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[RalphH]

The Fraser (Region 2)  is closed to trout fishing above Mission until Nov 15th. This was part of the Province's plan to protect Thompson Steelhead and also a message to the Feds as that was one of the recommendations of the panel that put together the submission for species at risk status. I think we've seen a closure that extended well into November before.

[Rodney]

I fired an email out to Barbara Mueller two days ago asking why there has not been a fishery notice announcing the opening. No response. The email has been read, because she sent an email out the following day to remind the rest of us that the SFAC meeting is next week. Obviously it's too late to expect a notice out today, and we got the weekend coming up. Even with a response on Monday the 6th, a notice won't be ready until Tuesday the 7th or Wednesday the 8th anyway, if there is to be an opening.

Done.

[Jamier]

Thanks Rod for trying.  Not sure why it is so hard for them to figure this out each year.  The tidal fishery has very little and i mean little impact on the Thompson Steelhead or Salmon population.  I know, the intentions are good.  I will hold onto hope that one day we will see a coho fishery in the lower fraser again.

[RalphH]

in 2021 there was no retention of Chum due to low returns and coho didn't open until Nov 15th on the tidal Fraser:

https://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&DOC_ID=252453&ID=all

[wildmanyeah]

There was a big native chum fishery today, so like pinks my guess is they don’t want to allow recs on the lower Fraser till natives have fished more.

Roe is selling 10 bucks pound

[RalphH]

There was a big native chum fishery today, so like pinks my guess is they don’t want to allow recs on the lower Fraser till natives have fished more.

Roe is selling 10 bucks pound

could be but I bet the first thing managers ask is "What did we do last time?... OK let's do that again!"

oh and if you haven't checked, FNs didn't harvest many pinks, relative to the run size. The Musqueam band had some openings with an allowance for sales but that was it.

[wildmanyeah]

could be but I bet the first thing managers ask is "What did we do last time?... OK let's do that again!"

oh and if you haven't checked, FNs didn't harvest many pinks, relative to the run size. The Musqueam band had some openings with an allowance for sales but that was it.

Wasn’t about pink openings it was about their chinook openings and not wanting recs being on the water at all fishing for pinks, this is what DFO told us Ralph, maybe come to the meetings next time

Is what it is now politics, optics, reconciliation name or what every u will

Bureaucratic incompetence on taking 100 people to get notices approved ect..

[RalphH]

I know it was about the chinook. Not a surprise.  The proposed early pink opening was a red herring. The Fns have had a similar deal on the Skeena for a few years now. The FNs  do get the gears from a few jerks. Boats have been vandalized and other stuff.

[wildmanyeah]

I know it was about the chinook. Not a surprise.  The proposed early pink opening was a red herring. The Fns have had a similar deal on the Skeena for a few years now. The FNs  do get the gears from a few jerks. Boats have been vandalized and other stuff.

It was not about rec chinook openings it was about FN conducting gillnet chinook fishery's in the river and not wanting Rec fishermen on the water fishing for pinks at the same time.

yes we know your narrative the rec fishermen the great evil of our society lol

I just think its sad to see the cheap, assessable and spreads out angle pressured fishery's like the Fraser keep closing, or openings for recs forgot about. 

Sure people with more money can go to the island to fish, or go out to the ocean of fly to the charlottes, or go on a guided trip to on a jet boat on the Skeena.

but the easy assessable stuff like pinks when threes 10 million of them, or a hatchery coho fishery after the steelhead window closure, just get forgotten about because there is not some big lobby behind them

[wildmanyeah]

I fired an email out to Barbara Mueller two days ago asking why there has not been a fishery notice announcing the opening. No response. The email has been read, because she sent an email out the following day to remind the rest of us that the SFAC meeting is next week. Obviously it's too late to expect a notice out today, and we got the weekend coming up. Even with a response on Monday the 6th, a notice won't be ready until Tuesday the 7th or Wednesday the 8th anyway, if there is to be an opening.

Done.

you probably should of consulted with Ralph before you bothered

[Dave]

you probably should of consulted with Ralph before you bothered

[SuperBobby]

yes we know your narrative the rec fishermen the great evil of our society lol

Why is it that everyone except Ralph himself can see this?

[RalphH]

It was not about rec chinook openings it was about FN conducting gillnet chinook fishery's in the river and not wanting Rec fishermen on the water fishing for pinks at the same time.

For God's sake Wild Man I didn't even mention a  rec chinook opening! It was a reply clearly in reference to your mentioning the FN chinook fishing. What are you smoking or drinking?

[RalphH]

most of the stuff I mention is what anyone can read in the news.

[Rodney]

I've had a response to my enquiries this morning.

"In recent seasons the river would open for Rec. HM Coho retention when it opens for Chum retention.  However, given current historically low in-season abundance status of Fraser Chum returns (Ref. FN1150: Fraser Chum Update),  there are no plans this season to open Fraser mainstem for Chum.  It also looks like Coho encounters at Albion TF continue to be very low in recent days, including this past weekend."

My response.

"That response frankly frustrates me quite a bit for a couple of reasons. In the past twenty years+ years, we have had years when hatchery coho salmon retention is open while chum salmon fishing is closed in the Lower Fraser River. Even right now, we have hatchery coho salmon retention available while chum salmon fishing is closed in terminal fisheries in the Lower Fraser tributaries, so I can’t see why this isn’t possible in the Lower Fraser. Does the department know what the incidental by-catch of chum salmon by rec anglers while targeting coho salmon in the Lower Fraser? From my own personal experiences, fishing in the tidal portion from 1995 to 2015, my total number of chum salmon encounters was in the single digit while targeting coho salmon. They simply don’t bite, like sockeye salmon.

Secondly, why does it matter what the Albion TF numbers are when determining the hatchery coho salmon rec opening in the Lower Fraser? Our group is looking for opportunities to recreate, and we do not have a harvest goal or number that we want to achieve. Opening this fishery up would only benefit the entire Region 2 community. For one, it provides opportunities for those who have no access to the terminal fisheries (senior anglers, family with little kids, those who cannot drive). Two, it spreads effort out and takes pressure off the few terminal fisheries that we have at the moment."