[env-trinity] Siskiyou Daily: Shasta Chinook counts higher than 38-year average

[Tom Stokely]

Shasta Chinook counts higher than 38-year average
http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/article/20131030/NEWS/131039980 
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	* David SmithSteel Sims helps a salmon trapped on the wrong side of the weir Tuesday.
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	* By David Smith 
Posted Oct. 30, 2013 @ 9:37 am 


As salmon journey to their spawning grounds in the Klamath River’s tributaries, preliminary counts are coming in higher than the 38-year average.
The annual adult salmon escapement count occurs from about September to early January, according to Morgan Knechtle of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Knechtle and his team monitor the three weirs on Bogus Creek and the Shasta and Scott rivers, compiling data that will be used in the formulation of the following year’s ocean abundance and harvest allowance estimates.
The weirs funnel the salmon through a small box containing a video camera, which is connected to a motion-activated digital video recorder that allows for a visual count of each fish that passes through on its way upstream. As of Oct. 21, the CDFW had counted approximately 7,346 Chinook, a number higher than the multi-year average but much smaller than last year’s 29,544.
The numbers vary with different age cohorts, according to Knechtle, and numerous factors can play a role in determining how many adults return each year from ocean maturation.
Five Coho have returned to the Shasta River this year, according to CDFW data, but the numbers are not used in harvest estimates due to the species’ endangered status. Knechtle said that by utilizing the various facets of salmon counting – from adult escapement to outbound juveniles – the CDFW is in a position to provide a broad look at the Klamath as a whole and provide fishermen, tribes and agencies with an outlook for the coming year.
Along with estimates on ocean abundance and overages for harvest, the data can be used to pinpoint causes of shifts in run sizes, providing a look at whether numbers are being affected primarily by in-river changes or conditions outside the basin. Knechtle said he expects final Chinook data to be ready for the 2014 fisheries management cycle by February.
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