OldBlackDog
Well-Known Member
Doubts over catch-and-release sturgeon fishery in the lower Fraser River after new study finds fish endure extreme stress
A new international study is raising serious questions about a lucrative catch-and-release sport fishery for threatened white sturgeon in the lower Fraser River.
The Canadian-led study, published in the online journal Conservation Physiology, simulated fishing conditions using 24 wild-but-captive sturgeon in winter and 24 in summer at a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service facility in Longview, Wash.
The results found that sturgeon suffered wide-ranging physiological stress and some even died during the experiment. Researchers noted that actual fishing conditions could be worse due to warmer summers in the lower Fraser River and the potential for some large sturgeon to be played for more than two hours before being reeled in.
The study called for further research and raised the spectre of fishing restrictions in summer, at a minimum, when sturgeon are most vulnerable to catch-and-release fishing. It also suggested that there is little science to support catch-and-release sport fishing for the species.
“Despite the growing popularity of recreational fishing for white sturgeon, there has been limited published work focusing on the potential impacts of acute angling stressors,” the study notes.
BCIT fish and wildlife instructor Marvin Rosenau, a former director of the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society, said that while overall stocks in the lower Fraser seem stable, there are concerns about declining juvenile populations.
The fear is that large females could be reabsorbing their eggs into their bodies due to the stress of repeatedly being caught and released in the sport fishery, he said.
“It’s a pretty sensitive subject,” he said Friday. “I’ve given a number of talks over 10 years … and invariably somebody asks, ‘why are governments allowing catch-and-release angling of an endangered species?’
“I don’t really have a response to that. Every fish is on average being caught at least once a year in the lower river. We have to ask whether it is appropriate to be fishing over these fish,” especially in warm temperatures, given the new study.
Greig Bethel, spokesman for the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations, estimated there are more than 49,000 sturgeon in the Fraser River province-wide, up from 45,000 in 2012.
About 16,000 sturgeon licences are sold each year for the lower and middle Fraser. The ministry is currently evaluating the number of white sturgeon caught and released in the recreational fishery through a mail-out survey to licence holders, but it believes mortality is low, Bethel said.
Earlier this week, near Lillooet, fishermen took turns hauling in a sturgeon measuring three metres after a fight of two hours, 15 minutes. The sturgeon, known as Pig Nose, has been caught repeatedly over the years.
The company involved, River Monster Adventures, charges $875 plus tax per person for a day trip.
Owner Jeff Grimolfson said area guides work for conservation, tagging hundreds of sturgeon in cooperation with the society. From what he sees, the population is healthy and not jeopardized by catch-and-release fishing.
Some sturgeon have been caught close to 30 times, he noted, and plenty of young fish are showing up. Two of his boats caught a total of 41 sturgeon in one day this week.
“There’s no shortage. If they were so endangered you wouldn’t be seeing those.”
He added he wouldn’t be surprised if the B.C. sturgeon fishing industry is worth $50 million annually.
The aboriginal Lower Fraser Fishing Alliance is urging the province to suspend the catch-and-release fishery, saying it is “undoubtedly causing stress that may lead to reduced reproductive capability and potentially death” during this summer’s unusually warm temperatures on the lower Fraser.
Alliance chair Ken Malloway urged more regulations for the 365-day-a-year fishery, especially when it comes to fishing in spawning areas.
“Just because it doesn’t die, it doesn’t mean no harm is done,” Malloway said. “How about if I torture and release you …?”
The industry is heavily invested in sturgeon fishing, believes it is the best steward of the fish and is dead against any restrictions, he said.
“White sturgeon doesn’t mean it’s just for white people,” Malloway added. “We’ve lived on them forever.”
He also believes natives should be able to keep sturgeon caught as bycatch during beach seining for chum salmon in fall.
“We wouldn’t keep them all, we just want some for our elders,” he said.
The lead author on the latest study is Montana McLean of the Department of Biology at Dalhousie University, Halifax. Scott Hinch of the department of forest and conservation sciences at the University of B.C. and David Patterson of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Cooperative Resource Management Institute also participated.
A B.C. government document posted online says sturgeon stocks in the lower Fraser River “are considered healthy enough to support a catch-and-release sport fishery. Catch-and-release angling can be low impact if extra care is taken to ensure sturgeon health and survival.”
