1.
Introduction
2. Background
3. History
4. FRAM Interactions with Other Models
5. Coho vs Chinook Differences
FRAM Overview
1. Introduction
The Fishery Regulation Assessment Model (FRAM
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Fishery_Regulation_Assessment_Model_(FRAM)))
is an accounting tool for estimating the impacts of proposed fisheries on Chinook
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinook_salmon) (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Coho
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coho_salmon) (Oncorhynchus kisutch) salmon stocks
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Stock) during a fishing season. FRAM is a
software program developed and used by:
the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC (https://www.pcouncil.org/salmon/background/))
the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW (https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing))
Washington Treaty Indian Tribes and the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC
(https://nwifc.org/))
:
the Pacific Salmon Commission (Coho only) (PSC (https://www.psc.org/))
and the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/))
FRAM is a single-season modeling tool with separate code for Chinook and Coho salmon. The Chinook
version evaluates impacts on most stock groups originating from the California Central Valley
(Sacramento River), north-central Oregon coast, Columbia River, Willapa Bay, north Washington coast,
Puget Sound, and southern British Columbia. The Coho version evaluates impacts on a comprehensive
set of stocks originating from Central California to Southeast Alaska and is considered to represent
total Pacific West Coast production. FRAM results are used to examine the impacts of proposed
fisheries within a single management year for compliance with management objectives, allocation
arrangements, Endangered Species Act (ESA
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Endangered_Species_Act_(ESA)))
requirements, and domestic and international legal obligations.
This site includes FRAM model descriptions of FRAM data, program flow and algorithms, a user manual
focused on running the FRAM application, a description of the FRAM base period (under construction),
and information about pre- and post-season use of the model.
2. Background
FRAM is a deterministic
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Deterministic_Model), discrete
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Discrete_Model), time-age structured model
that aids in the planning of Chinook and Coho salmon fisheries. It is designed to address the effects of
multiple mixed-stock fisheries on individual stocks, each further stratified by age and mark status (and
possibly hatchery (https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Hatchery) origin).
Individual stock-age groups are exploited as a single pool, that is, in each time step all pre-terminal
fisheries operate on the entire cohort simultaneously. The model calculates fishery related mortality,
including catches and non-landed (https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Non-
landedNon-retention_Mortality) impacts, imposed on the abundance of each stock unit.
In a given yearly model run, over the course of several time steps
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Time_Step), FRAM allocates a mixed stock
cohort to catches, non-retention mortality and escapement
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Escapement). This occurs by combining
:
stock-specific run sizes and fishery inputs with parameters
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Parameter) calibrated
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Calibration) from observations made during
a fixed “base period (https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Base_Period)” (set of
baseline years). The base period integrates fishery catches, stock age and mark composition
information, and coded wire tag (CWT
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Coded-Wire_Tag_(CWT))) recovery data to
produce a calibrated reference pattern of stock distributions and stock-specific harvest rates
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Harvest_Rate_(HR)) by time-step and fishery.
A fundamental element of FRAM calculations are the stock-age-fishery-timestep specific exploitation
rates (defined as the total mortality divided by abundance). This expression of catch as a proportion of
the available abundance is based primarily on coded wire tag release and recovery data from the
Regional Mark Information System (RMIS (https://www.rmis.org//rmis_login.php?
action=Login&system=cwt)).
3. History
FRAM is an empirically fit tool that uses the past to inform a representation of the future. Over time,
algorithms have been added or adapted to capture changing management options, and the
development platform of the application has evolved, but the basic structure remains much the same
as when it was conceived in the late 1970’s.
In the mid-1970s, treaty fishery
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Treaty_Fisheries) rights litigation, and the
associated legal obligation for the states of Washington and Oregon to provide Treaty Tribes
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Treaty_Tribes) with the opportunity to harvest
specific shares of individual runs, introduced a need for a quantitative tool to project the impact of
proposed salmon fisheries at the stock-specific level. Other legal issues, such as the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Magnuson-
Stevens_Fishery_Conservation_and_Management_Act) and the Law of the Seas convention
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Law_of_the_Sea_Convention), contributed to
the need to improve assessment tools. These considerations provided the impetus to develop early
salmon fishery assessment models using the information available from the coast wide CWT program.
