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[troutbreath]

Fraser sockeye fishery opens
 first big run in four years
 By Darah Hansen, Vancouver SunAugust 6, 2010
  British Columbia's commercial fishermen were out in Johnstone Strait off Vancouver Island Thursday to take advantage of the first significant Fraser River sockeye salmon opening in four years.

Seiners were approved to fish from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. Thursday. The opening continued today with gillnetters joining the commercial fleet in the same area.

Phil Eidsvik of the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition said local fishermen are relieved to be back working.

"After ... years of no fishing, most guys know they have a big stack of bills to pay," he said.

Department of Fisheries and Oceans officials said returns this summer have so far been much better than expected.

That trend is expected to continue with seven to 11 million fish expected to return to the Fraser River by the end of the season, well above early forecasts of five to eight million.

The vast majority, 80 per cent, of the sockeye are expected to arrive in the coming weeks.

"At this stage this is a good fishery. Presumably things will continue to develop and we'll have other opportunities," said Barry Rosenberger, federal fisheries director for the B.C. Interior.

The sockeye fishery was last open to commercial fleets in 2006 when a total commercial catch of 3.7 million fish was approved.

A limited fishery opened in 2008 with only 17,000 sockeye caught.

The total allowed catch for the current two-day fishery is 150,000 fish.

Rosenberger said this year could yield a total catch of about three million fish, if runs continue to look strong.

Not everyone is happy about news of the sockeye opening.

Craig Orr of the Watershed Watch Salmon Society said it's too early to determine if the forecast number of fish returns is correct.

"Pre-season forecasting models are notoriously wrong about 75 per cent of the time," he said, adding that without reliable data, "you run the risk of overfishing."

Orr also urged more caution to better protect weaker stocks within the fishery.

Both the Sakinaw Lake and Cultus Lake sockeye populations were designated as endangered in 2002 by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife, an independent group of scientists and wildlife experts. However, neither is listed on the Canadian government's species-at-risk registry.

Rosenberger said forecasting the fish returns is "not a simple process."

"There is a lot of information. You try to make the best decisions you can with the information you've got at a given time," he said.

Monitoring will continue throughout the summer.

Eidsvik said fishermen remain cautiously optimistic as they prepare for the season to get underway in earnest.

"It's a day-to-day thing," he said of the industry. "If the fish are there tomorrow, then we fish. If they aren't, then they don't fish."

Eidsvik said there are about 400 gillnetters and 165 seiners licensed to fish Fraser River salmon in B.C.

dahansen@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

[nosey]

Wonder why the sockeye are in decline, just look at all the people lining up to kill them when a normal size runs finally shows up, the definition of insanity is " You keep doing the same things the same way and expecting different results" by that definition our salmon management is insane beyond all shadows of doubt.

[BBarley]

Phil Eidsvik of the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition said local fishermen are relieved to be back working.

"After ... years of no fishing, most guys know they have a big stack of bills to pay," he said.

I'm sorry, but do these people really try and buy sympathy from everyday people because they just-so-happen to base their financial needs on maybe two or three weeks of work every year?

Am I missing something here?

[Robert_G]

Tax payers pay their salary the rest of the year.

[nosey]

    It's a proven fact that the commercial fishery is the most subsidised industry in BC, they don't have to fish 700 hrs. to collect EI they just have to think about fishing for 700 hrs for a years worth, most of the fish caught are processed in the States by foreign workers doing very little for our economy here anyhow. Turn the commercial fishery over to the natives, it would benefit all the economies along the river and would serve as a big bargaining chip in finally settling the ongoing treaty negotiations that are gonna wind up putting the government even deeper in the red ink than it already is. It would also be one less user group lining up to try to kill every last fish every time a decent run shows up, the way our fisheries have been managed isn't working it's time to start thinking "out of the box". If the commercial fishery was done by one group that group would HAVE to be accountable as the ability to point their fingers at all the others would be gone. The last time there was a commercial fishery for the natives up this way the packers from the city were paying the natives 65 cents a pound for cleaned firm sockeye, if I could get in on that kind of exploitation I'd hang up my snagging gear and consentrate on real sports fishing for genuine sports fish.

[BBarley]

Yeah, I think that would be a great idea. Commercial fishermen are a dying breed, and it's a matter of time before the last ones ride off into the sunset.

Although this thread is about the Fraser fishery, I thought I'd post this link for everyone to take a look at......

http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_north/thenorthernview/news/99341724.html

[valleydude]

having been an avid sportfishermen and commercial fisher for over 15 years,you might want to get your facts straight before you make statements reguarding other user groups,we all struggle with rules and regs out of our control,many people are to take some responsiblity for current state of fish stocks

[firstlight]

    It's a proven fact that the commercial fishery is the most subsidised industry in BC, they don't have to fish 700 hrs. to collect EI they just have to think about fishing for 700 hrs for a years worth, most of the fish caught are processed in the States by foreign workers doing very little for our economy here anyhow. Turn the commercial fishery over to the natives, it would benefit all the economies along the river and would serve as a big bargaining chip in finally settling the ongoing treaty negotiations that are gonna wind up putting the government even deeper in the red ink than it already is. It would also be one less user group lining up to try to kill every last fish every time a decent run shows up, the way our fisheries have been managed isn't working it's time to start thinking "out of the box". If the commercial fishery was done by one group that group would HAVE to be accountable as the ability to point their fingers at all the others would be gone. The last time there was a commercial fishery for the natives up this way the packers from the city were paying the natives 65 cents a pound for cleaned firm sockeye, if I could get in on that kind of exploitation I'd hang up my snagging gear and consentrate on real sports fishing for genuine sports fish.

Some very valid points and great suggestions Nosey.