The document urges anglers to never remove sturgeon from the water for a photograph. “Fish suffocate out of water. Large sturgeon are at risk of internal injuries due to their own weight.”
The internet is riddled with photos of people holding sturgeon out of water, including some depicting wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen posing with them in fishing boats. Hansen is honorary chair of the Fraser Valley Sturgeon Conservation Society, which states that “catch and release angling can be low impact if extra care is taken to ensure sturgeon health and survival.”
The society said in a written statement that based on 17 years of research, its key concerns are habitat loss, poaching and gill net bycatch deaths. The new study “reinforces the importance of ensuring that both anglers and net fishermen use ‘best handling practices’ when handling and releasing sturgeon,” it said.
Hansen was unavailable for comment.
In the latest study, researchers put sturgeon in slings and allowed them to thrash about for specified periods of time, while raising them out of the water so that only half their gills were covered. Blood samples were also taken.
Using a series of reflex measurements, the study found some impairment after just five minutes and noted all sturgeon experienced impairment of ventilation after 15 minutes; 90 per cent could not orient themselves.
On average, it took sturgeon 10 minutes to recover from their ordeal, although nine had still not recovered after 30 minutes. Two involved in the summer experiment subsequently died after two or more days. One of those had skin lesions and may have been compromised from the beginning.
Summer temperatures were 15.3 C and winter 6.6 C during the experiment. The Pacific Salmon Commission has been reporting water temperatures in excess of 20 C this summer in the Fraser Canyon.
The study adds that “reducing play time and handling could benefit wild sturgeon by reducing the time it takes them to recover,” warning that “angling events often last much longer than what was explored in this study, and the events are often coupled with angler experience, gear type, temperature …”
Mark Angelo, rivers chair of the Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C., said that “given the angling pressure on sturgeon that exists in the present catch-and-release fishery, this study… highlights the need for more research because little is known about the effects of angling on released sturgeon.”
While the catch-and-release fishery is well intended, the study indicates that the stress on released sturgeon may be much greater than first thought, he said.
“While most guides on the river handle fish very carefully and minimally prior to release, not all fishers do the same. If a fish is handled extensively or aggressively, the stress placed on the released fish is even greater.”
lpynn@postmedia.com
A new international study is raising serious questions about a lucrative catch-and-release sport fishery for threatened white sturgeon in the lower Fraser River.
The Canadian-led study, published in the online journal Conservation Physiology, simulated fishing conditions using 24 wild-but-captive sturgeon in winter and 24 in summer at a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service facility in Longview, Wash.
The results found that sturgeon suffered wide-ranging physiological stress and some even died during the experiment. Researchers noted that actual fishing conditions could be worse due to warmer summers in the lower Fraser River and the potential for some large sturgeon to be played for more than two hours before being reeled in.
The study called for further research and raised the spectre of fishing restrictions in summer, at a minimum, when sturgeon are most vulnerable to catch-and-release fishing. It also suggested that there is little science to support catch-and-release sport fishing for the species.
“Despite the growing popularity of recreational fishing for white sturgeon, there has been limited published work focusing on the potential impacts of acute angling stressors,” the study notes.
BCIT fish and wildlife instructor Marvin Rosenau, a former director of the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society, said that while overall stocks in the lower Fraser seem stable, there are concerns about declining juvenile populations.
The fear is that large females could be reabsorbing their eggs into their bodies due to the stress of repeatedly being caught and released in the sport fishery, he said.
“It’s a pretty sensitive subject,” he said Friday. “I’ve given a number of talks over 10 years … and invariably somebody asks, ‘why are governments allowing catch-and-release angling of an endangered species?’
“I don’t really have a response to that. Every fish is on average being caught at least once a year in the lower river. We have to ask whether it is appropriate to be fishing over these fish,” especially in warm temperatures, given the new study.
Greig Bethel, spokesman for the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations, estimated there are more than 49,000 sturgeon in the Fraser River province-wide, up from 45,000 in 2012.
About 16,000 sturgeon licences are sold each year for the lower and middle Fraser. The ministry is currently evaluating the number of white sturgeon caught and released in the recreational fishery through a mail-out survey to licence holders, but it believes mortality is low, Bethel said.
