South Coast Area BC Chinook Reference Fishery Biological Data

The Chinook Reference Fishery is a Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI)-funded, multi-year monitoring program initiated in 2023 to assess Chinook Salmon catch in South Coast BC Chinook mark-selective fisheries (MSFs). The objective of the program is to estimate the proportion of Chinook caught and released at sea (by size class), the mark rate (i.e., the proportion of hatchery-marked Chinook encountered), and the stock composition of sampled fish. Reference Fishery data will be used to evaluate the fishery-dependent estimates produced from the South Coast Area recreational catch monitoring (creel) program. This dataset contains detailed information for each Chinook Salmon sampled during the reference fishery.

Each record includes: the catch date, which is the date the fish was sampled, and the creel sub-area, identifying the geographic location where the fish was caught. The adipose fin clipped field indicates whether the fish had a clipped adipose fin (“Y” for clipped, “N” for intact). The length (cm) column provides the fork length of the fish, measured from the tip of the nose to the fork in the tail. Genetic stock identification reported at both fine and broad spatial scales.

The “DNA Stock X” columns represents the stock-level scale. Each fish may have up to five individual stock-level assignments based on DNA analysis, ranked from highest to lowest probability. The DNA Stock 1 column lists the most likely stock assignment—typically at the river or hatchery level—along with its associated DNA Stock Region 1, and the corresponding Probability 1, which indicates the likelihood of that assignment being correct. Similarly, DNA Stock 2, DNA Stock Region 2, and Probability 2 report the second most likely assignment and so on, down to DNA Stock 5, DNA Stock Region 5, and Probability 5.

The “resolved stock region” represents the broader stock region and aligns closely with Canada's Stock Management Units (SMUs), which are used in salmon Integrated Fisheries Management Plans (IFMPs) and is the most appropriate for identifying stocks of concern. The “resolved stock region” is determined by summing the probability of all DNA stock assessments that corresponds to the same region. The region with the highest summed probability becomes the “resolved stock region”. The “resolved stock region probability” is the summed probability of all DNA stock Region assignments that correspond to this “resolved stock region”, providing a quantitative measure of confidence in the regional assignment.

In cases where Probability 1 equals 1 and all subsequent probabilities are “NA,” the stock assignment was made deterministically through parentage-based tagging rather than statistical inference and therefore carries no associated uncertainty.

Organization: Fisheries and Oceans Canada | Pêches et Océans Canada

Last modified: 2026-03-24T04:02:29.623036