Cowichan River Chinook

Don't have recent updates but they have lots. They also have enough chum and there have been seiners mopping up the excess in Satalitte Channel.
 
Anyone have info on the chinook returns in the Cowichan this year?

The Cowichan return of Chinooks according to DFO came in higher than expectations and higher then both the 4 and 10 year average.
Good news!

2017 Cowichan River - fall run 10,043
4 yr. average 7,680
10 yr. average 5,270
 
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The Cowichan return of Chinooks according to DFO came in higher than expectations and higher then both the 4 and 10 year average.
Good news!

2017 Cowichan River - fall run 10,043
4 yr. average 7,680
10 yr. average 5,270
Thanks for the numbers. Last year was 9100 - the highest in 10 years. This is great news.
 
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That number may also be higher if factor in the 150-200 adults that came in Feb. Part of early spring run. The fish remain dormant until late fall when they rejoin the fall fish to spawn. They are present in the system in the summer.
 
I would be interested to understand why these ECVI stocks are doing relatively well when the Fraser is not.

Also wonder about how some of the other mainland systems have done over the past couple of years (Phillips, Southgate, Homathko, etc).

Clearly some stocks are bucking the trend.
 
I'm a recreational angler that is affected by the numerous closures that have been in place to help out this stock. I'm grateful that the numbers are good again this year. We still have a ways to go but this is encouraging. The question is why are the numbers going up? I suspect that the habitat enhancement is the local driver, not based on any science, I suspect the estuary work that was done is the reason.

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Would be great if they can figure out what's working and apply it to other rivers.
 
I would be interested to understand why these ECVI stocks are doing relatively well when the Fraser is not.

Also wonder about how some of the other mainland systems have done over the past couple of years (Phillips, Southgate, Homathko, etc).

Clearly some stocks are bucking the trend.
I'm a recreational angler that is affected by the numerous closures that have been in place to help out this stock. I'm grateful that the numbers are good again this year. We still have a ways to go but this is encouraging. The question is why are the numbers going up? I suspect that the habitat enhancement is the local driver, not based on any science, I suspect the estuary work that was done is the reason.

figure7.png

Its habitat enhancement, and also a committed team working together Cow tribes, Enhancement group, CVRD, and Catalyst Paper. Among many others. The Fraser doesn't have that. Its me me me,and that doesn't work. I know Cutplug has more insight on what goes in the river as far as fisheries aspect. I wodln't be holding my breath on an opening down the corner though. I hope we have a good spring return this year again.
 
Does anyone know of any invertebrate sampling done on the Cowichan? It would be interesting to see if there was any consistencies of invertebrate populations when compared to salmon populations?
 
Its habitat enhancement, and also a committed team working together Cow tribes, Enhancement group, CVRD, and Catalyst Paper. Among many others. The Fraser doesn't have that. Its me me me,and that doesn't work. I know Cutplug has more insight on what goes in the river as far as fisheries aspect. I wodln't be holding my breath on an opening down the corner though. I hope we have a good spring return this year again.
As someone that seems to get a Cowichan River Chinook tag from the hatchery often in the heads I turn in, I look forward to the day that we get the green light from the technical committee to relax the regulations. Here is a link to more information on this system. IMHO this type of work needs to be replicated in all our river systems. As Matt Damon would say "science the shyt out of it".
http://www.pacfish.ca/Cowichan/index.html
 
Would be great if they can figure out what's working and apply it to other rivers.

One obvious thing is they are taking less broodstock than in the 90s and early 2000s which means less pellet fed inbred hatchery smolts flooding the system every spring. Beamish found that Cowichan hatchery smolts were dying at a much higher rate than wild smolts, despite being bigger and fatter. To their credit the egg takes have gone from 3Million in the 90s, to 700K now, and by the looks of the graphs it could be reduced or perhaps eliminated. Let a good number of wild fish escape, spawn, and rear in decent habitat and they can recover. Even in a river that was down to less than 1,000 spawners in 2009.
 
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And that's how misinformed rumors start, some may call this fake news. There were reasons why the Cowichan hatchery smolt mortality was disproportionally high, very specific to this operation. Don't try to make a general statement out of this! The reduced rate of hatchery production is certainly NOT the reason why the Chinook stock is rebounding. I wished people would stick to what they actually know before blurting out "fluffy stuff". If you make an assumption, identify this as such and don't make it sound as if you actually know something. Dick Beamish would be very upset by taking such a statement out of context and spinning it for your agenda. Think before posting!
 
And that's how misinformed rumors start, some may call this fake news. There were reasons why the Cowichan hatchery smolt mortality was disproportionally high, very specific to this operation. Don't try to make a general statement out of this! The reduced rate of hatchery production is certainly NOT the reason why the Chinook stock is rebounding. I wished people would stick to what they actually know before blurting out "fluffy stuff". If you make an assumption, identify this as such and don't make it sound as if you actually know something. Dick Beamish would be very upset by taking such a statement out of context and spinning it for your agenda. Think before posting!

Fake news really? A quote from Beamish related to the findings "“Continuing to do what we are doing and hoping that the next year will be better makes little sense.” Hatcheries from California to Alaska see declining returns from their smolt releases, and blindly increasing production (which every hatchery has done) does not increase returns, at best it mitigates the decline. The deleterious effects on genetic diversity are well documented. Reducing the hatchery clones is not THE reason for the improvements, and I mention escapement, and habitat which had been elaborated by other posters so I didn't repeat the details. Habitat improvements, water flow increases in summer, all play a part, as does the discontinuation of the idiocy of flooding the system with 3 million concrete tank raised pampered, overfed smolts. You need to get over the simplistic thinking that has plagued the hatchery system More smolts = more Adults IT HAS NOT BEEN TRUE. While I'm sure your "solution" to the low runs in the 90s would have been to produce 6 million smolts, this fortunately did not happen, (although I'm sure all the predators that feed on naive, plump smolts in the estuary would have been very happy). Maybe you should take your own advice before making a flippant post insulting me, to think, not only before posting, but learn how to think critically of a hatchery system that is incredibly expensive, has not been very successful, and has allowed action on the tougher decisions on habitat, and water flow, and water shed development to be ignored, because the system has a hatchery, so all is well we can do what we want.

Do I have an agenda? I admit I do. I would like to see healthy wild salmon populations in as many Rivers as possible without hatchery enhancement, with opportunities for anglers and commercial/FN harvest too. I believe its possible on many streams given time. The evidence is pointing that its possible on the Cowichan. So if that's too much "fluffy stuff" for you, so be it.
 
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