The response they gave me
ecember 21, 2017
Dear Concerned Citizen,
Thank you for your email regarding the state of the interior Fraser steelhead. The Province of British Columbia (BC) recognizes that steelhead is an iconic fish species of significant economic, social and ecological importance and thus is of high priority to the province.
The provincial objective for steelhead management is to maintain and restore wild steelhead populations to maximize ecological, socio-economic and culture benefits for British Columbia. It is clear that the current status of these stocks is not in a desirable condition.
In 2016, the province published the Provincial Framework for Steelhead Management in British Columbia, which guides the strategies and actions the province undertakes for the conservation and management of steelhead. This document is available for viewing at:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/fish/docs/Provincial-Framework-for-Steelhead-Management-in-BC-April-2016.pdf Various factors influence wild steelhead during their freshwater and marine phases of their life cycle. Factors influencing steelhead in the marine environment include fisheries by-catch mortality, predation mortality and ocean conditions. These factors are under federal management authority and, to a large extent, difficult to manage.
One area of the marine life cycle where there is the potential to influence adult abundance is by-catch management in salmon fisheries. The federal government’s salmon Integrated Fisheries Management Plan (IFMP) process, undertaken annually for North and South BC coasts, provides an opportunity to incorporate steelhead management objectives within the broader planning process for the harvesting of salmon. The province endorses efforts to minimize exposure of summer-run steelhead to salmon fisheries in times and places of steelhead migration. Efforts might include limiting fisheries that are only modestly selective. In the short term, the province will continue to work with the federal government (i.e. Fisheries and Oceans Canada) to improve data and information for steelhead and to develop a joint steelhead management objective in federal IFMP.
Administration of the recreational freshwater sport fishery is a provincial responsibility delegated from the Government of Canada. Therefore, fisheries management tools immediately available to support steelhead management include recreational angling regulations. Regulations can be implemented to alter mortalities associated with recreational angling via harvest restrictions, gear restrictions and time/area restrictions.
The recreational freshwater fishery is already limited to a short time window and is catch and release. Changes may be considered to close the recreational opportunity completely.
Habitat protection and restoration measures can influence the productive capacity of freshwater habitats to produce juvenile steelhead where habitat is limiting, degraded or fragmented. Currently, proposals for Fisheries Sensitive Watersheds and Temperature Sensitive Streams are being developed in the interior of the province.
Improving steelhead management to maintain and restore wild populations of steelhead will undoubtedly depend on the effectiveness of our shared stewardship across governments, First Nations, industry, stakeholder and special interest groups, and the public at large. Thank you for your letter as raising your concerns continues to raise the profile of issues affecting these important stocks. We appreciate your desire to conserve interior Fraser steelhead stocks.
Sincerely,
Ward Trotter
Executive Director
Natural Resources
pc: Honourable Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource
Operations and Rural Development
Honourable George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
Thank you for your letter as raising your concerns continues to raise the profile of issues affecting these important stocks. We appreciate your desire to conserve interior Fraser steelhead stocks.This is why its not just import to sign petitions but also send in personal letters how u guys are willing to take action