Each week, Watershed Watch’s fisheries advisor Greg Taylor will share his expert insights on what’s happening in B.C.’s salmon fisheries. With decades of experience in the industry, Greg offers a blend of observations, analysis, and personal perspective.

We are now well past the peak of northern Alaskan sockeye fisheries and approaching the peak weeks for northern B.C. sockeye salmon returns. Meanwhile, we are on the back end of Barkley Sound sockeye. Pink and other salmon returns are just getting going. And, after years of bad news for Fraser sockeye, finally, some very good news. 

But before you go on to read the details, please indulge me by considering buying B.C. salmon for your BBQ or AirFryer when you go shopping this week. And, if you shop at Thrifty’s, as I do, and I am sure your grocery store is similar, be careful what you are buying. When you go to the fish counter, you are likely to see a spread of beautiful red sockeye. It may be tempting to ask for some, but look closer. It is likely a US sockeye from Bristol Bay. And while it might look fresh. It is not. The retailer has likely ‘slacked it out’ (defrosted frozen sockeye). It could be from either the 2024 or 2025 harvest.  

Instead, ask for B.C. sockeye. And, if the retailer gives you some excuse, as I often hear from them, for not having any on hand, ask why, as there are ongoing fisheries in northern B.C. And, if you want some terrific, but cheaper, salmon, ask – like I often do – for pink, chum, or coho. B.C. fishermen are currently producing plenty.  

Your grocery store should be supporting Canada and our Canadian fishermen. 

Now, I have to concede our salmon is not MSC certified like Bristol Bay sockeye or recommended by OceanWise or Monterey Bay Aquarium, but that is not all the fishermen’s fault. (Although, we need to be real, fishermen spent much of their political capital the last couple of decades fighting against anything that might threaten their bottom line, even as international markets walked away from them.) All the same, DFO needs to take most of the blame for not monitoring and managing our salmon consistent with international best practices and demanding that fishermen get on board. Instead, DFO has tended to put fisheries before fish to the detriment of both. 

In future updates, I will provide you with some information on which B.C. salmon are considered the most sustainable. 

Bristol Bay Sockeye

Bristol Bay is now predicted to exceed its 2025 forecast of 54 million sockeye by about 10 per cent. While 10 per cent may not sound like much, it is about 24 million round pounds more sockeye on the market — that’s the weight of the whole fish before any processing, like gutting or filleting. The timing of the return appears to be one or two days early.

Copper River Sockeye

The Copper River sockeye fishery should end up harvesting around a million sockeye, similar to its 5-year average. 

Prince William Sound Pinks

After a disastrous season in 2024, it appears that PWS will, at a minimum, achieve its forecast harvest of about 60 million pink salmon. 

Chum Salmon

Chum salmon are returning strong throughout Alaska. And, as is usually the case with chums, we are seeing the same trend throughout their range, including here in B.C. Chums spend four years in the Pacific and good environmental conditions tend to benefit most chum populations. 

Southeast Alaska

Calling this one is more challenging. It is just the start of the season. Early test fishing suggests a poor pink return relative to the forecast. But early fishing in the southern southeast was not bad for this time of year. I am thinking that when the dust settles, we will find that the early portions of the return were weaker than hoped, while the latter part will be about as forecast. 

Northern B.C.

Sockeye and chum fishing for gillnets and seines has started off well for fisheries targeting Nass sockeye and Alaskan hatchery chums. It is still early to get a sense for how strong the Nass sockeye return may be. But early sockeye and chum catches bode well. The pink catches were mixed. We should be seeing more pinks at this time of year. There are certainly enough around to support harvesting. But, at $.25/lb., enough is not sufficient. Our seines need to be catching full loads to make any money.  

Skeena sockeye is tracking to be well below forecast (but above aggregate escapement goals), which is very disappointing for us involved in this fishery. But it is still early. We are over a week away from the peak of the return. The enhanced component (95 per cent of the Babine escapement in 2024) has only begun to show. Hence, it is too early to say anything definitive. My hope is that the Skeena sockeye return will come close to average, about 2.2 million. There are ongoing gillnet fisheries on the Skeena. 

Early-timed Skeena pinks are showing well, which is great to see. And I am seeing more chums in the escapement and catch than I have seen for many years. 

It is also too early to say much about any of the other species. There is a reasonable showing of early steelhead, which is encouraging for recreational fishermen.  

I am pleased to see better chinook returns to the Skeena than we have seen in recent years. The return is still much less than it was in its banner years. They may also be benefiting from this year’s recreational closures.

Area 6 Pink Salmon

It is too early to say anything as the charter patrol got a late start due to funding issues. Thank goodness, funding was finally cobbled together from a myriad sources. This does not bode well for the future, as we are anticipating a 50 per cent cut in DFO’s A-base funding—the core, ongoing budget that supports essential fish management and assessment activities—over the next two years. And this is before the further 15 per cent cut Prime Minister Carney is asking of each Department. That something as important as on-the-ground monitoring of such a key area struggled to find the necessary funding in 2025 speaks to DFO’s priorities as it struggles to deal with its budget cuts. 

But upon arriving on station, Stan (the charter patrolman for the area) did see some schools of pinks, so let’s hope for a good return. 

Somass (Barkley Sound) Sockeye

The expected run size has been dropping the last two weeks, leaving all gear groups (other than recreational) over their allowable harvest at the current run size estimate. Hence, there will not be further commercial fishing at this time. The total catch to date is around 260,000. Water temperatures and dissolved oxygen levels are complicating management. 

Fraser Sockeye

I am gobsmacked. Early Stuart sockeye are returning over 5X forecast! Recall, this is a population that had 54,000 spawners in its brood year (2021) and saw less than 360 fish return in 2024.  

Alexandra Morton is putting this extraordinary return down to the removal of fish farms. Is she correct? It may take some years to ‘prove’ it. But it is hard to argue, as I can’t think of any other explanation that could deliver such results.  

But, more importantly, it finally shifts the onus of proof. For years, federal and provincial governments, along with the aquaculture industry, demanded that Alexandra and other opponents of fish farms ‘prove’ fish farms were detrimental to wild salmon.  

After this first return of an endangered sockeye population since the farms were removed, the onus must shift onto fish farm proponents to prove that fish farms do not have a negative impact on migrating wild salmon. The precautionary principle must prevail and fish farms must come out of, and stay out of, migratory salmon pathways.  

It is important not to get our hopes up too high. Early Stuart sockeye must still travel from Mission to well north and west of Prince George. Fraser waters levels are low and temperatures are high. Both will impact migratory success. We can only watch, pray for rain and cooler temperatures, and hope the majority of these incredible fish make it to their spawning grounds.  

It is too early to say anything about the other sockeye run-timing groups on the Fraser.

Fraser River Chinook

All I can say at this time is that there are encouraging signs we may be seeing some improvement in some endangered Fraser chinook populations (summer 5-2s) in 2025. More analysis is required, but just maybe, we are finally seeing some benefits from the painful fishing closures and, of course, improved conditions in the Salish Sea. 

Greg will be providing weekly fisheries updates, which we will publish here on Fridays. Stay tuned.

South Coast Pinks

There are reports of pink salmon in recreational catches. This is encouraging but it difficult to extrapolate anything from it.