High Time
Crew Member
SOMASS SOCKEYE BULLETIN # 1 – 2024 Date: June 6, 2024
For more information please contact the DFO office in Port Alberni at 250-720-4440
Somass Sockeye Stock Assessment Update
Pre-season forecast:
Somass (Great Central and Sproat): 500,000
Henderson: Outlook 15,000 – 25,000
First in-season re-forecast: June 20
Escapement to June 4: Stamp: 1,603 Sproat: 1,549 Total: 3,152
Test Fishery: Seine vessel Nita Maria operated June 3 – 4
Abundance estimate: 2,000 outside Ten Mile Point & 2,000 inside
Catch Estimate: ~ 2,806
Somass First Nations – 2,746
Maa-nulth First Nations – 0
Area D Gillnet – 0
Area B Seine – 0
Recreational – 0 (Creel survey estimates to be updated in next week’s bulletin)
Test boat – 60
Weekly Fishing Plans:
All fishing plans are subject to change.
First Nations
Tsu-ma-uss (Hupacasath & Tseshaht) – FSC hook & line open 7 days a week. FSC gillnets are open 12pm
Sunday June 9 until 12pm Wednesday June 12, from Paper Mill Dam to Ten Mile Point. Paper Mill Dam
pool remains closed to hook & line.
Maa-nulth – Open 7 days a week for hook & line and gillnet fisheries within the Southern Maa-nulth
Domestic Fishing Area (MDFA) (Barkley Sound to Sproat Narrows). In June the harvest plan includes the
contracting of designated Area D Gillnet vessels displaying green Maa-nulth identification flags to harvest
Sockeye within the MDFA, which includes fishing areas normally restricted to commercial gillnet vessels,
including Uchucklesit Inlet, Rainy Bay, San Mateo Bay and Numukamis Bay.
Commercial
Area D Gillnet – Opening Tuesday June 11 for 14 hours, from 6 am to 8 pm, from the Bamfield Harbour to
the Pocahontas line.
Area B Seine – No opening scheduled for next week. First possible fishery June 23 depending on
escapement levels and harvest rates. Boundaries typically from the Pocahontas line to Polly Point with a
“seine free zone” closed area near China Creek.
Recreational
Tidal opens on May 1. The daily catch limit is four from Alberni Harbour to the A23 surf line (Cape Beal to
Amphitrite Point) and two in the tidal portions of the Somass River. See FN0404: RECREATIONAL Salmon
- Sockeye - Barkley Sound, Alberni Inlet, and the tidal portion of the Somass River - Area 23 - Opening
***Attention recreational boaters: To aid in navigation and avoid collisions with Area D gillnets, gillnet ends not
attached to a vessel will be marked with orange floats; there will also be four larger white or yellow buoy’s
spaced equidistantly along the cork line. Please slow down when transiting near active fishing vessels.***
Freshwater open from May 1 to July 23 in a portion of the Somass River at Somass Park. Catch limit is one
Sockeye per day. See FN0405: RECREATIONAL Salmon - Sockeye - Portion of the Somass River at
Somass Park - Region 1 - Opening
Fishing plans are developed to
For more information please contact the DFO office in Port Alberni at 250-720-4440
Somass Sockeye Stock Assessment Update
Pre-season forecast:
Somass (Great Central and Sproat): 500,000
Henderson: Outlook 15,000 – 25,000
First in-season re-forecast: June 20
Escapement to June 4: Stamp: 1,603 Sproat: 1,549 Total: 3,152
Test Fishery: Seine vessel Nita Maria operated June 3 – 4
Abundance estimate: 2,000 outside Ten Mile Point & 2,000 inside
Catch Estimate: ~ 2,806
Somass First Nations – 2,746
Maa-nulth First Nations – 0
Area D Gillnet – 0
Area B Seine – 0
Recreational – 0 (Creel survey estimates to be updated in next week’s bulletin)
Test boat – 60
Weekly Fishing Plans:
All fishing plans are subject to change.
First Nations
Tsu-ma-uss (Hupacasath & Tseshaht) – FSC hook & line open 7 days a week. FSC gillnets are open 12pm
Sunday June 9 until 12pm Wednesday June 12, from Paper Mill Dam to Ten Mile Point. Paper Mill Dam
pool remains closed to hook & line.
Maa-nulth – Open 7 days a week for hook & line and gillnet fisheries within the Southern Maa-nulth
Domestic Fishing Area (MDFA) (Barkley Sound to Sproat Narrows). In June the harvest plan includes the
contracting of designated Area D Gillnet vessels displaying green Maa-nulth identification flags to harvest
Sockeye within the MDFA, which includes fishing areas normally restricted to commercial gillnet vessels,
including Uchucklesit Inlet, Rainy Bay, San Mateo Bay and Numukamis Bay.
Commercial
Area D Gillnet – Opening Tuesday June 11 for 14 hours, from 6 am to 8 pm, from the Bamfield Harbour to
the Pocahontas line.
Area B Seine – No opening scheduled for next week. First possible fishery June 23 depending on
escapement levels and harvest rates. Boundaries typically from the Pocahontas line to Polly Point with a
“seine free zone” closed area near China Creek.
Recreational
Tidal opens on May 1. The daily catch limit is four from Alberni Harbour to the A23 surf line (Cape Beal to
Amphitrite Point) and two in the tidal portions of the Somass River. See FN0404: RECREATIONAL Salmon
- Sockeye - Barkley Sound, Alberni Inlet, and the tidal portion of the Somass River - Area 23 - Opening
***Attention recreational boaters: To aid in navigation and avoid collisions with Area D gillnets, gillnet ends not
attached to a vessel will be marked with orange floats; there will also be four larger white or yellow buoy’s
spaced equidistantly along the cork line. Please slow down when transiting near active fishing vessels.***
Freshwater open from May 1 to July 23 in a portion of the Somass River at Somass Park. Catch limit is one
Sockeye per day. See FN0405: RECREATIONAL Salmon - Sockeye - Portion of the Somass River at
Somass Park - Region 1 - Opening
Fishing plans are developed to
