UBC study: changing catch-and-release fishing practices can boost salmon survival

[searun]

I can live with using smaller, single hooks, even no inline flashers (can make using hootchies a little harder) if that is needed to reduce catch & release mortality and to open up more marked selective fishing opportunities.

One of the trickier issues is what to do with the use of landing nets - do we eliminate or restrict their use in the public fishery?

We could fish like commercial trollers and release and retain fish only using gaffs. The use of nets, with scale loss, fin tearing, laying a fish on the dry, warm boat floor, removing the hook and then possibly touching the fish to release it is a big factor in catch and release mortality rates in my understanding. If need, be I could live with no longing using a landing net if it meant more fishing opportunities.

What do others think on this?

Absolutely agree - no landing nets on any fish to be released. I think the research is very clear - nets are very bad. If you intend on releasing a fish best practice is not to touch it at all - just use a gaff to remove the hook. If you really must (due to hook placement) remove the fish from the water, pick it up with your hands or use a fish cradle. Webbed nets are very bad for creating fin damage, which post release start to get infected and lead to mortality within 5 or more days post release.

 

[searun]

These little devices are old school, but they work for running hoochies without a flasher.....Changing regulations just mean everyone will innovate to build a better mouse trap.

 

[searun]

DFO has email addresses for everyone with a fishing license in BC. Why can’t this be used for direct communication and education to the angler?
Point form recommendations on gear alterations and handling practices that will help boost salmon survival. The title is right in this thread. The content is in these articles.
Educate not regulate.

Everything always sounds easy, Problem with this idea is with the Freedom of Info and Privacy laws they can't unless you specifically give them permission. I suppose the other problem (because there are work arounds that are immediately captain obvious) is getting change within a Federal government system will come up against a wall of excuses ...oops, my bad....reasons why those solutions won't work. The safest way is no way! Status quo.

 

[fishinforever]

I’m sorry to go against the grain here but let’s stop focusing on implementing new regulations upon ourselves…
Anyone who’s been on the water knows there is a great number of fish around.
Lots of rivers are thriving! The Fraser is its own issue

 

[searun]

I’m sorry to go against the grain here but let’s stop focusing on implementing new regulations upon ourselves…
Anyone who’s been on the water knows there is a great number of fish around.
Lots of rivers are thriving! The Fraser is its own issue

Well no argument about fish numbers for many Chinook runs. Part of the immense challenge as we all know is there are also weak stocks mixed in with the abundant stocks - so this means we need to be also thinking about how to fish more sustainably to ensure those weak stocks recover. Anything less isn't being good stewards of the resource IMO. That said, there also has to be smart application of science and mgmt measures that have good consideration for proceeding with fisheries where there are acceptable low risk fishery measures that minimize impacts.

Minimizing FRIM (incidental mortality) by implementing science-based fish handling and fishing techniques known to produce the best release outcomes (lowest injuries to released fish) is the smart thing to support sustainable fisheries.

Another reason we really need to embrace changes to fish handling and techniques that minimize FRIM is simply because our fishery is under intense attack from many circles - we can ill afford to ignore ways to address FRIM. Ignore at our own peril. Adapt or learn to golf.

 

[wildmanyeah]

Are guides not already doing alot of recommendations and wouldn’t that represent a good portion of the fish being released.

 

[wildmanyeah]

These little devices are old school, but they work for running hoochies without a flasher.....Changing regulations just mean everyone will innovate to build a better mouse trap.

View attachment 113142

How well do they work for pinks and sockeye and chum?

 

[wildmanyeah]

If smaller fish have higher mortality reduce the minimum size of retention

 

[Sharphooks]

i promote, what you catch is your catch, using the example above of releasing a keeper to find bigger fish is poor karma IMHO.

i cannot be on the water and c&r 50 plus chinooks looking for bigger fish. i will move areas and change tactics when it makes sense to catch a persons second fish that is hopefully bigger. they get the knowledge of the targeted purposeful effort to catch a bigger fish, without weeding through the dinks. i do the same for halibut too.. chicken ranch or on the anchor targeting bigger butts. let the customer be part of the conscious decisions made on the boat.

I agree with that concept but not everybody has the luxury of day-fishing and being near a refrigerator or freezer to properly take care of the daily catch for the waters they typically fish

In the past, my trips were C&R for a 25 - 30 day trip because I was forced to. I was a long way from home and ice was not always available. The last 3 or 4 days of the trip I brought out the net. I didn’t hi-grade. I’ve never high-graded. If it was legal, I kept it. If I got skunked during those last 3 or 4 days on the water, I went home with an empty fish box and remembered that particular trip as a fishing trip, not a keeping trip.

Two season ago I purchased a pre-owned boat that had a freezer installed. But in order to be legal, you have to leave the tail on a fish. There’s no way you can do that with anything even remotely close to Tyee size because you run out of space. So anything big gets shaken off at the gunnel with a gaff and I’m happy with a few teeners.

That approach to fishing might end up being the new normal. We all know what happened to the Rivers stock of big fish from the high-grade approach.

