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[IronNoggin]

Almost Funny if it weren't so bloody Ludicrous!

When the sockeye season started, the recreational limit was set at two. This was at the direction of the local SFAC which noted it was the right thing to do - hopefully seeing a higher early escapement (front-end loading) to the lakes and setting an example for the other sectors to do the same. That didn't exactly work out, as the FN's have been going pretty well full roar, and of course there has already been a gillnet opening in the Inlet.

So, as a nice gesture, the SFAC suggested to DFO that the recreational limit be upped to 4 per day, just in time for Father's Day. Seems The Dino fully concurred with the slower start (at 2 per day) but now has NO interest in seeing that increased. Citing the "fact" that the majority of the fish that came early have thus far wandered up into the Sproat, and not so much into Great Central, The requested increase was denied by Stock Assessment. Seems the extra couple of day that might be taken by sporties might be a little too much for the stock to handle at this point...

Ah... But... FULL STEAM AHEAD for the FN's and even gillnetters - they couldn't possibly have the same impact could they?

Here's the relevant E that has been circulated from the SFAC:

Hello All,
So much for the Father's Day present.
DFO won't up our limit to 4 this week as they are concerned that 98% of the 50,000 Sockeye that have gone into the lakes went into Sproat and only 1400 through the GCL counter at the dam. The count so far is twice as high as expected and the test boat, commercial fishers and all said there are more Sockeye everywhere than anybody can remember. Even DFO staff said Stamp Falls and the upper river is full of Sockeye but there may be a velocity restriction at the Stamp Falls fish ladder with the high water and recent rains.
As this is all anecdotal, stock assessment won't agree to an increase in our limit until they have swum by.
Until the GCL count goes up, they are trying to slow the catches and err on the side of caution.
This coming week, the first nations fishery will continue with an expected take of around 15,000 inside bands and 3000 outside bands. Together with an expected recreational catch of 3500, that leaves 15,000 pieces for the gilnetters on Tuesday night.
They are holding off the seine fishery for at least another week and will reduce the gilnet opening to 8 hours with the slight possibility of a two or four hour extension, depending on number of boats and catch.
Wish us better luck next week

Almost Funny...   

[Fish Assassin]

Typical DFO reasoning.

[IronNoggin]

Fishery Notice - Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Subject: FN0451-COMMERCIAL - Salmon: Gill Net - Area D - Opening for Sockeye in Area 23 - Barkley Sound

Area 23
Gill nets open 8 hours, 06:00 hours to 14:00 hours Tuesday, June 22, in Subarea
23-5 and portions of Subareas 23-3, 23-4 and 23-6. Numukamis Bay, San Mateo
Bay, Effingham Inlet, Rainy Bay and Uchucklesit Inlet are closed. Min. mesh 100
mm., max. depth 90 meshes, max. hang ratio 3:1, corkline to web distance min. 0
cm, max. 2 m. Coho and steelhead may not be retained. Six strand Alaska twist
web, conventional multi-strand web or a combination of the two may be used.

Target catch for this fishery is 15,000 sockeye. There may be an extension to
this fishery if target catch is not met at 14:00 hours. On-grounds hails will
be used to calculate catch. There will be no fishery the following day.

Variation Order No. 10-Sal-23-GN-02.

Happy Father's Day

[liketofish]

As usual, sporties don't get any respect from DFO. What else is new? Our impact is minimal, we buy the most licenses, we pay the most taxes, we spend the most on trips (ferries, boats, guides, lodging and eating out), but we get the last consideration for the smallest number of fish allocated to us among the user groups. Doesn't make much sense in the real world. 

[tuna]

the only logical thing to do is every sportfisherman should stop fishing and therefore no license revenue and sit back and see how long dfo survives with a huge cut in funding , and we can watch how quickly our tourism dollar goes in the drink ...I personaly now know of 11 guys who have sold there boats and gear and stopped fishing  and instead take the family on 3 week long road trips states side and either fish down there or just cruise around people are slowly quickly getting fed up with spending huge dollar to fish and there are far to many restrictions on us only to see nets strung right across the river in the name on conservation well f****k this Iwill spend my fishing dollars wisely and choose to fish the oregan rivers far better return for my hard taxed and earned money 

[IronNoggin]

Update: June 25, 2010

From the SFAC:

Hello All,
Today's Area 23 Harvest Committee meeting should have been easy with so many fish out there.
There are more Sockeye than most can remember. The escapement is well above what was expected on the predicted run size. Commercial fishers are catching their shares in record time. the First Nations have had great success and have more fish than they can sell without a sales agreement. Hopefully that happens soon and we don't have too much waste.
Many in the recreational sector are catching their limits anywhere they drop a line.The test boat shows record numbers of fish inside and outside.
But because, we the sports sector, volunteered, at the pre-season meeting, to start at 2 to show some restraint and let early fish up the river, DFO wanted to hold us to that offer until the re-forecast, next week.   
With a seine opening now scheduled for this Sunday at 10 a.m. throughout the inlet, we requested that our limit be raised to 4. Both First Nations and both commercial sectors supported our position. Stock assessment didn't.
It took a lot of bickering but Bill Shaw and Paul Preston finally agreed and are processing the limit change to hopefully take effect this Saturday. There is no reason that the paperwork can't be done in time. They can close it on a days notice.
Watch for a notice tomorrow and then watch for 6 to 10 seine boats up and down the inlet on Sunday morning, dropping nets and catching 28,000 Sockeye.
I expect the run size to be upgraded at next Wednesday's meeting and the gill-netters and seiners will have another go at it after July 1st.
Please note that if you catch a Sockeye with a freshly clipped adipose fin, it will have a little PIT sender in it's anus area. The creel surveyor or DFO office would appreciate the where and when caught info and the tag back to help track migration and habits to eventually improve our management tools.
Off to check my blood pressure...

