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[silver ghost]

there has to be something us anglers can do...

I dont see the negative effects of a hatchery...the survival rates for the smolts are much better aren't they? then more can come back and even some hatchery fish will spawn in the wild - whats so bad about them if the wild stocks are no longer of self-sustaining themselves...

Do albion test fisheries keep the fish in the nets or do they release them/strictly for counting only?

[joska]

i have heard some stories of past steelhead fishing on the thompson...

there has to be something us anglers can do...

if i can do anything as an angler. you can count me in. i would love for myself and my future son/daughter to fish that beautiful system by my side.

[paul1971]

Excellent video this goverment needs to get it's finger out and do something about this once world class fishing destination.

[bigblue]

I dont see the negative effects of a hatchery...the survival rates for the smolts are much better aren't they? then more can come back and even some hatchery fish will spawn in the wild - whats so bad about them if the wild stocks are no longer of self-sustaining themselves...

I guess this would be the last option to save the Thompson steelhead as a hatchery would no doubt dilute the unique gene pool of the this strain of wild steelhead. I remember reading at my local hatchery that survival rate for hatchery salmon is something like 50 times higher than wild salmon, so in effect, a lot of inferior genes are passed down to the next generation, a price we pay for more salmon we catch. Rivers without past history of hatchery tends to have fish which are on average bigger and fights better as a sports fish. Mature hatchery fish will also breed with wild stock, further diluting the gene pool. I guess there are no easy answers to your question.

[Sandy]

Thanks Chris and Co.

Hatchery? NO. Once that genie is let out of the bottle there is no way to put it back and there are enough fish still in the river  to allow for natural breeding and recovery . What we have to give them is an Environment that allows them to be healthy and strong pre-ocean for their travel to the ocean.

Immediate focus needs to put onto the overdraw of water by ranchers. Water use needs to be monitored and control ed by MOE more closely, with the priority given to water temps and flows correct temp= good aquatic food sources and there is less of a chance of residualisation, where what was spawned as a wild Steelhead turns into a native Rainbow resident.

A long term radio tagging program should be initiated to allow for a better understanding of the challenges the fish have post estuary. Is it fishfarm, netting (by-catch), predation or all of the above. Speculation is based on science, the newer the science the better the speculation and hence we have a key ,hopefully.

We as Anglers need to put more into the fisheries, that does not just mean paying your licence and tags. It means finding a group who are actively involved, and get involved yourself, for me it's SSBC.

Educate others ,not just anglers, but anyone who will listen.

Government makes decisions based on damage control or fallout. Hell get to know your MLA ,The more the MLA knows that folks are expecting and holding he/she responsible, the better chance the MLA will give support, albeit grudgingly.
Write letters to the local Rag.

Blogs?

[skaha]

-- I believe the story goes when you rub the lantern there are both good and bad genie's we just have to be careful which one we select.
-- old style hatcheries.. with a few brood stock, cloning thousands to return for slaughter in what becomes a put and take fishery.
-- residualism occurs naturally for various reasons and with kokanee/sockeye at least works both ways... where sockeye have been re-introduced  some will stay but usually only if lake conditions are so productive that it doesn't get the urge to seek greener pastures... this would not likely happen to a whole run but a few individuals  there are cases as well where kokanee returned to the ocean... especially those that have spent only a few generations as kokanee because of man made dams.
--many, if not all of the issues with hatcheries can be mitigated however I agree we should not be looking at permanent hatcheries as a long term solution.
--in fact I propose a finite date for closing a temporary hatchery be part of the initial recovery plan and that all the other research such as radio tagging, water quality, temperature and quantity must be agreed to prior to hatchery initiation.

--there are no end to hatchery horror stories from the past... get over it. we do not have to repeat past mistakes.

[chris gadsden]

I was told a few Thompson steelhead were taken around SB by an angler fishing for trout.

In talking to Steve a bit of correspondence has taken place since we shot the video.

Also ssome type of media event is being planned for mid October, may attend to film if not away hunting, will post the date if anyone wishes to attend.

I agree as one poster above says, the government has not put the energy or resources into saving this world class fish.

They have dropped the ball once again on another fishery issue.

[skaha]

--even though fishing was good we were raising concerns early 70's about Deadman Creek run and other smaller tribs which all had steelhead.
--no one seemed to care about all these smaller runs (except the rec fishers)

--it seems to me the major management strategy is to downgrade the fishery until recreational fishing is shut down then the problem goes away.
--this strategy has worked very well for okanagan lk kokanee fishery... no fishermen no one complaining about the plan which does not seem to include the quality of the fishery.

