Cowichan River

The photo is real... There were other pictures of dead steelhead from the same facebook account, which has since been made not viewable to the public.. What more proof could you possibly ask for??

As disgusted as I am with the pictures, I've started to wonder if a large part of the problem is that these few individuals arent aware that these wild steelhead are in decline. In my opinion the picture was posted by a guy that was unaware that killing wild steelhead would create an uproar, otherwise he wouldn't have posted in the first place. He defintely didn't get the reaction he was after because he removed it right away and blocked his facebook account. Maybe he was genuinely excited to show off his catch similar to the hundreds of salmon pictures on the same facebook group?? I could be wrong about the whole story but that's the way I see it. Regardless of whether a FN person can kill a steelhead legally, maybe this guy just needs to be made aware so that in the future he decides he doesn't need to kill them.
 
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As far as the nets go... Which I think is a separate issue and much more serious.... i believe there was a meeting yesterday, so maybe some details will surface shortly.. Hopefully something happens soon!
 
Bales off the bridge is a short term solution. We need to engage the Cowichan Elders so that they can motivate the band members to realize the impact of the actions of a few. A bunch of sporties bitching and complain will not have a lasting effect. We need a communal awareness of the dire consequences to the local band in terms of losing the steelhead and Chinook stocks if this type of behaviour is accepted and condoned!
 
hambone said:
The photo is real... There were other pictures of dead steelhead from the same facebook account, which has since been made not viewable to the public.. What more proof could you possibly ask for??

As disgusted as I am with the pictures, I've started to wonder if a large part of the problem is that these few individuals arent aware that these wild steelhead are in decline. In my opinion the picture was posted by a guy that was unaware that killing wild steelhead would create an uproar, otherwise he wouldn't have posted in the first place. He defintely didn't get the reaction he was after because he removed it right away and blocked his facebook account. Maybe he was genuinely excited to show off his catch similar to the hundreds of salmon pictures on the same facebook group?? I could be wrong about the whole story but that's the way I see it. Regardless of whether a FN person can kill a steelhead legally, maybe this guy just needs to be made aware so that in the future he decides he doesn't need to kill them.
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I think you've nailed it here,hambone.I've lived in the valley all my life, had many native friends over the years,one of which is an awesome gear fisherman,maybe the best in the tribe,and he has a god like status in the tribe
because of this.I think this fellow was looking for a bit of this type of admiration from his peers by showing off those photos,but it sounds like that plan backfired on him.Hopefully he will think long and hard about this and do the right thing next time.
 
Hey Guys just to up-date this....... This is being work on thru process & all channels so we need some time to see if we get the necessary results that help save these fish...... we are trying for a long term solution.......
 
Your efforts on the situation are much appreciated by all anglers on the cowichan Derby. If theres anything you need from a fellow angler feel free to PM me and I am more than willing to help if I can.
 
Take this for what it is worth...10-15% of fish die when caught and released. Wild or hatchery. That is a fact no matter what. Think about it.
 
Bear said:
Take this for what it is worth...10-15% of fish die when caught and released. Wild or hatchery. That is a fact no matter what. Think about it.
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Steelhead brood stock capture and holding mortality rates are less than 2%. This is after catching, bagging, transporting and holding for up to 3 months. This would lead one to infer that fish released back into the river without all the above handling would have an even lower mortality rate.
Your "facts" need to be taken for what they are worth, pure garbage.


Ps The mortality rate in a gillnet is 100% though.
 
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Catch and release has a 10% mortality rate. It's is a factor when determining angling opportunities on at risk rivers. Brood capture fish are treated carefully, techniques learned through years of trial and error...no more tailing gloves.
 
You obviously have not seen volunteer broodstock people attempting to bag steelhead. Or seen fish bounced off the rocks when getting them out of the bag and into the transport pack, or seen fish leap out of the transport truck when the lid is open, or encountered fish trapped in tubes for 10 days because the river came up too high during the day to get the tube or fish that were bleeding profusely that survived to spawning. Steelhead are tough, many rivers are kept closed as it is the "easy" management tool. Aka, the Englishman river.
I say bs to your 10% figure, especially now that bait is all but banned in the province. Show me pictures of all the dead steelhead laying on the bottom of the river that have died from catch and release.
 
Derby said:
Hey Guys just to up-date this....... This is being work on thru process & all channels so we need some time to see if we get the necessary results that help save these fish...... we are trying for a long term solution.......
Click to expand...

THANK YOU for your efforts on this Derby - MUCH appreciated!
 
I thank you as well for your time and efforts in this,Derby.A pineapple express the next few days should spike the flow
and discourage any more netting for awhile.Hopefully that will give the oncoming fish a chance to work their way up safely into the system.
 
1 % is more likely and brood stock steelhead have been dragged up canyon walls for years in back packs and lived !!!!!!!been bleeding badly and survived 2 months till spawning …. read some of the skeena tagging studys fish returned multiple times after gill or dip netting !
 
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