And the Assessment Update:

WCVI Salmon Bulletin
June 24, 2010 Assessment Update
Area 23 Sockeye – Barkley Sound/Alberni Inlet

SUMMARY:
Pre-season forecast: 600,000
Expected Stock/Age Composition: 57% Great Central, 43% Sproat sockeye; 55%, 35%, 9%, and 1% for age 42, 52, 53 and 63 adults, respectively.
Escapement to June 23: 114,000 (36,000 Great Central, 76,000 Sproat Lake)
Test Fishery: Operations began June 14-15: Inlet Estimate 55K inside; 60 to 65K outside
Catch Estimate: ~ 77,500 adults (37,000 Somass First Nation; 4800 Barkley First Nation; 31,000 Commercial Gillnet; 5000 Recreational; 400 Test Fishery (biological samples).
First in-season reforecast: June 30 (Preliminary June 24)

Results of the June 21 to 22 Test Fishery indicate that abundance of sockeye in Alberni Inlet is about 55,000 in the ‘inner’ inlet and 60,000 to 65,000 in the ‘outer’ inlet. Test sets are higher than typical for this period given the forecast run size.
Through June 23, total sockeye escapement to Great Central Lake is estimated at about 36,000 adults. Sockeye escapement to Sproat Lake is estimated at about 78,000 adults. Over the past week, daily counts ranged from 1000 to 12,000 through Great Central fishway and from 2000 to
3800 through Sproat fishway. The situation with highly skewed escapement to Sproat Lake has largely corrected over the last week and Great Central Lake escapement is now at or above expected levels for the run size. In addition, DNA samples from the June 14 to 15 test fishery
indicate about 47% of the inlet samples were Great Central origin. Although about 60% of the forecast return is expected to be Great Central origin sockeye, it is not unusual to observer a higher proportion of Sproat Lake sockeye in the early part of the run.
Currently, there are First Nation fishery opportunities for food, social and ceremonial (FSC) catch. Total catch is being reported through a hail-in system and is estimated at approximately 37,000 for Hupacasath and Tseshat bands and about 4800 total for other bands.
The recreational fishery opened June 1 and is being monitored through the WCVI Creel Survey.
The total estimated recreational catch to date is approximately 5000, including catch at Papermill Dam. Over the last week the average CPUE in the recreational fishery increased dramatically and is now higher than recent year averages for this period. Effort about recent year averages.
The commercial catch is estimated at about 31,000 in the Area D gillnet openings over the last two weeks. Therefore, total catch in all fisheries is estimated at about 77,500 through June 23.
Biological sampling for age in both the test fishery and escapement indicate a high proportion of age 42 fish from the 2006 brood (i.e. about 75% of the adult return to date). This is a higher than expected portion of age 4 fish and may indicate either that the return from this brood is
higher than expected or that the run is early (5 year olds tend to return in higher proportions earlier on in the run).
Attached, is a summary of the current accounting of Somass sockeye to date and expected return given on-time, early and late run timing.
Prepared by:
Somass Sockeye Technical Working Group

Accounting to date:
The following table summarizes the accounting to June 23, 2010:

TOTAL ADULT CATCH= 77,323
TOTAL ADULT ESCAPEMENT= 111,896
TOTAL CATCH PLUS ESCAPEMENT= 189,219
lower river estimate = 4,000
inner Alberni inlet estimate= 55,000
outer Alberni Inlet estimate= 62,500
catch after test fishery=
TOTAL ACCOUNTING= 310,719
harvest rate to date= 25%
exploitation rate given reforecast 0.06

Note: Further Information Contained in Summary includes Timing Tables etc.

And on it goes...
Nog

[Easywater]

Is this a typical breakdown for salmon runs?

54% FN
40% commercial
6% sport

[IronNoggin]

RECREATIONAL - Salmon
FN0473-RECREATIONAL - Salmon - Area 23 - Sockeye Salmon

The Department has been working with the Area 23 Salmon Harvest Committee and the Port Alberni SFAC and it was agreed that:

Effective 00:01 hours June 26, 2010 that the daily quota for sockeye salmon be as follows:

- In portions of Area 23, Barkley Sound and Alberni Inlet will be four (4) sockeye.

- Tidal portions of the Somass River to Papermill Dam will continue to have a daily limit of two (2) per person in that portion of Subarea 23-1 from the tidal boundary at Paper Mill Dam on the Somass River downstream to a line from a fishing boundary sign at the Harbour Quay Marina at Port Alberni to a boundary sign on the opposite shore of Alberni Inlet.  Note that this line runs just north of Hohm Island.

The Somass Sockeye in-season stock assessment program will operate as in previous years.  This program collects escapement, test-fishing, catch and environmental information on a weekly basis.  This information is used to prepare weekly in-season run-size reforecasts. 

Anglers should be aware that the first in-season run-size reforecast will occur on Wednesday, June 30. 

Variation Order Number 2010-300.

About Bloody Time! It "only" took a 28,000 Seine opening to do so... 
Nog