[coho65]

on a recent fishing trip to our northern waters i had the opportunity to have a chat with a fellow who has over 30 yrs working experience dealing with the bulkley & tribs steelhead.....he asked me about the thompson,how it was doing and what the steelheading was like?i informed him it was closed to c&r and that 500 spawners were counted this past spring......his response was laughter and head shaking.he believes theres alot more than 500 steelies in the system and they are being used for political purposes with intent to shut down gill net fisheries.this fellow tried to do a study on the thompson and was denied.....his belief is there is more than enough steelhead in the river.his view is alot of the hype around the thompson river steelhead is based on political fear mongering.....the bulkley has made a remarkable comeback with over thirty two thousand steelhead returning last year and this fellow has played a large part in it.i believe what he told me.........we need independent studies done on the thompson but our govt doesnt seem interested,why??? just maybe theres more in the system than there letting on? are we as sport anglers getting the actual facts or are we being mislead? one thing is certain,action needs to be taken.....

[alwaysfishn]

on a recent fishing trip to our northern waters i had the opportunity to have a chat with a fellow who has over 30 yrs working experience dealing with the bulkley & tribs steelhead.....he asked me about the thompson,how it was doing and what the steelheading was like?i informed him it was closed to c&r and that 500 spawners were counted this past spring......his response was laughter and head shaking.he believes theres alot more than 500 steelies in the system and they are being used for political purposes with intent to shut down gill net fisheries.this fellow tried to do a study on the thompson and was denied.....his belief is there is more than enough steelhead in the river.his view is alot of the hype around the thompson river steelhead is based on political fear mongering.....the bulkley has made a remarkable comeback with over thirty two thousand steelhead returning last year and this fellow has played a large part in it.i believe what he told me.........we need independent studies done on the thompson but our govt doesnt seem interested,why??? just maybe theres more in the system than there letting on? are we as sport anglers getting the actual facts or are we being mislead? one thing is certain,action needs to be taken.....

I would rather see an over reaction to protect the Thompson steelhead (even if it is political) rather than letting fishermen harass these fish to extinction. The idea that gill net fisheries are being targeted seems a little far fetched. I wonder if the fellow you talked to also believes that the Thompson coho are plentiful as well and are just being used to shut down gill net fisheries as well.....

[quill]

on a recent fishing trip to our northern waters i had the opportunity to have a chat with a fellow who has over 30 yrs working experience dealing with the bulkley & tribs steelhead.....

Last name O'Neil? Steelhead in the Bonaparte and Deadman are counted electronically. Tough to fudge the numbers.

3 in the chinook test, 3 in the chum. Doesn't help when DFO opens up chum fisheries in Johnstone Strait.

http://thompsonfisheries.blogspot.com/

[coho65]

to agree to disagree,lol.i cant say who i chatted with......alwaysfishin,lets close the entire province then to c&r steelheadin,sure is hurting the skeena system    It would be interesting if the thompson did open to c&r and an intensive creel survey was done daily,sport anglers hook less than 15% of the total amount in the system......so that would equal at its highest no# 75 steelhead caught over an entire season if there was 500.....i agree they are in trouble and the chum fishery doesnt help but i believe there was more than 500 in the system last year.
  Quill,can you tell me where the extremely large rainbows come from in the north thompson every spring?i have always wondered......thnx in advance.

[Sandy]

my guess is that they are residualised steelies.

[quill]

Can't say about those rainbows. I know they did some scale samples and found they're residents but from where? Shuswap? Sides, they're supposed to be a secret.

The way the T fishery is set up now, when it's open, anglers catch about 25-50%. Bison 2009.

"Prior to 2004, catch tended to constitute 85% of the abundance (Figure 4). After the implementation of inseason management, the proportion of the stock that was caught and released appears to have shifted dramatically. The catch now constitutes one-quarter to one-half of the abundance."

But, that's reported catch and all fishers are liars. 

[silver ghost]

steelhead are in trouble on all systems no matter which way you look at it. and im not talking about the hatchery-enhanced-to-my smelly socks rivers, im talking wild self-sustaining rivers like the T, Skeena, etc.

I dont know who this patriot is claiming the steelhead are abundant and are used as a platform to strike down gillnetters [which IMO isnt a bad idea], but really - it's all speculation. We won't know exactly what is going on with the fish unless a scientific study is done by legitimate biologists...in terms of the rainbows i would like to know too! maybe mended kelts?