Tag «DFO»

Fraser Chinook Fishery Mortality Index Summary, 2014 – 2020

DFO has released a memorandum that reports on the titled subject.

This memo compiles information to support Southern BC Chinook harvest planning and specifically
fisheries that impact Fraser River Chinook Managment Units (MUs).

There are many measures and estimates of salmon mortality and salmon escapement. Some discussion of how to arrive at useful conclusions with insufficient data. Certainly an important DFO management objective was achieved.

The management objective to shift the harvest distribution of Summer 41 from marine, particularly Area F troll, fisheries to Fraser River FN FSC fisheries appears to have been achieved, as there was a large shift in the proportion of Summer 41 Chinook caught by each fishing group and a greater proportion of the overall Fraser Chinook catch was comprised of Summer 41 Chinook; approximately 60% of the harvest of this MU occurred in First Nations FSC fisheries in the Fraser River in 2020 (compared to 18% in the base period). In addition, the Lower Shuswap escapement objective was met in both 2019 and 2020.

A recreational fisherperson will recognize the commercial Area F troll fishery referenced, and remember that DFO shut down some commercial salmon fisheries this past summer. Presumably in aid of the stated management objective.

Salmon 2022/2023 IFMPs: It has begun

DFO has notified stakeholders of the kick off of the process to create the Salmon 2022/2023 Integrated Fisheries Management Plans (IFMPs) for Northern and Southern British Columbia (BC).

This table shows the important dates for the activities expected to develop the salmon IFMPs.

2022-23 Salmon IFMPs Process Timelines

Activity	Proposed Timelines
Release of DFO IFMP Planning Letter and timelines for 2022/23 season	December 3, 2021
Salmon Post Season Review Meetings All First Nations and stakeholders invited to attend.	Northern – December 2-3, 2021 Southern – December 15, 2021
2022 Salmon Outlook All First Nations and stakeholders invited to attend.	December 16, 2021
Deadline for new CSAF proposals	January 27, 2022
Meetings to review and discuss potential changes to IFMPs and opportunity for focussed discussion on key IFMP issues	Fraser Forum – January 18-20 2022 Northern IHPC – February 2, 2022 Southern IHPC – February 8, 2022
Draft IFMPs released for public review & comment	February 24, 2022
Meetings to review draft IFMP	Fraser Forum – March 1-3, 2022 Northern IHPC – March 9, 2022 Southern IHPC – March 10, 2022
2022 Revised Salmon Outlook	April 5, 2022
Deadline to submit comments on draft IFMP	April 15, 2022
Final Meetings for discussion on IFMP feedback	Fraser Forum – Apr 12-14, 2022 Full IHPC – May 4-5, 2022
Target for public release of salmon IFMP	June 30, 2022

Correspondence from DFO Pacific Salmon Management Team, DFO.PacificSalmonRMT-EGRSaumonduPacifique.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

The notice includes a lengthy description of the planning considerations for these IFMPs. The table of contents gives you an idea of what’s to come:

It’s almost a year old, but this review and comment on DFO’s last exercise in consulting FNs and stakeholders – their terms to segregate Canadians – toward developing salmon IFMPs is worth a quick read. If nothing else, you may appreciate that the south coast of Vancouver Island isn’t the only fishery trying to understand the logic of DFO fishery management decisions constrained by court decisions and politics, and sometimes the hard data that suggests they’re managing some salmon and steelhead to extinction.

UBC researchers: SRKW food shortage is “probably not occurring”

A DFO-funded study by UBC rsearchers into prey availability for southern resident killer whales (SRKW) has made some interesting observations. Basically, there’s no lack of chinook salmon as a food source where the SRKWs normally range. The article, published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Acquatic Sciences, may be read here wth the title, “Southern resident killer whales encounter higher prey densities than northern resident killer whales during summer”.

Contrary to expectations, we found the density of potential prey available to southern resident killer whales was relatively high during summer in the coastal waters of British Columbia and Washington, where salmon restoration and enhancement management efforts including the commercial and recreational fishing regulations have been focused.
“Southern resident killer whales encounter higher prey densities than northern resident killer whales during summer”

As this study using acoustic technqiues – ship based echosounders – had very few similar studies with which to compare data, and none in the same regions and for the same fish species; and it focused on specific times and places – there are limits to what may be concluded.

The study does, however, suggest that the closures and non-retention restrictions imposed by DFO upon southern Vancouver Island recreational fishers during peak chinook migration over the past few years has been all pain and no gain. And this year, of course, the commercial chinook fishery was pretty much shut down with next to no notice.

Going forward, please let’s not confuse the precautionary principle with the politically inspired rewriting of the rules.

Salmon and Politics, Again

Jeffrey Young of the David Suzuki Foundation, an environmental non-government organization, was interviewed for an article published in the July 8th edition of the National Observer.

Mr. Young presumably has a goal of finding, “…solutions to conserve and recover wildlife like Pacific salmon and orca.” Which isn’t obvious from the views he expresses on the subject, which seem to belie his statement that, “I’m motivated to work with everyone to put these solutions into place.” And if everyone doesn’t agree with Mr. Young’s analysis?

Young’s comments are misleading, suggestive and inaccurate.
Chris Bos, PFA

The Public Fishery Alliance (PFA) has responded with a rebuttal to Mr. Young’s claims, and it’s worth a read to understand how Mr. Young has framed his views on this topic, and how that contrasts to the salmon fishery reality in which the PFA has worked cooperatively with DFO for many years.

Feds Provide Guiding Principles for PSSI

News release here has our federal government stating they have established guiding principles for the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI) announced in their 2021 budget.