 

[searun]

Are guides not already doing alot of recommendations and wouldn’t that represent a good portion of the fish being released.

There are no formal programs that I am aware of to hold guides accountable to practice the best practices identified. I'm on the water over 100 days a season and have seen very good practices, as well as very poor practices. Any adoption of best practices initially will be purely voluntary accomplished through education and awareness. Regulatory amendments take a very long time no matter how urgently we might wish to change them. So for now education and awareness are our best tools to affect positive change.

Early days, and the only effort I'm aware of is the SFAB Regulations Working Group is now undertaking effort to look for potential amendments to the regulations. The effort is focused on designing a schedule of gear types and descriptions that could be attached to the BC Sport Fishing Regulations. Once complete, the schedule and definitions will assist by providing fishery managers with the tools necessary to implement some regulations that will support the best practices.

Anyone who has been engaged in amending regulations will know this is a very long process to accomplish any changes to regulations.

 

[searun]

I agree with that concept but not everybody has the luxury of day-fishing and being near a refrigerator or freezer to properly take care of the daily catch for the waters they typically fish

In the past, my trips were C&R for a 25 - 30 day trip because I was forced to. I was a long way from home and ice was not always available. The last 3 or 4 days of the trip I brought out the net. I didn’t hi-grade. I’ve never high-graded. If it was legal, I kept it. If I got skunked during those last 3 or 4 days on the water, I went home with an empty fish box and remembered that particular trip as a fishing trip, not a keeping trip.

Two season ago I purchased a pre-owned boat that had a freezer installed. But in order to be legal, you have to leave the tail on a fish. There’s no way you can do that with anything even remotely close to Tyee size because you run out of space. So anything big gets shaken off at the gunnel with a gaff and I’m happy with a few teeners.

That approach to fishing might end up being the new normal. We all know what happened to the Rivers stock of big fish from the high-grade approach.

There so far has been no scientific evidence to support the hypothesis that fishery high grading is solely responsible for the trend observed over the past decade or more of decreasing size at age of Chinook. A number of studies, none so far have been able to demonstrate a link to fishery (recreational, commercial, FN) effects - some have pointed to the size at age is a response to predation. So the jury is indeed out on causes, which are likely multi-faceted.

Resurgence of an apex marine predator and the decline in prey body size​

Jan Ohlberger https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6795-240X janohl@uw.edu, Daniel E. Schindler, Eric J. Ward https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4359-0296, +1, and Timothy E. EssingtonAuthors Info & Affiliations
Edited by James A. Estes, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, and approved November 13, 2019 (received for review June 25, 2019)
://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1910930116

In light of recent recoveries of marine mammal populations worldwide and heightened concern about their impacts on marine food webs and global fisheries, it has become increasingly important to understand the potential impacts of large marine mammal predators on prey populations and their life-history traits. In coastal waters of the northeast Pacific Ocean, marine mammals have increased in abundance over the past 40 to 50 y, including fish-eating killer whales that feed primarily on Chinook salmon. Chinook salmon, a species of high cultural and economic value, have exhibited marked declines in average size and age throughout most of their North American range. This raises the question of whether size-selective predation by marine mammals is generating these trends in life-history characteristics. Here we show that increased predation since the 1970s, but not fishery selection alone, can explain the changes in age and size structure observed for Chinook salmon populations along the west coast of North America. Simulations suggest that the decline in mean size results from the selective removal of large fish and an evolutionary shift toward faster growth and earlier maturation caused by selection. Our conclusion that intensifying predation by fish-eating killer whales contributes to the continuing decline in Chinook salmon body size points to conflicting management and conservation objectives for these two iconic species.

 

[Stoisy]

I agree the paper above suggests that fisheries are not the main cause of the decline in size based on their models. However, it clearly shows that high-grading, "selective removal of large fish", influences the size at maturity and the overall decline of body size. So whether that is driven by whales or fisheries (or more likely the combination), the mechanism is still the same and still functions to drive down the size. Layer on the overabundance of pink and chum into the ocean, and that "fish bowl" is getting pretty small. Smaller bowl, smaller fish. To suggest large-body selective fisheries have not had ANY impact doesn't pass the common sense test to me. Given in controlled environments there is ample evidence to show fishery removal leads to evolutionary changes in fish of all kinds. Why would salmon be any different? Research (Conover et al. 2009 - Reversal of evolutionary downsizing caused by selective harvest of large fish) also shows that we can reverse the effects and increase body size with the same, but reverse selective pressure.

Maybe it's time we implement an 80-85cm maximum size and reduce the lower limits on Chinook on the ECVI to allow anglers more opportunity for retention (62 down to 45cm??). Especially considering the clear trends that this, and other studies have demonstrated, where smaller fish are less likely to survive a release event. Reduced overall incidental mortality, the potential to increase body size (yes there are other causes, but no one is going to approve killing KWs...), and really, 20lbs (~85cm) and under are the best table fare anyway.

We need to look for solutions other than fishery on/fishery off. Changes to size regulations would have tangible benefits to reduce our FRIM rates.

