Salmon, Chinook

Several fisheries for Chinook salmon are MSC-certified, mainly around Alaska and one fishery in Kamchatka. These fisheries use a wide range of fishing methods and also catch other salmon species. Salmon fisheries in the Pacific are well regulated and the fishing methods cause little damage to the environment. MSC-certified Chinook salmon is caught using gillnets, drifting longlines and purse seines.

Chinook salmon farming in New Zealand is generally performing well. The species is farmed in nets in marine and freshwater environments and is largely produced by a few large farms. The farming uses fully traceable feed, but the feed contains relatively high levels of fishmeal and fish oil.

The farming causes high nutrient emissions, which can have a significant local impact on water quality. Impacts on habitats and wildlife generally remain limited and no lethal predator control is used. Escapes are possible, but the consequences for wild populations are considered small. Diseases are uncommon, although the consequences of disease transmission to wild salmon are insufficiently known. The use of chemicals and antibiotics is limited.

Management is considered effective. There is one Aquaculture Improvement Project (AIP) for the expansion of offshore production. Many farms have BAP certification and one farm is ASC-certified. An estimated 95% of New Zealand’s production is independently certified.

The status of stocks of Chinook salmon in British Columbia is poor. Many stocks are at low levels and numbers are declining. Due to major uncertainties in the data, fishing pressure cannot be properly determined for many stocks.

Fishing with purse seines has little bycatch of vulnerable (ETP) species. However, other salmon species are also caught as bycatch and discards occur to a limited extent. The impact on the ecosystem is insufficiently known, but damage to the seabed is negligible because purse seines do not come into contact with the seabed.

Management is considered largely effective. The fishery is managed under the Pacific Salmon Treaty and Canada’s Policy for Conservation of Wild Pacific Salmon, taking the ecosystem and the interests of local communities into account. Despite this management, Chinook salmon stocks remain under pressure.

The latest assessment of this fishery was in 2018.

The status of chinook salmon stocks in Russia is moderate. The species is mainly caught as bycatch and numbers remain low, although the situation has improved slightly in recent years. In Kamchatka, the number of returning spawning fish has remained well below the desired level since 2009.

The fishery using anchored gillnets has bycatch of vulnerable (ETP) species, including seabirds, taimen and kaluga. There is insufficient data on discards and the exact composition of the bycatch, but these are estimated to be low to moderate. The fishery causes little damage to the seabed and the impact on the ecosystem is expected to be limited.

Management is considered partially effective. There are concerns about illegal fishing, limited data and the protection of vulnerable species.

The status of stocks of Chinook salmon in British Columbia is poor. Many stocks are at low levels and continue to decline. Due to a lack of data, total fishing pressure is uncertain for many stocks.

Fishing with drifting gillnets has bycatch of vulnerable (ETP) species, particularly endangered seabirds. The proportion of discards is also high. The impact on the ecosystem is insufficiently known and damage to the seabed is limited. Lost gillnets do, however, pose a significant risk of ghost fishing.

Management is considered partially effective. The fishery is managed under the Pacific Salmon Treaty, which also takes ecosystems and local communities into account. Measures have been taken to reduce bycatch of endangered seabirds, but the recovery of salmon stocks remains a major challenge.