The PSSI is a comprehensive initiative that will build on and support the years of work and wisdom that grassroots organizations, Indigenous communities, scientists and others have already put into efforts to protect and recover Pacific salmon. In the coming months, DFO will invite key partners to the table to identify and prioritize actions to support healthy salmon – a necessary, holistic approach that has not been undertaken before.
The plan will guide investments and action in four key areas: conservation and stewardship, enhanced hatchery production, harvest transformation, and integrated management and collaboration.
news release 2020 06 08

Many words about how they plan to save the salmon. Now to reconcile this with the prior post regarding steelhead conservation. The poor steeelhead today finds itself labelled a trout, but has flip flopped between the trout and salmon families over the years. Perhaps if it joined the salmon species again, it’d get more consideration.

DFO: Politics first, fish second

Justine Hunter, writing for the Globe & Mail, provides insight into the machinations at DFO when environment meets politics head on.

In January, 2018, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), an independent advisory panel of scientists, put out a rare emergency bulletin declaring the southern interior steelhead trout was at imminent risk of extinction. The population had been reduced by 80 per cent over the previous 15 years, and was at its lowest point in 40 years.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-how-ottawa-thwarted-efforts-to-help-an-endangered-species/

The federal minister of environment was asked to protect this species under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA). Commercial, recreational and Indigenous fisheries should have been seriously impacted. The minister rejected the request in 2019.

The BC Wildlife Federation, under an Access to Information request, received documents that reveal management at DFO rewrote the findings of the scientific panel. DFO themselves understood they were undermining the integrity of the process – as in, what’s the point of an independent scientific panel? – and published the report after substantially altering recommedations to suit federal government political goals. The BC government’s director of fish and aquatics complained, asking the published report be removed from circulation; that was ignored.

You are urged to read about this one well-documented example of how our federal government hits all the right notes on the journey to a decision – scientists listened to, every group possible consulted – and then fashions what they’ve heard into what they need to support the political outcome they wanted from, “Go.”

Tell Minister Jordan about Chinook Retention

That message from Chris Bos of the SVIAC to Minister Jordan regarding chinook retention can use reinforcement from all of us. Minister Jordan has yet to announce her decision. There two ways in which you may support this effort:

The best way is to write a short letter to Minister Jordan directly. Here are the contact details for Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan:
- By email: min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
- By telephone: 1 (613) 992-3474
The Public Fishery Alliance has put together an excellent form letter where everything is already laid out for you. You just add your name, email address and postal code then press send and you’re done. This only takes about 30 seconds. Here is the link to the PFA form letter.

Expressing your desire to fish for chinook as proposed isn’t about harming any of the struggling Fraser River Chinook stocks. The fisheries contained in the SFAB proposal sent to DFO are designed specifically to avoid those stocks of concern.

SVIAC to Minister: Selective fisheries, please!

SVIAC President Chris Bos has sent a plea to DFO Minister Bernadette Jordan imploring her to announce selective chinook fishery opportunities for the places and times identified by the collaborative effort of DFO and the SFAB.

Please clearly understand we, as anglers, support conservation and have been seeking a meaningful recovery plan from your department regarding Fraser River Chinook stocks of concern for over fifteen years. However, the SFAB proposal on your desk has been specifically fashioned so there are absolutely minimal encounters of these challenged stocks. The objective is for anglers to harvest abundant stocks and USA origin hatchery Chinook, while stocks of concern are allowed to recover.
letter from SVIAC President Chris Bos to Minister Bernadette Jordan

DFO, SARA and Transient Killer Whales

DFO has cast its net wide to solicit feedback for the ongoing Species at Risk Act (SARA) recovery planning for the Transient Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) in Canada. Specifically, they seek new information related to two recovery documents for this population: a draft amended Recovery Strategy and a draft Action Plan.

With respect to the amended Recovery Strategy, DFO welcomes any new information with regard to Section 8.0 (Critical Habitat) of this draft document.

The good news is that the population of transient killer whales is slowly growing. The bad news is they remain threatened primarily by man-made pollutants, and their marine habitat exposes them to acoustic and phsyical disturbances from shipping and boating.

This Recovery Strategy identifies critical habitat for the Transient Killer Whale as all Canadian
Pacific marine waters bounded by a distance of three nautical miles (5.56 km) from the nearest
shore.
…
Under SARA, critical habitat must be legally protected within 180 days of being identified in a final recovery strategy or action plan and included in the Species at Risk Public Registry. For the Transient Killer Whale, it is anticipated that this will be accomplished through a SARA Critical Habitat Order made under subsections 58(4) and (5), which will invoke the prohibition in subsection 58(1) against the destruction of any part of the identified critical habitat.
amended Recovery Strategy

New prohibitions on activities within transient killer whale habitat may be appropriate. Enforcement of same by an agency that already seems overwhelmed managing our west coast fisheries may be challenging.

DFO seeks to evaluate their efforts on salmon

Although most industries try to conduct a “lessons learned” exercise at the conclusion of each project, DFO is seeking to do similar for the work they’ve done regarding salmon from 2015 to 2020. The ongoing nature of most of DFO’s programs, policies and initiatives makes a specific end point difficult to identify; thus a “point in time” evaluation.

The Evaluation Division of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is currently conducting an evaluation aimed at exploring all aspects of DFO’s activities in support of Pacific salmon over the period from April 2015 to March 2020.
email from Evaluation Division of DFO

Their stated goal is to improve decision making, innovation and accountability within DFO, toward improving the effectiveness and efficiency of programs, policies and initiatives. The survey should take you about 30 minutes to complete, and the ACS encourages you to do so. It’s supposed to close at March 31, 2021, but appears to still be open.

https://questionnaire.simplesurvey.com/f/l/Pacificsalmonexternal