Monthly archives: February, 2019

SFAB Meeting

Ryan Chamberland, our Area 19/20 SFAB Chairperson, invites you to attend an SFAB meeting on Monday, March 04 at 7:00 pm at the Juan De Fuca Kinsmen Fieldhouse (Building by Golf Course/Tennis Facility, same room as Made In BC Wild Salmon meeting – see the red shape tagged with a 5, below).

Topics on the agenda are:

2019 Chinook Salmon Fisheries Management.
New halibut regulations for 2019.
Avid Anglers Update.
Southern Resident Killer Whale Update.
Prawn Reductions. DFO is recommending a 50% reduction in prawn limits. The Chair will be seeking input as what the SFAB should recommend to DFO as acceptable limit changes.
Update on previous motions from Fall meetings.
Thompson/Chilcotin Steelhead update.

If you would like to receive emails regarding future Area 19/20 SFAB meetings, important notices and letters, please contact Ryan via this email.

IPHC Decisions on Halibut

The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) issued a news release that describes the detailed outcomes of their recent annual meeting.

As summarized for BC anglers in an email from Kelly Wagner of the South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition (SVIAC):

Canada’s total allowable catch is set at 6.83 Million lbs (slight decrease of 270,000 lbs from 2018)
Knowing the 2019 Total Allowable Catch for Canada, the SFAB can now turn to designing a fishery.
Once again a strong vote of thanks must be extended to our entire Canadian delegation, especially our Commissioners. We had 36 Canadian voting organizations represented at the Conference Board this year and I can confirm we are very fortunate to have the amount of knowledge, talent and expertise on our side of the table.

Wild Salmon Advisory Council Hears from Kamloops

On January 8, the provincial government appointed Wild Salmon Advisory Council held a meeting in Kamloops to receive input from interested parties from the BC interior. Our thanks to Kamloops This Week, whose report on the meeting may be read in this article.

Matt Jennings, executive director of the B.C. Fishing Resorts and Outfitters Association, said that while recreational anglers are users of the resource, they are also a passionate group of stewards. He called for drastic measures from the government to show it is committed.

“The one thing I’m looking for from this government is an immediate stoppage of logging in critical salmon habitat,” he said. “If they can show us that they’ll actually do that, I think we’ll have a chance of moving forward.”

Travis Marr, a Tk’emlups member who works for the Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation and fishes for both sustenance and sport, said he would like to see an end to “archaic discharge practices.”

“Here in Kamloops we have a sewer plant, Domtar and the city dump all within a small area, all downstream of the Thompson River, where there are juvenile-rearing salmon,” Marr said. “These archaic practices need to change. The City of Kamloops needs to smarten up and make those changes.”

Goldstream Hatchery

Earlier this year, the Globe & Mail published an article profiling the efforts of the volunteers at the Howard English Hatchery in Goldstream Provincial Park. The challenges faced at Goldstream are not uncommon to the many other volunteer-run hatcheries across BC.

…the role of hatcheries has to be just one part of salmon restoration. Management of commercial and recreational fisheries is another, significant, issue. But if DFO wants to boost Chinook stocks, B.C.’s hatcheries could use their help…

March 1 deadline to respond to 2019 Fraser River Chinook Conservation Measures

DFO has distributed information that describes the actions DFO is proposing to take to address Fraser River chinook conservation concerns in 2019. They are seeking your feedback by March 1, 2019.

The table shown below, from DFO’s letter, summarizes the options they are proposing. You are strongly encouraged to provide them with your feedback.

Table 3: Summary Table of proposed management actions for Scenario A and B

Fishery

Scenario A

Scenario B

Commercial

NBC AABM (Area F) Troll

Closed to July 17

Closed to July 10

WCVI AABM (Area G)
Troll

Closed to August 1

Kamloops Lake Chinook Demonstration Fishery

Closed

Recreational

NBC AABM

No measures proposed for Fraser chinook

NBC ISBM

No measures proposed for Fraser chinook

WCVI AABM (Areas 121
to 127)

a) Apr 1 to July 31, Chinook non- retention;
b) Aug 1 to Dec 31, 2 Chinook/day.

No measures proposed for Fraser chinook

WCVI ISBM

No measures proposed for Fraser chinook

Johnstone Strait (Area 12)

c)    Apr 1 to July 31, Chinook non- retention;
d)   Aug 1 to Aug 29, 1 Chinook/day (with option for terminal fisheries);
e)   Aug 30 to Dec 31, 2 Chinook/day.

a) Apr 1 to August 29, 1 Chinook/day (with option for terminal fisheries).
b) Aug 30 to Dec 31, 2 Chinook/day.

Strait of Georgia – North
Areas 13 to 17, 28,
portion of 29 (29-1 and
29-2)

a)   Apr 1 to July 31, Chinook non- retention;
b)   Aug 1 to Aug 29, 1 Chinook/day (with option for terminal fisheries);
c)    Aug 30 to Dec 31, 2 Chinook/day.

d) Apr 1 to August 29, 1 Chinook/day (with option for terminal fisheries).
e) Aug 30 to Dec 31, 2 Chinook/day.

Strait of Georgia – South and
Juan de Fuca
Areas 18 to 20, portions
of Area 29 (29-3 to 29-5)

a)   Apr 1 to July 31, Chinook non- retention;
b)   Aug 1 to Aug 29, 1 Chinook/day (with option for terminal fisheries);
c)    Aug 30 to Dec 31, 2 Chinook/day.

a)   Apr 1 to July 31, 1 chinook/day; hatchery marked only
b)   Aug 1 to Aug 29, 1 Chinook/day (with option for terminal fisheries)
c)    Aug 30 to Dec 31, 2 Chinook/day.

Fraser River Tidal and Non Tidal and Sub area 29-6 to 29-10

a) Jan. 1 to August 23 , No fishing for salmon. Aug. 23 to Dec. 31, Chinook non-retention

a) Jan. 1 to August 23 , No fishing for salmon.
b) Aug. Aug 23 to December 31, 1 Chinook/day

Freshwater Regions 3,5,7 &8

b) closed to fishing for salmon except in some areas where fisheries on other stocks or species may take place.

c) closed to fishing for salmon except in some areas where fisheries on other stocks or species may take place.

First Nations

South Coast

a) Fishing to FSC communal allocations as in previous years; marine FSC Chinook fisheries are largely terminal and directed at local Chinook stocks. No measures proposed for SCA First Nations chinook fisheries.

A) Fishing to FSC communal allocations as in previous years; marine FSC Chinook fisheries are largely terminal and directed at local Chinook stocks. No measures proposed for SCA First Nations chinook fisheries.

Lower Fraser

a) Jan. 1 to Aug 10, very limited impacts on chinook in FSC fisheries
b) After Aug. 10, targeted chinook fishing or bycatch during sockeye- directed opportunities.

a) Jan. 1 to Aug 10, limited chinook directed FSC fisheries with effort limitations extended to Aug. 10 or bycatch during sockeye- directed opportunities
b) After Aug. 10, targeted chinook fishing or bycatch during sockeye-directed opportunities.

BC Interior – d/s of Thompson Confluence

a) Jan 1 to Aug 10, very limited impacts on chinook in communal FSC fisheries. Time or gear restrictions.
b) After Aug. 10 limited selective chinook fishing or bycatch during sockeye-directed opportunities until. Later in August, targeted chinook fishing or by-catch during sockeye directed fishing. Low impact terminal harvests.

a) Jan 1 to Aug 10 limited communal FSC fisheries. Time or gear restrictions.
b) After Aug 10, Directed chinook fishing or bycatch during sockeye-directed opportunities.

BC Interior – u/s of Thompson Confluence Note: the only chinook in the area are Spring 52 and Summer 52 chinook.

Fisheries in the area constrained by preferred gear type or fishing times. Discussion required to reduce overall catch.

Fisheries in the area constrained by preferred gear type or fishing times.

2018 Salmon Catch Report

Via D.C. Reid, we are able to provide DFO’s 2018 post-season report on the salmon catch by the recreational, commercial and indigenous peoples fishing sectors. In Mr. Reid’s own words,

The table of most interest to Van Isle anglers is on page 93, cited as: 15.4 Appendix 4. It is the southern BC catch stats. I add the totals together to reach a total southern sport retained catch of 418,600.

Also of interest are the text write-ups for the specific stocks/rivers, which are earlier in the report and in the Table of Contents. Just click on an item, and the document jumps to it.

Thank you D.C. Reid and DFO.

DFO Salmon Enhancement Program Statistics

It’s worth taking a look at the Integrated Fisheries Management Plan (IFMP) related Salmon Enhancement Program (SEP) statistics. While most people are familiar with several hatcheries in the areas in which they live and/or fish, the tables here nicely show the magnitude of the SEP across the province, and the activities at SEP facilities. And this does not include provincially managed fisheries enhancement efforts.