Fisheries Commission and Fisheries Staff Special Report for 2022

2022 annual chum fishery was a huge success this year! This year’s successful chum run is the result of significant work by the Tribe going back many years. Tribal Council support for the vision of the Fish Commission implemented by Fisheries Department staff have all contributed to securing increased production goals that are contributing to the Tribe’s fisheries now, and will continue to support fishing for the next seven generations. The 2022 season marked a historical terminal chum run which supported both a record breaking tribal harvest and robust returns to Keta Hatchery. This massive run supported not only Muckleshoot fishers: many reports were made this fall of Southern Resident Killer Whales foraging on chum in Central Puget Sound.

This year’s impressive run is a direct result of the planning and construction for the modernization of the Keta Hatchery in 2015 and 2016. This effort enabled the hatchery to more than double egg incubation capacity, thereby dramatically increasing salmon production. Specific improvements included a water recirculation system to increase flows, a new spawning factory to handle thousands more fish, and 36 new circular tanks for feeding chum fry. This year’s run was the longest ever seen – it began on Halloween and lasted until December 10th. Keta Hatchery was able to handle over 30,000 chum and fertilized 8.1 million eggs, an incredible level of productivity that will help to ensure more big returns in the future.

The chum fishery in Elliott Bay started in mid-October and the river fishery started one week later. Early catches in Elliott Bay were strong and continued to improve in the second week as the river fishery opened and also experienced robust catches. Abundant catches in both the bay and river continued for the next several weeks leading up to a combined record harvest 81,661 chum from Elliott Bay and the Duwamish River. The previous record of 51,912 chum was set in 2010. The Elliott Bay catch alone totaled 29,746, which is double the previous record from 2010 of 14,143. The Duwamish River catch of 51,915 easily surpassed its previous record of 38,793 in 2007.