Conservation Measures for Northern and Southern BC Chinook Salmon and Southern Resident Killer Whale

Sorry I missed a few other openings that the BC public should be made well aware of !!
Also people should also know that with this cold weather the Fraser has dropped almost 3 meters over the few weeks.
Which makes these lower water levels and absolute perfect storm for these endangered stocks.
One individual I know this morning got 16 in 2.5 hrs in the Upper Fraser canyon. Average size was 22lbs with the biggest going just over 40lbs. These are the larger springs we are supposed to be protecting! This is just one individual, now look at the openings from for the mid and upper Fraser, then look at the lower Fraser and how many openings are going on! You really want to know what’s going on with our springs and sockeye, look no further than what DFO is allowing!
http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/fraser/docs/abor-autoc/UpperFraser/UMFOpenTimes-eng.htm
 
Too bad they don’t have a program where volunteers,or perish the thought,DFO could harvest the roe and milt from the fish and let FN keep the meat?
 
There is a new very active movement going forward which is named the Seal Impact Movement. Many high profile FN Bands are involved along with many other people who are trying to stop our fishery from the impending road to disaster that the DFO is leading us down. I predict that this new organization will very soon be our number one lobbying group against the DFO. There is something terribly wrong with the way that our fisheries are being managed. One of the major issues is that the DFO has to become separated from politics and the the position of a Minister of Fisheries has to be removed.
 
"So how do you mitigate that "significant adverse effect" ......... I know shutdown Rec fishing because that is the trade off that is needed for those that want the pipeline built.

Could you cite this pasta for me? I'm having a hard time understanding what they mean by "effect" here. It's too vague of a word. Needs more context
 
One of the major issues is that the DFO has to become separated from politics and the the position of a Minister of Fisheries has to be removed.

Ugh.... some people just don't get it. Section 91 of the constitution very clearly lays out that fisheries are the "exclusive Legislative Authority of the Parliament of Canada." Nothing is going to change this. Doesn't matter, Liberal, Conservative, NDP, Green or the Rhinoceros Party. There will ALWAYS be a Fisheries Minister appointed by whatever government is in power, it will always be a political post.

Wagging the dog is what needs to happen here.
 
Well, the constitution can be changed if you can summon a substantial majority of proponents in parliament.
The constitution cam only be changed if parliament decides to AND 2/3 of provinces with over 50% of the population agree. It's only been attempted 2x post 1982 ,meech and charlottetown. That's funny if we believe they will change the constitution and our form of government because some bc sport fisherman dont like DFO.
 
The name of this new organization is Seal Impact. Co-Chairs of this movement are Ken Pearce and Chief Roy Jones Jr of the Haidas. They are very well informed and very well organized and their next meeting is going to be held on June 20th at the Nanaimo Convention Center starting at 8:30 AM. I know that Ken would love to hear from you and he can be reached at kpearce1@telus.net or you can give him a call at 1-604-839-7756.
 
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Here is a link to the pdf from NEB. The quote comes from page 16
https://apps.neb-one.gc.ca/REGDOCS/File/Download/2969681

Thank-you. Your quote is from a summary early on in this 500 page report.

I Crt-F'ed the report for "killer whales" and got in to what was actually written. Now I didn't go in to detail, but will note that the report uses information from the Raincoast Conservation Foundation. Which is a smoking gun to me. These NGO enviro-bullies have got a seat at the table. They've got credibility. People listen to them, even if they just make things up to suit their agenda. From my quick glance at this report, the whole 'increased noise' argument is just a red herring with nothing behind it. It seems they're saying that the increased noise, could, affect the whales. But nobody is quite sure if it will.

That's what we're up against folks. Go watch what propaganda the Raincoast Conservation Foundation can produce and look at their influence on social media. This is where the battle ground is. This will take some serious kekery and and a meme factory that can choke a donkey.
 
Just reads this in Business in Vancouver. Makes a connection between the increased Transient Population and decline of SRKW. Also shows that there is historical cycles to the SRKW of the population going up and down:

https://biv.com/article/2018/06/con...230223533&mc_cid=d5c6ca4967&mc_eid=f5f5c742ba

Controversy sparked over chinook salmon closures
Debate over southern resident killer whale plight oversimplified: marine mammal expert
By Nelson Bennett | June 12, 2018
southernresidentkillerwhalegraphnumbers.jpg

B.C.’s southern resident killer whale population has declined and rebounded four times since 1960


A recent Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) decision to close some B.C. areas to all recreational fishing this summer and implement restrictions on chinook salmon in others is a half measure that misses the boat, fisheries and marine mammal experts say.

