The return of Yukon River chinook and chum salmon continues to look bleak.

With the run of chinook past the sonar near Eagle, Alaska downriver from the Yukon-Alaska border almost over, the count of 33,005 as of Monday is still well below the minimum escapement goal in the Yukon of 42,500.

In light of the anticipated poor return along the mainstem, the territory’s Yukon Salmon-Subcommittee two weeks ago asked First Nations to stop fishing for chinook.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is reporting this year’s return of fall chum salmon is also coming in very poor, and perhaps could be the lowest return on record based on the count so far at the Pilot Station sonar near the mouth of the river.

The minimum escapement goal in the Yukon for fall chum is set at 70,000 to 104,000, but the current prediction by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is for a return of fewer than 62,500.

The escapement goal on the Porcupine River is set at 41,350 to 52,250, but DFO is currently predicting a return of fewer than 12,500.

DFO’s Steve Smith explained this morning they planned to discuss the fall chum return with First Nations on a conference call this afternoon.

Ultimately, it will be up to the First Nations how they manage their chum fisheries, he said.

“At this point, we are not projected to meet the bottom end of the escapement goal, so technically, no harvest is available,” he said. “So we expect them to manage accordingly.”

The federal department has closed all other fishing for fall chum, including the commercial fishery.

Alaska has also closed the fall chum fishery, including its subsistence food fishery in response to the low numbers.

In order to meet escapement goals on both sides of the border, authorities say they need to see between 300,000 and 600,000 chum enter the river.

The current prediction by Alaska is a total return of fewer than 200,000 fall chum.

In the Yukon last year, the total harvest of fall chum was estimated at 3,759: 1,728 by the commercial fishery on the mainstem near Dawson; approximately 2,000 by the First Nation food fishery, with half being taken on the mainstem and the other half on the Porcupine River.

“Fall chum salmon are typically dominated by age-4 fish; however, the 2016 parent year that produced that age class has shown extremely poor survival in chum salmon runs throughout the state,” reads the most recent update from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

The poor return of chinook this year is being reflected in numbers showing up at the Whitehorse Rapids Fish Ladder.

As of this morning, 171 chinook had climbed the ladder when the 10-year average to Aug. 25 is 1,026.

Fall chum do not migrate as far as Whitehorse on the mainstem.

The largest return of chinook since the ladder opened in the late 1950s, following the completion of the Whitehorse Rapids Dam, was 2,962, recorded in 1996.

The lowest return since the late 1980s, when chinook reared at the hatchery began contributing to the run, was 299, recorded in 2008.