABOVE AVERAGE (77) FROM 2000-2007.  BASED ON EARLY FISHWHEEL CATCH DATA,
THE NASS SUMMER RUN STEELHEAD ESTIMATE TO GITWINKSIHLKW (934) IS TRACKING
ABOVE AVERAGE (850) TO DATE  BASED ON A MEAN RUN SIZE TO GITWINKSIHLKW OF
7,800 DURING FISHWHEEL OPERATIONS FROM 1994 TO 2007 (BASED ON PRELIMINARY
HISTORICAL RUN SIZE DATA). 

THE RUN SIZE ESTIMATE IS A COMBINATION OF
MARK-RECAPTURE AND HISTORICAL CATCH INDICES METHODS.  THE MARK-RECAPTURE
ESTIMATE IS USING MARK RATES DERIVED FROM THE COHO ASSESSMENT PROGRAM THAT
ASSUMES SIMILAR CATCHABILITY BETWEEN COHO AND STEELHEAD BASED ON SIMILAR RUN
TIMING PATTERNS.  MARK-RATE SAMPLE SIZES ARE MUCH LARGER AND MORE RELIABLE FOR
COHO THAN USING STEELHEAD MARK RATE DATA.  STEELHEAD RUN SIZE ESTIMATES WILL
CHANGE OVER A 7 DAY PERIOD DUE TO MARK RATES STABILIZING AT GREASE HARBOUR AS
TAGGED FISH AT GITWINKSIHLKW PASS THE UPSTREAM GREASE HARBOUR FISHWHEEL SITES
OVER A 7 DAY PERIOD.  A SPREADSHEET OF THE CALCULATIONS AND RANGE OF ESTIMATES
IS PROVIDED IN THE ATTACHMENT.

DURING FISHWHEEL OPERATION, THE
PRELIMINARY RUN SIZE TARGET FOR NASS SUMMER-RUN STEELHEAD TO GITWINKSIHLKW IS
4,200 DEPENDING ON ANY LOSSES PROJECTED ABOVE GITWINKSIHLKW.  THE NET RUN
SIZE ESTIMATE ABOVE GREASE HARBOUR FOR NASS SUMMER-RUN STEELHEAD IS 928. 
THE NET RUN SIZE TARGET FOR NASS SUMMER-RUN STEELHEAD ABOVE GREASE HARBOUR IS
~4,000.

TOTAL COUNTS OF STEELHEAD AT MEZIADIN FISHWAY TO DATE
ARE: 0 ADULTS (0 TAGS).  THE 2008 CUMULATIVE ADULT COUNT (0) TO
DATE IS THE SAME AS THE AVERAGE (0) BASED ON MEAN COUNTS AT THE MEZIADIN
FISHWAY FROM 1994 TO 2007.  THE AVERAGE COUNT OF STEELHEAD DURING OPERATION OF
MEZIADIN FISHWAY FROM 1994 TO 2007 WAS 50.   STEELHEAD BEGIN PASSING THE
FISHWAY IN LATE AUGUST.

THE NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE OF NASS STEELHEAD TO
WEEK ENDING 26 JULY IS 56.  NEXT NISGA'A CATCH ESTIMATE FOR WEEK
ENDING 2 AUGUST WILL BE UPDATED ON WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST.  THE
AVERAGE HARVEST OF NASS SUMMER-RUN STEELHEAD IN NISGA'A FISHERIES IS 400
FROM 1994 TO 2007.

Richard Alexander, RPBio
Nisga'a Fisheries Stock
Assessment Management Biologist
Nisga'a Lisims Government - Fisheries &
Wildlife Department
P.O. Box 228, New Aiyansh, BC, V0J 1A0
Phone:  (250)
633-2617
Fax:        (250) 633-2971