In the late 1970s, the Washington Department of Fisheries (WDF) and U.S. National Bureau of
Standards (NBS
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#US_National_Bureau_of_Standards))
developed a model for evaluating alternative fishery regulatory packages that was coded in FORTRAN
:
and ran on a mainframe computer at the University of Washington. The WDF/NBS Model could be
configured for either Chinook or Coho by using different input data files. This WDF/NBS model was not
extensively used by the PFMC
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Pacific_Fishery_Management_Council_(PFMC))
because it proved costly to operate and results were difficult to obtain in a timely manner. Morishima
and Henry (2000) (https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_citations.html#Literature_cited) provide a
more in-depth history of Pacific Northwest salmon management and fishery modeling.
In the early 1980s, the development of personal computers allowed for the WDF/NBS model to be
converted into simple spreadsheet models. This transformation improved accessibility to the model
during the PFMC preseason planning processes. The first spreadsheet model for Chinook used by the
PFMC was developed in the mid-1980s to model Columbia River “tule” fall Chinook. The corresponding
spreadsheet model for Coho, the Coho Assessment Model (CAM), covered stocks from the Columbia
River, Puget Sound, and Washington and Oregon coastal areas. The CAM was revised over time,
principally to improve report generation capabilities and provide more detailed information for managing
terminal area fisheries (https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Terminal_Fishery) in
Puget Sound using Terminal Area Management Modules (TAMMs
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Terminal_Area_Management_Module_(TAMM))).
The CAM was used as the primary model for evaluating Coho impacts for proposed PFMC fisheries
until the mid-1990s.
The increased complexity of proposed fishery regulation regimes, along with the need for increased
temporal and spatial resolution for impact projections, soon surpassed the capability of the
spreadsheet models. In the mid-1990s, CAM was programmed in QUICK BASIC and renamed FRAM.
The recognition that common algorithms underlie both the Coho and Chinook spreadsheet models led
to the effort to develop the QUICK BASIC version of FRAM for both species. The FRAM code could be
used to evaluate proposed fishery regulation regimes for either Chinook or Coho by using different input
file configurations. In 1998, FRAM was converted to VISUAL BASIC to take advantage of the improved
user interface available through the Microsoft Windows operating system. A multi-agency Model
Evaluation Subgroup periodically reviewed model performance and parameter estimation methods and
coordinated revisions to the model during this period (1998-2000).
A new version of FRAM was introduced in 2012. It was coded by James Packer (WDFW) in VISUAL
STUDIO.NET and uses a Microsoft Access database rather than binary text files for data storage and
retrieval. In 2017, additional software changes were implemented when an updated Chinook base
period was adopted using brood year 2005-2008 CWTs. Substantial changes were made to the
calibration programs, modeling of sublegal
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Sublegal) encounters
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Encounter), growth estimation, imputing
:
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Impute) CWT recoveries for stocks and
fisheries with few or no CWTs, handling mark-selective fisheries
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Mark-selective_Fishery_(MSF)), and
developing model stock proportions (https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Model-
Stock_Proportion_(MSP)).
Although some program subroutines are shared, Chinook and Coho are processed separately, with
distinct time step divisions, stocks, and fisheries. The Chinook version evaluates impacts on most stock
groups originating from the California Central Valley (Sacramento River), north-central Oregon coast,
Columbia River, Washington coast, Puget Sound, and Southern British Columbia. However, not all
stocks along the West Coast of North America are represented in Chinook FRAM. Some of the stocks
that are not represented in Chinook FRAM include any stock in California except Sacramento Falls,
Oregon stocks originating south of Elk River, Mid and Upriver Columbia River Springs, Snake River
Springs, and Canadian stocks originating north of Georgia Strait. The Coho version evaluates impacts
on a comprehensive set of stocks originating from Central California to Southeast Alaska and is
considered to represent total Pacific West Coast production.
