Sushihunter
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Wednesday » July 9 » 2008
Salmon fishery not all bad
Dave Steele
Special To North Shore News
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Negative, negative, negative . . . that's all the media seems to convey when it addresses issues surrounding our Pacific salmon.
As a result, the overall state of our fisheries has become shrouded by doom and gloom.
Personally, I've had just about enough and therefore have decided to share with you an optimistic perspective that is based on the here and now.
I'm not for a minute suggesting that all is well within the world of West Coast salmon. I am, however, adamant that the entire canvas cannot and should not be painted with a singular brush. Nor am I convinced that something so cyclic and so intricate lends itself to easy prediction.
Alaska has reduced its 2008 allowable commercial chinook harvest by close to 50 per cent. British Columbia and Washington have pared back their commercial fishing strategies while Oregon and California have closed their waters to both commercial and recreational salmon harvests.
What does all this mean? Such a drastic attempt to lessen the mortality of this year's salmon populations should mean more fish. The question remains: Has it?
Let's first look at the Skeena River system, more specifically the daily fish counts data derived from the gillnet test fishery located at Tyee on the lower river. Visit the test fishery website at www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/northcoast/skeena/tyeetest.htm then click on the Daily Salmon Indices link. The information provided confirms that at this point the Skeena River Chinook run is the best since 2003 -- pretty good news if you ask me.
Much farther north in Alaska's Bristol Bay, commercial sockeye fishermen have been forced to stop fishing and it's not due to a lack of fish; on the contrary, local processing plants have been unable to process the volume of fish delivered by the fleet. This year's Bristol Bay sockeye forecast exceeded 30 million fish, a number that will likely be surpassed. It would seem like the ocean to the north is still working.
You're probably thinking to yourself, "Well, this is fine and dandy but nothing much seems to be happening in the south." I therefore present Exhibit C, the fish count data collected at the Columbia River's Bonneville Dam. The information provided by Columbia Basin Fisheries Agencies and Tribes Fish Passage Center (FPC) is amongst the most uplifting I've seen in years.
Go to the FPC website at www.fpc.org/adultsalmon/adultqueries/Adult_Table_Species_Graph.html and select the salmon species of interest. If you really want to get excited, check out the graph depicting this year's Lower Columbia sockeye returns. Would a 400 per cent increase above the 10-year average catch your attention? It certainly did mine.
Both adult chinook returns and jack chinook numbers are also well above the 10-year mean though not as significant an improvement as seen in the sockeye escapement. It's far too early to evaluate the coho returns and as far as this species is concerned we'll just have to wait and see.
Regardless of what has happened to the north and south there is no denying that numerous B.C. salmon populations were negatively impacted by a poor marine environment associated with the years 2005 and 2006. Do I think the conservation measures implemented necessary? Absolutely. In the absence of any real understanding of exactly what's caused the recent decline is it not equally plausible that salmon populations might rebound? Scientists concur that marine conditions have somewhat stabilized. If properly managed might their numbers increase?
The basis of my commentary is simple: if one is willing to look beyond the information provided by local media, you'll find it's not all bad. It would seem that when conservation strategies are employed and salmon are given the opportunity to pass through net-free waters, they actually make it back to their home rivers. What a novel concept.
Over the past few weeks, salmon fishing off the west coast of Vancouver Island has been nothing short of fantastic. Do I partially attribute this good fishing to a reduction in commercial interception? Absolutely. Is it good news as it pertains to the health of our recreational fishery? Yes.
I've purposefully strayed from the realm of freshwater angling in an effort to illustrate the presence of that which is positive. My optimism is not contrived; it's supported on several fronts, a few of which I've mentioned here.
In closing, I like to remind anglers that thoughtless provincial policy has one again provided an Atlantic salmon fishery on this Pacific Coast. If you find yourself fishing in Frederick Arm and manage to catch an evil beast, please refrain from practising catch and release.
