Fall chum salmon returned to the Puget Sound in lower abundance than forecast. The 2008 expected Puget Sound fall chum run size was forecast to be around 635,000 chum. In the last 5 weeks the in season run size has dropped to 350,000 chum based on WDFW commercial fisheries and the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) run Apple Cove Test fishery up in Marine Area 10.
Recent adult chum spawner survey numbers on Kennedy Creek (and Schnieder Prairie) are indicating that Totten Inlet has reached the needed 14,500 chum for escapement.
Totten Inlet Streams Adult Chum Spawn Survey Data
| Kennedy Creek |
River Mile |
Agency |
Live Count |
Dead Count |
| 10/16/2008 | 0.0-2.3 | WDFW | 159 | 6 |
| 10/23/2008 | 0.0-2.3 | WDFW | 285 | 8 |
| 10/29/2008 | 0.0-2.3 | Squaxin | 1922 | 55 |
| 11/5/2008 | 0.0-2.3 | WDFW | 6262 | 264 |
| 11/18/2008 | 0.0-2.4 | WDFW | 5,833 | 2083 |
| Schnieder Creek | RM | Agency | Live | Dead |
| 11/17/2008 | WDFW | 1,717 | 112 |
Eld Inlet chum appear to be a running a week or two early with Perry and Swift (tributary to McLane) Creek showing good numbers considering the updated lower run size.
Eld Inlet Streams Adult Chum Spawn Survey Data
| Swift | River Mile | Agency | Live Count | Dead Count |
| 11/10/2008 | 0.0-1.0 | WDFW | 2622 | 10 |
| 11/17/2008 | 0.0-1.0 | WDFW | 5262 | 128 |
| Perkins Creek (Mclane Trib) | ||||
| 11/13/2008 | 0.0-0.5 | WDFW | 287 | 14 |
| Perry | ||||
| 11/11/2008 | 0.0-1.0 | WDFW | 2622 | 10 |
| 11/17/2008 | 0.0-1.0 | WDFW | 5933 | 42 |
Eld Inlet escapement goal is 18,500 chum.
Although Fall Chum returns are lower than expected, currently Squaxin Island Tribes 101 licensed fishermen have harvested approximately 43,000 chum so far this season. A five year average using Squaxin chum catches from ’02-’06 results in an average Squaxin Island chum harvest of 32,452. 2007 catch was excluded from this average due to the unusually large returns and Squaxin catch of 150K chum.
Squaxin Island Tribe Chum Fisheries
Squaxin Fish Hotline: 360-432-3899