 

[PEETZcanada]

These little devices are old school, but they work for running hoochies without a flasher.....Changing regulations just mean everyone will innovate to build a better mouse trap.

View attachment 113142

The OKI Crazy 8 head is a great actionizer. It works awesome on all hoochy bodies up to 6 inch and does amazingly well on bucktail flies and other streamers. One of many heads that are extremely successful for salmon trout and other species. Certainly no flasher needed, but a dodger sure increases its potential.

 

[searun]

Here's more info on best practices - the website is in early stages of development so there will be subsequent enhancements.

Release Them Right — Sport Fishing Institute of British Columbia

www.sportfishing.bc.ca

 

[TMan]

These little devices are old school, but they work for running hoochies without a flasher.....Changing regulations just mean everyone will innovate to build a better mouse trap.

View attachment 113142

We could run flasher releases too. SIMON release and homemade versions. I just run a dummy . But wonder what my catch rate with flashers would be like.

 

[terrin]

There so far has been no scientific evidence to support the hypothesis that fishery high grading is solely responsible for the trend observed over the past decade or more of decreasing size at age of Chinook. A number of studies, none so far have been able to demonstrate a link to fishery (recreational, commercial, FN) effects - some have pointed to the size at age is a response to predation. So the jury is indeed out on causes, which are likely multi-faceted.

Resurgence of an apex marine predator and the decline in prey body size​

Jan Ohlberger https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6795-240X janohl@uw.edu, Daniel E. Schindler, Eric J. Ward https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4359-0296, +1, and Timothy E. EssingtonAuthors Info & Affiliations
Edited by James A. Estes, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, and approved November 13, 2019 (received for review June 25, 2019)
://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1910930116

In light of recent recoveries of marine mammal populations worldwide and heightened concern about their impacts on marine food webs and global fisheries, it has become increasingly important to understand the potential impacts of large marine mammal predators on prey populations and their life-history traits. In coastal waters of the northeast Pacific Ocean, marine mammals have increased in abundance over the past 40 to 50 y, including fish-eating killer whales that feed primarily on Chinook salmon. Chinook salmon, a species of high cultural and economic value, have exhibited marked declines in average size and age throughout most of their North American range. This raises the question of whether size-selective predation by marine mammals is generating these trends in life-history characteristics. Here we show that increased predation since the 1970s, but not fishery selection alone, can explain the changes in age and size structure observed for Chinook salmon populations along the west coast of North America. Simulations suggest that the decline in mean size results from the selective removal of large fish and an evolutionary shift toward faster growth and earlier maturation caused by selection. Our conclusion that intensifying predation by fish-eating killer whales contributes to the continuing decline in Chinook salmon body size points to conflicting management and conservation objectives for these two iconic species.

Maybe no studies but common sense would suggest that to be the case.

 

[salmonkiller01]

let me get this straight, everyone points fingers at sport fishing for low returns which no study shows this conclusive.
Studies show predation on out going smolts in the Fraser River estuary is a problem proven with science thru scat sample- do nothing
Fish farms disease spreading to smolts and salmon- do nothing
Close sport fishing for conservation in April to save early fraser Chinook yet open net fisheries targeting these same fish on the river.

The world has gone nuts. If you use single barbless hooks and keep the fish released in the water the survival goes up to 95% wether hootchie flasher, spoon ……Net it and release odds go down

 

[PEETZcanada]

How well do they work for pinks and sockeye and chum?

Dead slow troll, however OVERAL not as effective as it is for Coho, Chinook and trout at higher speeds. Imagine the possibility of all the waste that might be inadvertently created at the swipe of a pen from all the useless gear that no one will need anymore in both the new and used market . If sport has to do it so does commercial and indigenous fisheries.

Oh well.

 

[Saxe Point]

We could run flasher releases too. SIMON release and homemade versions. I just run a dummy . But wonder what my catch rate with flashers would be like.

There’s huge debate about whether inline flashers are more effective than dummy flashers. My son and I switched to dummies years ago and we do just fine, so we don’t think there’s any advantage to inline. Fighting the fish without a flasher on the line is so much better that even if we did catch a few less, and I don’t believe we do, it’s worth it.

 

[PEETZcanada]

There’s huge debate about whether inline flashers are more effective than dummy flashers. My son and I switched to dummies years ago and we do just fine, so we don’t think there’s any advantage to inline. Fighting the fish without a flasher on the line is so much better that even if we did catch a few less, and I don’t believe we do, it’s worth it.

The only time a flasher is truly helpful inline quite frankly is to aid in actionizing your presentation. Primarily on products such as hoochies and flash Flys or similar if that is what you like to use. I for instance rarely use hoochy rigs or bait, even on bait a flasher is not necessary. I also use dummies and glow balls, but mostly the latter. I am primarily a plug and spoon or jig angler. There are lots of long forgotten techniques that can be employed to help catch anyone some fish. One thing to remember, and some may not even be aware that back in the day, we used to stop trolling when we hooked up and battle out the fish. Now we keep trolling and drag the fish up to the side of the boat.

Oh well.