Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum

Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: westcoastercoho on September 14, 2014, 07:54:19 PM

Title: Hatchery Marked Pinks??
Post by: westcoastercoho on September 14, 2014, 07:54:19 PM
Just wondering if there is such a thing, a coworker mentioned he was catching them a few weeks ago on a North Vancouver Island river.   I did not think hatcheries ever marked pinks, anyone have info other wise?
Title: Re: Hatchery Marked Pinks??
Post by: Rachid on September 14, 2014, 08:35:06 PM
Never heard of a hatchery marked pinks , such new thing to hear  :o
Title: Re: Hatchery Marked Pinks??
Post by: BCfisherman97 on September 14, 2014, 08:49:02 PM
Maybe an accident. Seen lots of clipped springs this year.
Title: Re: Hatchery Marked Pinks??
Post by: Flytech on September 14, 2014, 09:01:52 PM
Or maybe up your co-worker doesn't know how to identify fish properly.
Title: Re: Hatchery Marked Pinks??
Post by: Golfer on September 14, 2014, 09:39:16 PM
Not to derail the thread but...  In Canadian waters, don't they only clip the springs that are encoded with an electronic chip in the heads?  A guide in Kyouquot who does part time DFO and hatchery work, was telling us that.
Title: Re: Hatchery Marked Pinks??
Post by: colin6101 on September 14, 2014, 10:06:04 PM
They also clip some springs in rivers that have small wild runs. You will see some rivers only allow retention of hatchery marked springs.
Title: Re: Hatchery Marked Pinks??
Post by: bkk on September 15, 2014, 05:40:51 PM
Most of the information posted above is wrong. All of the salmon species have been marked at one point of time for a variety of reasons. Endangered sockeye in the Chilliwack system are adipose clipped, coho smolts from DFO hatcheries are adipose clipped but generally not Coded Wire Tagged unless they are doing survival / exploitation studies. Chinook from Canadian DFO hatcheries can be adipose clipped and CWT. American chinook are generally adipose clipped only but can be CWT as well. Chum can be CWT and / or fin clipped. Pinks can be adipose or fin clipped, especially if they are from net pen programs ( assessment reasons). Pinks are hard to do but can survive quite fine if handled properly. Did this with Squamish pinks back in the late 80's so don't rule out this happening in other places.
Title: Re: Hatchery Marked Pinks??
Post by: Rodney on September 15, 2014, 05:49:38 PM
Most of the information posted above is wrong. All of the salmon species have been marked at one point of time for a variety of reasons. Endangered sockeye in the Chilliwack system are adipose clipped, coho smolts from DFO hatcheries are adipose clipped but generally not Coded Wire Tagged unless they are doing survival / exploitation studies. Chinook from Canadian DFO hatcheries can be adipose clipped and CWT. American chinook are generally adipose clipped only but can be CWT as well. Chum can be CWT and / or fin clipped. Pinks can be adipose or fin clipped, especially if they are from net pen programs ( assessment reasons). Pinks are hard to do but can survive quite fine if handled properly. Did this with Squamish pinks back in the late 80's so don't rule out this happening in other places.

Thanks bkk, always appreciate having you and others working in this field providing accurate answers. :)
Title: Re: Hatchery Marked Pinks??
Post by: Chehalis_Steel on September 18, 2014, 11:32:57 AM
Definitely possible if they are stocking them there (esp. local volunteer hatchery) although its more likely he misidentified his catch. Smaller female coho that aren't completely chrome anymore can look like female pinks and can be a bit hard to tell apart if you don't know what to look for. Caught what I thought was a hatchery clipped pink on the Vedder a few years back but it turned out it was a Coho. Could tell by the white gums, black tongue, and lack of larger spots. Since it was clipped (and not a Sockeye), I knew keeping it didn't matter either way.
Title: Re: Hatchery Marked Pinks??
Post by: rln on September 19, 2014, 04:52:33 AM
could have something to do with one of the net pen projects on Vancouver Island. They do one at Nanimo in Depature Bay that had fish return to it this year. Just a guess though