Improved Procedueres for Salmon Management in California: Bieconomic Approaches

During the first year of this project we have acquired access to the extensive and scattered salmon database. Through this process we have developed closer cooperation with members of the Anadromous Fisheries Division of the California Department of Fish and Game. Currently we are assisting them in improving the statistical analysis of tagging studies used to estimate escapement. One result of our studies of the salmon fishery is the identification of cycles in the northern California salmon catch. These cycles have the same period, 9-10 years, as the cycles in Dungeness crab catch but salmon catch peaks 3-4 years earlier than crab catch. In a manuscript, recently submitted to Fishery Bulletin, we investigate and reject the hypothesis that the cycle in salmon catch is due to reduced salmon fishing effort during years of high crab catch. Currently we are working on improving past estimates of salmon recruitment and are exploring biological and environmental mechanisms which may cause variation in salmon abundance and catch. The dynamics of the salmon fishing fleet are being characterized through analysis of an intensive 3-year coastwide survey.