© North Shore News 2008
Copyright © 2008 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
Salmon fishery not all bad
Dave Steele
Special To North Shore News
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Negative, negative, negative . . . that's all the media seems to convey when it addresses issues surrounding our Pacific salmon.
As a result, the overall state of our fisheries has become shrouded by doom and gloom.
Personally, I've had just about enough and therefore have decided to share with you an optimistic perspective that is based on the here and now.
I'm not for a minute suggesting that all is well within the world of West Coast salmon. I am, however, adamant that the entire canvas cannot and should not be painted with a singular brush. Nor am I convinced that something so cyclic and so intricate lends itself to easy prediction.
Alaska has reduced its 2008 allowable commercial chinook harvest by close to 50 per cent. British Columbia and Washington have pared back their commercial fishing strategies while Oregon and California have closed their waters to both commercial and recreational salmon harvests.
What does all this mean? Such a drastic attempt to lessen the mortality of this year's salmon populations should mean more fish. The question remains: Has it?
Let's first look at the Skeena River system, more specifically the daily fish counts data derived from the gillnet test fishery located at Tyee on the lower river. Visit the test fishery website at www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/northcoast/skeena/tyeetest.htm then click on the Daily Salmon Indices link. The information provided confirms that at this point the Skeena River Chinook run is the best since 2003 -- pretty good news if you ask me.
Much farther north in Alaska's Bristol Bay, commercial sockeye fishermen have been forced to stop fishing and it's not due to a lack of fish; on the contrary, local processing plants have been unable to process the volume of fish delivered by the fleet. This year's Bristol Bay sockeye forecast exceeded 30 million fish, a number that will likely be surpassed. It would seem like the ocean to the north is still working.
You're probably thinking to yourself, "Well, this is fine and dandy but nothing much seems to be happening in the south." I therefore present Exhibit C, the fish count data collected at the Columbia River's Bonneville Dam. The information provided by Columbia Basin Fisheries Agencies and Tribes Fish Passage Center (FPC) is amongst the most uplifting I've seen in years.
Go to the FPC website at www.fpc.org/adultsalmon/adultqueries/Adult_Table_Species_Graph.html and select the salmon species of interest. If you really want to get excited, check out the graph depicting this year's Lower Columbia sockeye returns. Would a 400 per cent increase above the 10-year average catch your attention? It certainly did mine.
Both adult chinook returns and jack chinook numbers are also well above the 10-year mean though not as significant an improvement as seen in the sockeye escapement. It's far too early to evaluate the coho returns and as far as this species is concerned we'll just have to wait and see.
Regardless of what has happened to the north and south there is no denying that numerous B.C. salmon populations were negatively impacted by a poor marine environment associated with the years 2005 and 2006. Do I think the conservation measures implemented necessary? Absolutely. In the absence of any real understanding of exactly what's caused the recent decline is it not equally plausible that salmon populations might rebound? Scientists concur that marine conditions have somewhat stabilized. If properly managed might their numbers increase?
The basis of my commentary is simple: if one is willing to look beyond the information provided by local media, you'll find it's not all bad. It would seem that when conservation strategies are employed and salmon are given the opportunity to pass through net-free waters, they actually make it back to their home rivers. What a novel concept.
Over the past few weeks, salmon fishing off the west coast of Vancouver Island has been nothing short of fantastic. Do I partially attribute this good fishing to a reduction in commercial interception? Absolutely. Is it good news as it pertains to the health of our recreational fishery? Yes.
I've purposefully strayed from the realm of freshwater angling in an effort to illustrate the presence of that which is positive. My optimism is not contrived; it's supported on several fronts, a few of which I've mentioned here.
In closing, I like to remind anglers that thoughtless provincial policy has one again provided an Atlantic salmon fishery on this Pacific Coast. If you find yourself fishing in Frederick Arm and manage to catch an evil beast, please refrain from practising catch and release.
© North Shore News 2008
Copyright © 2008 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
