Though the return of Yukon River chinook salmon is late, the strength of the run is looking somewhat better than originally anticipated.

Biologist Pat Milligan of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans said the fish wheel near the Yukon-Alaska border is just now recording peak catches that would normally have be seen a week ago.

He said numbers suggest about 2,800 chinook are moving upriver every day now. The overall number of chinook that are expected to cross the border this summer has been bumped to at least 47,000, up from the 42,000 estimated at the outset of the run in early July.

'There is still a little concern because many people have fished and have not met their needs,' Milligan said.

He explained that some who were on the river at the normal time of year for the run may have not yet had the success they're used to.

As far as he knows, the aboriginal fishery in the Dawson area hasn't met its needs, though success further upriver in the Pelly River watershed has been good, while those in the Mayo area on the Stewart River watershed have done OK.

Milligan said the commercial catch in the Dawson area has so far netted 1,600 chinook, substantially lower than the 4,066 the fishery took last year.

The first commercial opening in mid-July was four days, though the second opening was reduced to three days and the third opening to two days because of concern with the number of fish returning, he explained.

But with a reinvigorated pulse of salmon detected, said Milligan, fish managers are contemplating a fourth commercial opening that would go ahead tomorrow.

The biologist said the chinook salmon are generally smaller on average this year, as the number of the larger six-year-olds in the run is down noticeably.

Six-year-olds normally make up about 60 per cent of the returning fish, with five-year-olds forming the second-largest component and four-year-olds coming in a distant third, he said.

This year, Milligan noted, information from the early part of the run indicates the portion of six-year-olds is below average while the number of five-year-olds is up.

The management goal on the Yukon side of the Yukon River is to ensure 28,000 chinook make it to their spawning beds.

Last year, 42,200 crossed the border, and 31,600 arrived at their spawning grounds.

In addition to the 2005 commercial harvest, the domestic fishery took 65 chinook last year, the sport fishery 173 and the aboriginal fishery harvested 6.,376.

Meanwhile, the first dozen or so chinook to reach the Whitehorse Fishway at the Whitehorse Rapids Dam were today milling about below the ladder, though none have gone up and over.

Fish ladder manager Jodi Giesbrecht said this morning there was one large female in the viewing tank Wednesday afternoon, though she decided to swim back down the ladder.

Yukon Energy, a sponsor of the fish ladder, has installed online cameras that allow viewing of the fish milling below the ladder. The link can be found on the Crown corporation's website at www.yukonenergy.ca.

Approximately 2,600 chinook climbed the ladder last year, though the record was set in 1997 with 2,900.