In a move aimed at conserving declining chinook stocks, which make up 90% of the southern resident killer whale’s diet, the DFO has closed three orca foraging areas to all finfish angling: on Vancouver Island, from north of Sooke to Port Renfrew, the Gulf Islands and the mouth of the Fraser River. The DFO is also implementing zero retention for chinook in the Prince Rupert region and restrictions for chinook for the Nass and Skeena rivers. The closures and restrictions are aimed at reducing the chinook catch by 25% to 35%.

Without also restricting whale-watching in sensitive marine areas, the initiative could hurt B.C.’s sport-fishing sector with no guarantee of helping killer whale populations.

Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game last week also began instituting full chinook sport-fishing closures for some river systems. The B.C. closures will have a big impact on lodges, charters, guides and other businesses in the sport-fishing sector, said Owen Bird, executive director for the Sport Fishing Institute of BC.

“I don’t think even ‘devastating’ is too strong for these small communities that really rely on the sport-fishing economy,” Bird said.

Greg Taylor, a fisheries adviser and member of the salmon sub-committee of the Marine Conservation Caucus, said the closures and restrictions are half measures, partly because they don’t include a ban on whale-watching boats in critical orca foraging zones. Leaving some areas open to chinook fishing and others closed just redistributes the catch, Taylor said, so the closures are more about giving orcas room to feed than reducing chinook harvest levels.

Of 15 chinook conservation units, 11 are designated red (status poor). Neither of the units in the Nass and Skeena is red, so Taylor wonders why restrictions on chinook have been implemented there but not on the entire Fraser River system.

“If you look at how many chinook are returning to the Fraser River right now, no one should be fishing – no one,” Taylor said.

The southern resident killer whale population has fallen to 76 from a high of 98 in the mid-1990s.

A science panel struck to study the decline concluded in 2012 that fewer chinook isn’t the only challenge orcas face. If there is too much noise from small-boat traffic, they can’t use eco-location to hunt, so it might not matter how much fish is in the water if they can’t catch them.

Andrew Trites, director of the Marine Mammal Research Unit at the University of British Columbia, said the discussion over southern resident killer whales is being oversimplified.

While 76 is lower than average for the southern resident killer whale population, it has been lower than that. Over the past 58 years, that population has declined and rebounded four times, never going above 98.

Meanwhile, Trites said the northern resident killer whale population has grown to about 300. Their range overlaps, with the northern orcas coming as far south as Vancouver Island, so why is the southern population doing poorly while its northern counterpart is thriving?

“The simple narrative is always ‘It’s overfishing,’” Trites said. “Yet the truth of this story might be competition from northern residents. We’ve got increasing sea lion populations, we’ve got very abundant harbour seal populations. So on many levels, we’ve got an ecosystem for marine mammals that’s great, but we’ve got this one outlier that’s doing not well, and that’s the southern residents.

“You would expect that, if it was just a straight-up lack of prey, that the northerns should also be affected, and we’re not seeing that. And so it’s very possible that the northerns are excluding or pushing the southern s further south into marginal habitat.”

@nbennett_biv
 
There is no point trying to make sense of any of it anymore,the Suzuki Foundation and others have DFO on the run and are pressing for more closures. We will not be seeing these area's reopen and they will be closing more in the next few years.Time to get your kids involved in flyfishing.
 
There is no point trying to make sense of any of it anymore,the Suzuki Foundation and others have DFO on the run and are pressing for more closures. We will not be seeing these area's reopen and they will be closing more in the next few years.Time to get your kids involved in flyfishing.
I disagree and there is science to back us up. I think many of us want action to help protect the SRKW and prepared to have some reductions in our limits and time sensitive closures, but the current plan put forward by DFO is going to do nothing and targets one user group. We need to stand up for ourselves as Sportfisherman and make our voices heard! The kids aren't getting new fly rods from me yet!;)
 
A science panel struck to study the decline concluded in 2012 that fewer chinook isn’t the only challenge orcas face. If there is too much noise from small-boat traffic, they can’t use eco-location to hunt, so it might not matter how much fish is in the water if they can’t catch them.

At some point rec fishers SHOULD realize that the fact that many of us operate our SONAR's at 50 Khz which interferes with eco-location indicates the rec-fisher closures make good scientific sense. That said, I firmly believe the whale harrasers are a major problem and should be restricted as are the rec fishers. I believe they will give the "rec fisher only" option 5 or more years before considering further measures.
 
Thank-you. Your quote is from a summary early on in this 500 page report.

I Crt-F'ed the report for "killer whales" and got in to what was actually written. Now I didn't go in to detail, but will note that the report uses information from the Raincoast Conservation Foundation. Which is a smoking gun to me. These NGO enviro-bullies have got a seat at the table. They've got credibility. People listen to them, even if they just make things up to suit their agenda. From my quick glance at this report, the whole 'increased noise' argument is just a red herring with nothing behind it. It seems they're saying that the increased noise, could, affect the whales. But nobody is quite sure if it will.