4. FRAM Interactions with Other Models
:
Figure 1. Simplified interactions between the Base Period, FRAM, and TAMM (TRS
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Terminal_Run_Size): Terminal Run Size,
BPER: Base Period Exploitation Rates)
4.1. Terminal Area Management Module (TAMM)
TAMM is a species-specific Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that interfaces with the FRAM application,
providing additional input values and receiving output from FRAM following a run. The major purpose of
TAMM/FRAM interactions is turning TAMM catches or harvest rates from terminal Puget Sound or
Washington Coastal fisheries into stock-specific mortalities during a FRAM run. TAMM catches are
simply reported or estimated landed catches from terminal fisheries regardless of stock origin. FRAM
allocates impacts to stocks using TAMM fishery definitions. Once FRAM is run with TAMM, landed
catches from TAMM fisheries are stored as quotas in the FRAM database and can be recalled during
subsequent FRAM runs without the use of a TAMM file. While FRAM can run indepently of a TAMM file,
almost all modeling exercises require a TAMM file. For a list of TAMM fisheries that are processed in
FRAM see Appendix 3
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_appendices.html#Appendix_3_Coho_FRAM_fisheries) and
4 (https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_appendices.html#Appendix_4_Chinook_FRAM_fisheries).
For more information about TAMM see “Model Detail” chapter 5 for Coho
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_data_coho.html#5_Terminal_Area_Management_Module_(TAMM))
and Chinook
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_data_chin.html#5_Terminal_Area_Management_Module).
4.2. FRAM Base Peiod
The FRAM base period is developed by summarizing coded-wire-tag information from a continuous
time period that needs to contain a sufficient number of CWT releases and recoveries. The current
Chinook base period uses CWT releases from 2005-2008. The Coho base period is comprised of CWT
recoveries from catch years 1986-1992. A calibration program maps the CWTs to FRAM fisheries,
stocks, and time steps and conducts a cohort reconstruction to estimate base period exploitation rates
and other parameters, such as base period cohort sizes
(https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/calcs_glossary.html#Cohort_Size). These estimates form the
basis of a FRAM run and remain static between model runs. Using these base period parameters allows
FRAM to predict the stock composition, exploitation rates, and escapements of future fisheries when
provided with forecasts of abundance and fishery mortalities.
5. Coho vs Chinook Di!erences
:
While there is only one FRAM program that handles both Chinook and Coho model runs and many of
the core processes and algorithms are identical, this document presents the model and computational
structures independently for each species. This decision was made in an effort to improve readability
and clarity, as there are a variety of unique features specific to each species that can be difficult to
differentiate when they are presented together.
Table 1. Differences between Chinook and Coho FRAM
Description Chinook Coho
Number Stocks 78 246
Number Fisheries 73 198
Time Steps 4 5
Ages Age 2-5 Age 3
Maturation Yes No
Sublegals Yes No
Adult Equivalents Yes No
Size Limit Modeling Yes No
Growth Modeling Yes No
January -
Time Period October (yr-1) - April (yr+1)
December
Mark Selective Fishery Bias
No Yes
Correction
Starts with
BkFRAM Starts with terminal run size
escapement
Major stocks affecting PFMC and
Stocks All stocks
Washington fisheries
Major marine fisheries affecting PFMC
Fisheries All fisheries
and Washington stocks
Marine and
Areas Marine
Freshwater
:
Model Stock Proportion (accounting Yes No
for non-model stocks)
Post-fishing Abundance reported to
Marine escapement Escapement
TAMM
Ocean age-3
Forecast Units Mainly terminal run size
(majority)
Yes
Flexible Terminal Run Size Definitions No (TAAETRSList
table)
To cite this page:
Salmon modeling and analysis workgroup. 2023. FRAM Overview in FRAM Documentation.
https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/ (https://framverse.github.io/fram_doc/) built September 21, 2023.
Previous Documentation
FRAM Overview 2008
(https://github.com/FRAMverse/fram_doc/raw/master/literature/FRAM_Overview_Final_1008.pdf)
Contributing partners: PFMC (https://www.pcouncil.org/managed_fishery/salmon/) WDFW
(https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing) NWIFC (https://nwifc.org/)
:
