With three seasons of his “Politics Explained” videos behind him, this appears to be the first video that focuses on west coast fishing. The topic may be controversial, given the varied interests of first nations, recreational, and commercial fisher peoples who all today have a stake in the future of west coast fish populations; and also given the shares of the salmon and halibut fisheries being managed between Canada and the USA.
Anglers, guides and businesses in Port Renfrew have a ‘go fund me campaign’ underway to raise money to take the Department of Fisheries & Oceans (DFO) to court over business losses as a consequence of this year’s additional Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) and Chinook restrictions. They have set up a Go-Fund-Me site to raise $100,000.
With fisheries notice FN0664-Salmon published on July 13, DFO has released the BC Salmon Integrated Fisheries Management Plans (IFMPs) for 2023/2024. They are included below for your convenience.
Latest FN re: Chinook and Areas 18, 19, 20; Subareas 29-3 to 29-5, and Subareas 20-1, 20-2, 29-1, and 29-2
Edit 20230629: DFO followed up FN0612 with FN0617 to say, “Oops!” FN0612 is NOT VALID and was released in error.
Until further notice, the daily limit of Chinook Salmon is zero (0) per day, except for the pilot mark-selective fisheries announced in Fishery Notice FN0488; and the Chinook management measures previously announced for East Coast Vancouver Island (Fishery Notice FN0330) and West Coast Vancouver Island (Fishery Notice FN0332).
These openings are located away from primary migratory routes or during times when there is a low prevalence of Fraser River Chinook stocks of concern and increased abundance of other stocks including hatchery-marked Chinook. In addition to creel surveys (dockside interviews and overflight effort counts) and the iREC reporting program that will be conducted, these pilot MSF openings will be subject to enhanced monitoring including biological sampling and independent verification of at-sea releases. These MSFs will also be subject to evaluation of available post-season information and potential adjustments may be made prior to reopening in Spring 2024.
excerpt from DFO fishery notice FN0426-RECREATIONAL
From May 3rd until the end of May 2023, you may fish for and retain one marked chinook per day, subject to the area-specific minimum size and your annual chinook limit in the following areas:
From June 1 until July 14, 2023, you may fish for and retain one marked chinook per day, subject to the area-specific minimum size and your annual chinook limit in the following areas:
Gulf Islands and Saanich Inlet
Subareas 17-6 and 17-9
From June 1 until July 31, 2023, you may fish for and retain one marked chinook per day, subject to the area-specific minimum size and your annual chinook limit in the following areas:
Gulf Islands and Saanich Inlet
Subareas 18-7, 19-7, 19-8, and That portion of Subarea 18-6 west of a line from Isabella Point on Saltspring Island (48 degrees 44.0239′ N, 123 degrees 25.5622’W) to a point on Piers Island (48 degrees 48.4586’N, 123 degrees 25.3965’W) then to a point on the Saanich Peninsula near 48 degrees 41.8550’N, 123 degrees 26.1056’W.
In all of the above cases: Unmarked Chinook cannot be retained.
Thanks to DFO, the SFAB and all the people who’ve worked to pilot these MSFs while minimizing risk to the Fraser chinook stock and ensuring plentiful prey for the SRKW population.
ACS, DFO and SFAB restructuring plans
Early in February this year, the ACS wrote a letter to DFO in which we expressed serious concerns over the restructuring of the SFAB and the reorganization of at least a few local SFA Committees. DFO responded to our concerns; you may read their response here.
Within DFO’s response is the statement, “Reorganization of the local committees is being considered as recreational fisheries on southern Vancouver Island have evolved and grown over recent decades.“
The ACS has replied to DFO’s response to point out
How the SFAB is devolving to primarily represent the secondary (commercial) sector, in contradiction to the founding Terms of Reference.
That despite the changes to the recreational fishery in recent decades, it has in no way “evolved and grown”.
The reallocation of the recreational fishery has been occurring in a largely behind-the-scenes manner, often without public consultation and generally ignoring information collected and agreed between DFO regional members and recreational fishery advocates.
This latest ACS letter may be read in entirely here.
In your reply of March 02, it is noted that “… recreational fisheries on southern Vancouver Island have evolved and grown over recent decades.” The ACS believes that this is not true. Angler effort and catch have plummeted over the past several decades. Statistics prove this out. One only has to check out local boat launch and angler boat moorage facilities to see the precipitous decline in effort around southern Vancouver Island.
The reallocation of our catch to another user group has been accomplished by the plethora of restrictions on our Chinook fishery over many years. These include, but are not limited to, reduced annual limit from 20 to 10 (without consultation), four month retention closure from April through July, reduced daily limits and maximum size restrictions and closed areas under the guise of protecting Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) whose population is stable.
The Public Fishery Alliance stresses that we support and need wild salmon to recover and we are willing to work with any organization that embraces that goal, including the groups [ENGOs] mentioned in this letter. However, that will be impossible if they continue to promote a divisive agenda based on inferences that recreational fisheries are unregulated, its businesses are only in it for the dollar, and anglers are not legitimate stakeholders.
letter from PFA to The Honourable Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
PSS Online Silent Auction: March 10 – 19
Great news from the Pensinsula Streams Society: their third annual online auction is live! The auction runs from today, March 10, through to March 19. Please visit the auction site for the offerings, and make your bid!
There are several fabulous offerings this year, in many Categories, including Experiences, Fishing, and Food & Drink. We very much hope that you find something you like, and win it with your bid!
The ACS heard recently from Jim Shortread regarding Pacific herring fisheries. Jim thanked the ACS for supporting the Industrial Herring Moratorium. Herring fisheries have now been closed south of Nanaimo and all the way to Race Rocks at the request of First Nations.
On the 25th of March in 2022 there were 170 tonnes of herring spawn at Fisgard Light and Royal Beach. Over the past decade herring spawning has been rather random. The last spawn at Esquimalt was 1998, and there are hopes for the herring to return this spring and spawn again.
There is a strong volunteer team at Fisherman’s Wharf and that is the best spot to drop-in and see what they are doing; branches for herring spawn will be placed at Fishermen’s Wharf on March 11 starting at 10:00 AM. There will be nylon enhancement panels installed as well. Everything will be hung on the seaward side of the crab dock which is the furthest dock from the entrance.
Jim continues:
We are really looking forward to finding adult herring in the month of March. We will dissect the herring and measure the weight of the gonads and the weight of the fish to determine if the herring will be spawning soon.
And if the herring do decide to spawn in Esquimalt again… well, then we need jiggers for sure. We need to collect 25 to 75 spawners for dissection and DNA sampling.
So any help you can give in finding adult herring in the month of March will be most appreciated.
For more information on this topic, or to volunteer your time and/or knowledge, please contact Jim Shortread by email or by phone.
Release of Draft 2023/24 BC Salmon IFMPs for Consultation
With FN0199, DFO has released their draft 2023-2024 Integrated Fisheries Management Plans.
The draft IFMPs set out the policy framework that guides decision making, general objectives relating to management of stocks of concern, enhancement and enforcement, as well as decision guidelines for a range of fisheries.
Please refer to the New for 2023/24 for key changes for the IFMP that may be under consideration.
Section 13 of the IFMPs outline the Species Specific Fishing Plans, …
During March and April, the Department will be meeting with First Nations and recreational, commercial and environmental groups to seek further feedback on the draft IFMPs as part of the IFMP consultation process.
Page 40 of the draft Southern Salmon IFMP speaks to DFO’s latest considerations of Mark Selective Fisheries. Worth noting is that for a significant time period, COVID precautionary measures reduced fin clipping at Canadian salmon hatcheries to near zero; there will be a few years where recreational fishers seeking marked salmon will be dependent upon Washington state origin fish for success.
Mass Marking / Mark-Selective Fisheries The Department approved a small number of mark selective fishery (MSF) opportunities in 2021 that are proposed to continue in 2023/2024, pending the post-season review of the available fisheries information. Details can be found here in Table 13.1-12.
New and modified MSF opportunities are currently being consulted on for possible implementation in Spring 2023. Those MSF that are approved will be included in the final 2023/24 IFMP and may be considered again in Spring 2024 subject to post-season review of the available data (13.1-13: Proposed MSF Openings – Southern ISBM). Also new for 2024 is a proposed modification to the MSF in portions of the Juan de Fuca Strait and Haro Strait that occurs in March to move to marked-only retention .
Further work on a framework to inform decision making on the expanded use of MM and MSF is underway as part of the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI). DFO plans to seek input from First Nations and stakeholders on this work during a series of workshops that began in December 2022 and are anticipated to continue in 2023. Further information will be provided on engagement plans at a later date.