That's what we're up against folks. Go watch what propaganda the Raincoast Conservation Foundation can produce and look at their influence on social media. This is where the battle ground is. This will take some serious kekery and and a meme factory that can choke a donkey.[/QUOTE


Good point as i’ve Posted this before on here, an article I find pretty telling. Wonder what other ecotour organizations are paying them off. Follow the money!

Ecotourism business Maple Leaf Adventures donates $100,000 over ten years to Raincoast Conservation Foundation

Published on 2017 · 10 · 25 by The Raincoast Conservation Foundation

Funding will support long-term research and community stewardship in the Great Bear Rainforest.

Victoria, BC — Oct. 24, 2017 — Local expedition cruise company Maple Leaf Adventures is committing a 10-year, $100,000 donation to Raincoast Conservation Foundation, starting today. It’s an example of how tourism business and conservation can work hand-in-hand on the British Columbia coast.

The commitment will provide funding certainty to research and stewardship projects in the Great Bear Rainforest, one of the areas that Maple Leaf Adventures operates its trips. The money will help pay wages of a local indigenous field crew member and a scientist, initially, on a multi-year grizzly bear research project in the region.

“It’s very important to do long-term research, yet these projects are often cut by governments,” said Kevin Smith, Maple Leaf Adventures’ CEO. “The coast is our home, and we are committed to operating our ecotourism business here in the long term, so we are really pleased to support valuable conservation work into the future, too.”

Conservation and ecotourism have a symbiotic relationship when done right. In addition to benefitting from the protected areas and healthy wildlife populations that conservation safeguards, Maple Leaf Adventures’ guests are able to visit with stewards and researchers on the trips, getting first-hand insight into discoveries, and also into the First Nations communities whose territory the projects are in. Guests and operators love and protect the coast, donating back to the stewards who look after it.

“We are extremely grateful for the extraordinary commitment and support of Maple Leaf Adventures. This action has shown why Maple Leaf Adventures is a visionary company and an industry leader,” said Chris Genovali, executive director of Raincoast Conservation Foundation.

Smith hopes it’s the beginning of something greater. The company plans to set up a related fund for guests who want to help match Maple Leaf Adventures’ contribution each year.

“We and our colleagues in the industry fully support the work Raincoast does and the way they do it,” said Smith. “Each year, more of our guests are discovering the wonders of the BC coast. I expect that many companies will start committing long-term as our industry matures. It’s in our DNA as responsible operators.”

For more information about the project and the benefits between ecotourism and conservation, visit www.MapleLeafAdventures.com.
 
Just like everyone that has a job their main goal is survival, people that work for these large ENGO's that their main purpose is to generate donations and to stay employed. There is nothing more emotionally appealing to my generation who was subjected to torment from free willy then a "save the whale campaign" we all have the image of willy jumping over the burm into the ocean etch into our brain.

Its no different then the neo natzie christian groups using pictures/videos of starving Ethiopian children, Then using 90% of the money to fund their retreats to these countries for their rich kids.

Like Nog said these groups are after everyone that has consumptive use of the resource.
 
Thank-you. Your quote is from a summary early on in this 500 page report.

I Crt-F'ed the report for "killer whales" and got in to what was actually written. Now I didn't go in to detail, but will note that the report uses information from the Raincoast Conservation Foundation. Which is a smoking gun to me. These NGO enviro-bullies have got a seat at the table. They've got credibility. People listen to them, even if they just make things up to suit their agenda. From my quick glance at this report, the whole 'increased noise' argument is just a red herring with nothing behind it. It seems they're saying that the increased noise, could, affect the whales. But nobody is quite sure if it will.

That's what we're up against folks. Go watch what propaganda the Raincoast Conservation Foundation can produce and look at their influence on social media. This is where the battle ground is. This will take some serious kekery and and a meme factory that can choke a donkey.

Why don't you try a thought experiment to test your theroy. Think of what it would be like if you had to feed yourself for a week if you had a blindfold on when you went grocery shopping and in preparing your meals, Do you think you might lose some weight? Just attacking the science or an engo is not a credible strategy in my view.
 
Why don't you try a thought experiment to test your theroy. Think of what it would be like if you had to feed yourself for a week if you had a blindfold on when you went grocery shopping and in preparing your meals, Do you think you might lose some weight? Just attacking the science or an engo is not a credible strategy in my view.

we are going to have to attack the science unless you think that Port Mcneil down the Johnston straight should be turned into a whale refuge for the NRKW. I hear that now on the table
 
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