DOI: 10.5061/dryad.98sf7m0xm
title: Data from: Reviewing 20 years of progress towards sustainable fisheries under Canada’s Wild Salmon Policy

description: The Wild Salmon Policy was adopted in 2005, to safeguard salmon
 biodiversity and provide sustainable benefits to Canadians. Over the last
 20 years the WSP has made important contributions to conservation, but
 many gaps remain. We find that many Conservation Units (83%; 324/390) have
 not had status assessments, a key element of the WSP. Changes in fisheries
 targeting Skeena and Nass sockeye, and Interior Fraser River coho salmon
 have promoted recovery of some CUs, but failure to robustly implement WSP
 strategies for north and central coast chum and coho salmon populations
 creates conservation risks with potentially devastating consequences for
 fisheries and ecosystems. Most Chinook salmon CUs in British Columbia are
 unassessed (81%; 65/80), and two out of the 15 assessed CUs are considered
 healthy (green status zone). Despite these risks, changes in the
 management of mixed-stock Chinook fisheries have been inadequate for
 reversing declines. A renewed commitment to WSP implementation, and an
 increased focus on transitioning harvest out of high-risk mixed-stock
 fisheries can support improved outcomes for Pacific salmon in Canada.
description: # Data from: Reviewing 20 years of progress towards sustainable fisheries
 under Canada’s Wild Salmon Policy Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.98sf7m0xm](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.98sf7m0xm) ##
 Description of the data and file structure This data was drawn from
 publicly available sources, and reflects efforts by government, First
 Nations and other stock assessment programs undertaken annually in British
 Columbia. Code generates graphs published in Atlas et al. 2025 - Reviewing
 20 years of progress towards sustainable fisheries under Canada’s Wild
 Salmon Policy. Data can be called into the R environment as is once the
 working directory has been set to match the user's local
 environment.  ### Files and variables #### File: WSP_review_graphs.R
 **Description:** This is an R-script that generates the figures presented
 in the manuscript. Each of the data files listed below is called into the
 R-environment, sequentially, to generate the figures.  #### File:
 CM_pfma_1960-2024.txt **Description:** This data set is a timeseries of
 chum spawner escapement and harvest for Pacific Fishery Management Areas 7
 & 8, between 1960 and 2024. Data are drawn from the DFO Post-Season
 Review booklet.  **Variables** * year: the year of the observation (e.g.
 harvest, spawner abundance, total run size) * pfma: Pacific Fishery
 Management Area * catch: total fishery landings, typically for an
 individual population (PFMA scale aggregate) * esc: spawner escapement,
 the number of fish that survived to spawn.  * total_run: total run size =
 escapement + catch * ER: exploitation rate #### File: IFRC_timeseries.txt
 **Description:** Timeseries of interior Fraser coho salmon escapement and
 harvest from 1984 to 2022. Data were extracted from a figure in a status
 update for IFCS using XY extract online tools.  ##### Variables * Year:
 Year of the observation (spawner escapement, total run, exploitation rate)
 * Escapement: Spawner escapement for a given year, aggregated for the
 entire IFCS management unit.  * Total_run: Total pre-fishery abundance for
 a given year, aggregated for the entire IFCS management unit.  *
 ER_inferred: Inferred exploitation rate for a year based on the formula:
 catch/(escapement + catch) * ER_XY: Exploitation rate estimated from XY
 extract producing ER information from the Fraser Salmon Management Board
 presentation cited in the manuscript.  * avg_ER: the average of the two
 exploitation rate time series(ER_inferred and ER_XY) for each annual
 timestep. #### File: NCC_coho_harvest.txt **Description:** Timeseries of
 coho harvest in fisheries across the North and Central Coast #####
 Variables * year: year * HG_troll_harv: Coho salmon harvest for a given
 year in the Haida Gwaii commercial troll fishery * HG_troll_rel: Coho
 salmon releases for a given year in the Haida Gwaii commercial troll
 fishery * HG_rec_harv: Coho salmon harvest for a given year in the Haida
 Gwaii recreational fishery * HG_rec_rel: Coho salmon releases for a given
 year in the Haida Gwaii recreational fishery * PR_rec_harv: Coho salmon
 harvest for a given year in the Prince Rupert area recreational fishery *
 PR_rec_rel: Coho salmon releases for a given year in the Prince Rupert
 area recreational fishery * A6_rec_harv: Coho salmon harvest for a given
 year in the PFMA6 recreational fishery * A6_rec_rel: Coho salmon releases
 for a given year in the PFMA6 recreational fishery * CC_rec_harv: Coho
 salmon harvest in the Central Coast recreational fishery, these numbers
 are known to be biased low.  * NC_comm_total: Total commercial harvest of
 coho salmon in a given year.  * NC_rec_total: Total estimated (biased low)
 harvest of coho salmon in recreational fisheries in a given year.  *
 NC_FN_total: Total reported First Nations FSC harvest of coho in a given
 year, these numbers represent incomplete reporting, and are generated
 using a range of methods. Therefore these estimates of FSC coho harvest
 are likely biased low.  #### File: CU_status_proportions.txt
 **Description:** Proportion of CUs falling within a given status level. 
 ##### Variables * Status: Status under WSP assessment  * Chinook: Chinook
 salmon CUs * Chum: Chum salmon CUs * Coho: Coho salmon CUs * Pink: Pink
 salmon CUs * Sockeye: Sockeye salmon CUs #### File: CU_status.txt
 **Description:** This dataset presents CU status across 7 different levels
 of uncertainty or threat for each CU of five Pacific salmon species in
 British Columbia and the Yukon. Values in the table represent the number
 of conservation units for each species that fall into the following status
 zones: Not Assessed, Data Deficient, Red, Amber-Red, Amber, Amber-Green,
 and Green.  ##### Variables * Status: The five status levels (Red,
 Amber-Red, Amber, Amber-Green, and Green) or sources of uncertainty (Not
 Assessed, Data Deficient) * Chinook: The number of Chinook salmon CUs
 falling into each of the 7 categories identified in the status column.  *
 Chum: The number of chum salmon CUs falling into each of the 7 categories
 identified in the status column.  * Coho: The number of coho salmon CUs
 falling into each of the 7 categories identified in the status column.  *
 Pink: The number of pink salmon CUs falling into each of the 7 categories
 identified in the status column.  * Sockeye: The number of sockeye salmon
 CUs falling into each of the 7 categories identified in the status
 column.  #### File: CH2Review_Ind_Pops_data.txt **Description:** Data for
 individual CUs of sockeye salmon in the Skeena River: 1.) Babine-enhanced,
 2.) Morice, 3.) Lakelse, 4.) Babine-late-wild, 5.) Kitwancool #####
 Variables * CU_Name: the name of CU associated with each abundance
 observation * Year: The year of a given abundance observation * T_Idx_E:
 Total index of escapement, observed in a given year * CDNHarv: Total
 Canadian harvest of a given CU, observed in a given year * AKHarv: Total
 Alaska harvest of a given CU, observed in a given year * TotalHarv: Total
 harvest of a given CU (Alaska + Canada), observed in a given year *
 TotalER: Total exploitation for a given year, observed in a given year ##
 Code/software R is the only software needed to view our data. Figures are
 generated in base R, with no packages required for visualization.  ##
 Access information Other publicly accessible locations of the data: *
 Cited in the paper text and references Data was derived from the following
 sources: * See manuscript text for references to data sets.