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[Drewhill]

Interesting that bottom bouncing is still not fully illegal, just frowned upon, but the tidal Fraser is closed for pink salmon even though the odds of catching a sockeye as bye-catch down there is slim to none.

[bbwong]

Interesting that bottom bouncing is still not fully illegal, just frowned upon, but the tidal Fraser is closed for pink salmon even though the odds of catching a sockeye as bye-catch down there is slim to none.

If we use common sense, we will never understand how DFO makes decision. CONTRADICT!!!

[bbwong]

BB for chinook at Non-tidal =  >30 sockeye:<1 chinook
Lure or fly for pink at tidal  =  >1000 pink : < 1 sockeye

[yoda]

Good call bbwong. Closing the entire river based on the bi-catch of the upper river is fair?
Sounds like someone has painted us all with the same brush. Is this not discriminating?
Why not do some fly overs in the lower river and monitoring as well.Would like to see the data from that study.

[Riverman]

 Agree totally on the lack of sense on keeping the tidal closed.Sounds like political appeasement to me.Too bad the math does not support the closure.Taking from the majority to appease the minority.No problems with the continued closure for the time being of the non tidal.

[TacoChris]

Now I am confused.  If salmon are open for retention or if you can fish for them are two different issues. Chinooks are open for retention both the tidal and non tidal are open to salmon fishing. Only sockeye can not be targeted.

Rodney which part of the post you responded to was correct? 

1}"I am confused so you can only fish for Chinook"   

2}" or can you fish for all salmon except sockeye and only retain chinook?"

[Rodney]

There's no fishing for sockeye salmon, the objective is to avoid any possible by-catches of sockeye salmon. As long as you are doing that, then it's all good.
You can retain chinook salmon.
If you catch a coho, pink, or chum salmon right now, you have to release them.

[RainbowMan]

If you catch a coho, pink, or chum salmon right now, you have to release them.

Hey Rod - I totally get the no retention of coho and sockeye but do you know what the risk is at the moment to the Fraser pink and chum runs?

[Rodney]

Hey Rod - I totally get the no retention of coho and sockeye but do you know what the risk is at the moment to the Fraser pink and chum runs?

Chums are not really in the system yet so they've chosen to hold off on that I guess. For pinks, this is how the decision is made:

The 1% sockeye/pink salmon ratio refers to 1 sockeye to 100 pink salmon. Currently while some pink salmon have already moved into the Fraser, majority of the run is still outside the river. Once those fish start moving in and most of the sockeye move through, then the ratio goes down and retention of pink salmon opens.

[Tangles]

The 1% sockeye/pink salmon ratio refers to 1 sockeye to 100 pink salmon. Currently while some pink salmon have already moved into the Fraser, majority of the run is still outside the river. Once those fish start moving in and most of the sockeye move through, then the ratio goes down and retention of pink salmon opens.

which still doesn't explain how a potential opening for pinks in Lower Fraser would affect sockeye. Last year no one caught sockeye from shore in LF except for the odd fouled one, and that was with 26mil entering the river.  What are the odds with say six times smaller run?
While I don't see any point in closure for pinks, I would comply with the rules and not fish for them, but in a week when pink start rolling I can imagine a good number of people will still fish it lol, either ignoring or boycotting the closure.

[fic]

Looking at the test Fisheries in 2013, the 100 to 1 ratio didn't get hit in the area 29 test nets until Mid September.  Is that the time frame that we are looking at this year as well?

[Noahs Arc]

I sure hope not. Floating down the Fraser right now by golden ears bridge and they're rolling.

[canoeboy]

Well let's just hope they open the lower . To at least give people an opportunity to fish for them. Closing the upper for pinks is totally  viable in my mind seeing as we will never get ride of pesky bottom bouncers.

[armytruck]

2013 Opened for Pinks and Chum(Dog) salmon , Lower Aug 30  .2013 and upper Aug 31 . 2013 to my recollection

[Rodney]

Well, don't get your hopes up. Today the Fraser River Panel approved the pink salmon run size estimate to be 6 million fish, a lot less than what pre-season estimate at P50. 6 Million is actually the escapement goal, so it is likely that retention of pink salmon will not open.

The DFO sockeye and pink salmon updates coming out later today in a fishery notice will most likely confirm this. Here is the news release from Fraser River Panel.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

The Fraser River Panel met Tuesday, September 1 to receive an update on the migration of the Fraser sockeye and pink salmon runs and review the status of migration conditions in the Fraser River watershed.

At the meeting today, the run-size estimate of 400,000 Early Summer run sockeye and the 1,700,000 Summer run sockeye was unchanged. The Late run-size estimate of 419,000 sockeye was decreased to 300,000 sockeye with a 50% marine timing through Area 20 of August 23. At the meeting today the Panel approved, for management purposes, a provisional Pink salmon run-size estimate of 6,000,000 fish with a 50% marine timing through Area 20 of August 21.

On August 31 the Fraser River water discharge at Hope was 1,875 cms, which is approximately 26% lower than average for this date. The temperature of the Fraser River at Qualark Creek on August 31 was 17.3 C, which is 0.4 C higher than average for this date. Fraser River temperatures are forecast to decrease to 15.1 C by September 6. Fraser River discharge levels and water temperatures will be monitored closely to determine if specific management actions are required during the in-river migratory period to help achieve sockeye and pink salmon escapement goals.
The Panel announced the following regulations for Commercial salmon fisheries in Panel Area waters:

CANADIAN FRASER RIVER PANEL AREA WATERS:

Remain closed to Commercial salmon fisheries.

UNITED STATES FRASER RIVER PANEL AREA WATERS:

TREATY INDIAN FISHERY:

Areas 4B, 5 and 6C: As previously announced, open to drift gillnets 12:00 p.m. (noon), Saturday, August 29, 2015, through 12:00 p.m. (noon), Wednesday, September 2, 2015. Sockeye may be retained for ceremonial and subsistence purposes only.

Areas 6, 7 and 7A: As previously announced, open to net fishing 5:00 am Monday, August 31, 2015 through 9:00 a.m. Tuesday September 1, 2015. Sockeye may be retained for ceremonial and subsistence purposes only.

ALL CITIZEN FISHERY:

Areas 7 and 7A: As previously announced, open to reef net with non-retention of sockeye from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 1, 2015.

Areas 7 and 7A: As previously announced, open to purse seine with non-retention of sockeye from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 1, 2015.

Areas 7 and 7A: As previously announced, open to drift gillnet with non-retention of sockeye 8:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, September 1, 2015.

(Note: U. S. All Citizen fishers should check the U.S. hotline and WDFW regulations before fishing as there are additional State of Washington regulations, including time restrictions that may be in effect).

The next in-season meeting of the Panel is scheduled to occur on Friday, September 4, 2015.