Earlier this week, near Lillooet, fishermen took turns hauling in a sturgeon measuring three metres after a fight of two hours, 15 minutes. The sturgeon, known as Pig Nose, has been caught repeatedly over the years.
The company involved, River Monster Adventures, charges $875 plus tax per person for a day trip.
Owner Jeff Grimolfson said area guides work for conservation, tagging hundreds of sturgeon in cooperation with the society. From what he sees, the population is healthy and not jeopardized by catch-and-release fishing.
Some sturgeon have been caught close to 30 times, he noted, and plenty of young fish are showing up. Two of his boats caught a total of 41 sturgeon in one day this week.
“There’s no shortage. If they were so endangered you wouldn’t be seeing those.”
He added he wouldn’t be surprised if the B.C. sturgeon fishing industry is worth $50 million annually.
The aboriginal Lower Fraser Fishing Alliance is urging the province to suspend the catch-and-release fishery, saying it is “undoubtedly causing stress that may lead to reduced reproductive capability and potentially death” during this summer’s unusually warm temperatures on the lower Fraser.
Alliance chair Ken Malloway urged more regulations for the 365-day-a-year fishery, especially when it comes to fishing in spawning areas.
“Just because it doesn’t die, it doesn’t mean no harm is done,” Malloway said. “How about if I torture and release you …?”
The industry is heavily invested in sturgeon fishing, believes it is the best steward of the fish and is dead against any restrictions, he said.
“White sturgeon doesn’t mean it’s just for white people,” Malloway added. “We’ve lived on them forever.”
He also believes natives should be able to keep sturgeon caught as bycatch during beach seining for chum salmon in fall.
“We wouldn’t keep them all, we just want some for our elders,” he said.
The lead author on the latest study is Montana McLean of the Department of Biology at Dalhousie University, Halifax. Scott Hinch of the department of forest and conservation sciences at the University of B.C. and David Patterson of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Cooperative Resource Management Institute also participated.
A B.C. government document posted online says sturgeon stocks in the lower Fraser River “are considered healthy enough to support a catch-and-release sport fishery. Catch-and-release angling can be low impact if extra care is taken to ensure sturgeon health and survival.”
The document urges anglers to never remove sturgeon from the water for a photograph. “Fish suffocate out of water. Large sturgeon are at risk of internal injuries due to their own weight.”
The internet is riddled with photos of people holding sturgeon out of water, including some depicting wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen posing with them in fishing boats. Hansen is honorary chair of the Fraser Valley Sturgeon Conservation Society, which states that “catch and release angling can be low impact if extra care is taken to ensure sturgeon health and survival.”
The society said in a written statement that based on 17 years of research, its key concerns are habitat loss, poaching and gill net bycatch deaths. The new study “reinforces the importance of ensuring that both anglers and net fishermen use ‘best handling practices’ when handling and releasing sturgeon,” it said.
Hansen was unavailable for comment.
In the latest study, researchers put sturgeon in slings and allowed them to thrash about for specified periods of time, while raising them out of the water so that only half their gills were covered. Blood samples were also taken.
Using a series of reflex measurements, the study found some impairment after just five minutes and noted all sturgeon experienced impairment of ventilation after 15 minutes; 90 per cent could not orient themselves.
On average, it took sturgeon 10 minutes to recover from their ordeal, although nine had still not recovered after 30 minutes. Two involved in the summer experiment subsequently died after two or more days. One of those had skin lesions and may have been compromised from the beginning.
Summer temperatures were 15.3 C and winter 6.6 C during the experiment. The Pacific Salmon Commission has been reporting water temperatures in excess of 20 C this summer in the Fraser Canyon.
The study adds that “reducing play time and handling could benefit wild sturgeon by reducing the time it takes them to recover,” warning that “angling events often last much longer than what was explored in this study, and the events are often coupled with angler experience, gear type, temperature …”
Mark Angelo, rivers chair of the Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C., said that “given the angling pressure on sturgeon that exists in the present catch-and-release fishery, this study… highlights the need for more research because little is known about the effects of angling on released sturgeon.”
While the catch-and-release fishery is well intended, the study indicates that the stress on released sturgeon may be much greater than first thought, he said.
“While most guides on the river handle fish very carefully and minimally prior to release, not all fishers do the same. If a fish is handled extensively or aggressively, the stress placed on the released fish is even greater.”
lpynn@postmedia.com
