The Use of Marine Ecosystem Metrics for Preseason Forecasts of Salmon Harvest

Abstract Excerpt:
Annual forecasts of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) harvest in Southeast Alaska (SEAK) and Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) returns to the Yukon River were developed to advise fishery managers, members of fishing industries, and the public. Although the forecasts were developed independently for different species and widely separated geographic localities (Fig. 1), the projects illustrate the utility of using marine ecosystem metrics for forecasting future harvests of salmon and how to effectively communicate results and uncertainty to stakeholders.