Alberni sockeye

There is a commercial seine fishery every Monday, and a commercial Gill net fishery every Tuesday. Happens the same every year we have high abundance. Won't really have much impact to the fish. BTW, the seine fleet does not fish from Dunsmuir Point to Franklin Narrows. This is by agreement to give the sport fleet a select area where they are not competing with the seiners.
 
Could a small circle hook, say a 1/0, make a difference on the ratio of hooked to landed? Circle hooks are the answer up in Nootka on big Springs in August. Close to 100% landed other than break offs.

Drewski
 
Just got back from the Inlet.
The hot fishing on the weekend has ended, hopefully only temporarily!
We saw only 1 netted this morning in Nahmint.
I put out a VHF call to find out what was happening at Dunsmuir and replies from that area said it was brutally slow there as well.
Let's see what the weekend brings.
 
Heading up on Saturday for 3 days, please keep the reports coming! ... will post results upon return. REALLLLLY hoping the barrage of nets this week isn't going to ruin things.
 
When the commercial guys leave, it takes two or three days for new wave of sockeyes to school up, fishing can be good. If it rains, it should be quick schooling up as early as possible after the commerical opening. my opinion
 
Commercial guys are not getting them either. Fish are running straight into the river, so the FN guys are loading up but none for anyone else. When the fish are in and schooled up the commercial fishery makes only a small dent in the fishing we experience as a general rule. Bit of an urban myth that commercial fishing ruin's sport fishing. The only issues are usually boating conflicts which is why we negotiated a seine exclusion zone from Dunsmuir to Franklin. So, bottom line is in last 2 days the fishing has been brutally slow as a consequence of fish running into the river. Pray for hot dry weather. That will slow down the migration.
 
While the net free zone is a major accomplishment, every single place I've ever fished on Vancouver island has been impacted when commercial fishing occurs whether that be seine, troll, gillnet or long-line. I've seen it go from gangbusters to dead in every scenario (not every single time mind you) in less than 24 hours after big openings. Sounds like that's not what is to blame the last couple days for the slow fishing, but to pretend it is not a factor in many situations is just plain wrong.
 
Well said Birdman! My experience as well.

Are the First Nations required to record their catch from the river netting to anyone-DFO?

Are commercial buyers required to release how many they purchase from the First Nations?

Just trying to figure all this out between what the run size is supposed to be, what the commercial allocation is between gill netters, seiners, what happens with the numbers from the First Nations river netting and how many eventually make it past the counters.

Is there any thought to letting certain days of no harvesting to let certain portions of the sockeye run get through -this to continue the run biodiversity rather than catch as many as you can in the early stages of the return.

Lastly, the Alberni canal fishing is really one of the last easily accessible salmon fishing places for families that you do not need a big boat etc. and you experience the thrill of salmon fishing.

My thoughts for the day...
 
We were fishing the canal Sunday. On our way back into Clutesi I was amazed at the amount of nets in the river. I've never seen so many. At the wharf there was a tractor trailer, large fish totes and a crane. The fishers were bringing the sox into the wharf, loading them into the totes. The crane was hoisting the totes up and they were being loaded into the trailer.

They were catching a lot of fish. There were people walking up and buying fish. A larger sockeye was going for 20 bucks.

Is anyone able to explain this to me. Was that fishery on Sunday an Aboriginal Commercial Fishery? Is there such a thing? If it was, then it was extremely successful based on what I saw.

Just asking.
 
Bloodbath, Baddogg:

Yes there is both Domestic and Commercial first nations fisheries going on in the Somass river. These catches are recorded by DFO and the fishery is managed with on and off days. (you could probably argue weather or not it is being managed properly but that's for another thread). I believe it is a quota system with in-season changes based on escapement and catch numbers for both the sproat and great central bound fish. You can check the DFO website for weekly updates and forcasted FN openings.

Someone with more first had knowledge of this particular commercial fishery could probably chime in with some details on catch numbers etc.
 
Yes its an aboriginal commercial fishery, the have a signed economic agreement and its totally legal. They get a portion of the TAC, which is shared between them and the Area B seine fleet and the Area D gillnet fleet, rec has an expected catch. All of those pieces of the pie adjust up and down depending on run size, which in that fishery is managed weekly. The Area 23 harvest committee sits down together and makes all of those decisions collaboratively, it's actually a model group of the way decisions should be made in fisheries managment.
 
Ya, that was my perception as well...commercial fishery = crappy fishing. The facts are this is not born out, and especially in years of high abundance that is really not going to have a huge impact on rec fishing. Some of the best fishing at times in my years of fishing Alberni sockeye have been right when the seiners are doing their thing.

One point I will give you is the seine netting does tend to push the fish down making it harder for us sporties to catch them, which is one of the reasons the Harvest Round Table group agreed to creating a seine free zone. We have to step back and look at the overall picture here. This is about ensuring we work together to do our best to see that all users get what they need from the fishery. By working cooperatively together we stand more to gain than by hucking rocks at one another. So there are plenty of fish to go around, especially if we can work cooperatively to see that we respect one another's needs. BTW, I'm not suggesting these meetings are a love in, actually some can get pretty heated. But its way better to work through our issues than not.
 
I dont know where your facts are coming from, Searun, but just for the heck of it, See how many sockeye came in yesterday by sporties. Today, out of the 60-80 boats out from Lone Tree to Nahmint we heard MAYBE 4-6 fish caught. So when you are suggesting "there are plenty fish around" you must be the only fisherman that knows how to catch sockeye and the rest of us dont. You cannot catch whats not there. And for the sporties they are not there.
 
Oh Sure said:
I dont know where your facts are coming from, Searun, but just for the heck of it, See how many sockeye came in yesterday by sporties. Today, out of the 60-80 boats out from Lone Tree to Nahmint we heard MAYBE 4-6 fish caught. So when you are suggesting "there are plenty fish around" you must be the only fisherman that knows how to catch sockeye and the rest of us dont. You cannot catch whats not there. And for the sporties they are not there.
Click to expand...

I agree with you Oh Sure , It seems like the same tune is played every year...Ive been fishing most years from 1990 on in alberni .. the last few years have been the pits..no springs and very few sockeye...fishing capital of the island????????????
 
How deep did you go?

Like he said, when there's a ton of nets out that will drive 'em deeper.....

I usually go 30 to 50ft.....but it's not uncommon to have to go down 60 or 70ft+ at times......


( I thought Texada was the new Salmon Capitol now........:))
 
Yes I noticed the difference....I fished in the 70s, 80s, 90s.....Alberni Inlet was full of fish, every sectors did very well. But now since few years, not many fish around to be caught in the inlet. You re right. thanks to DFO mismanagement of area 23, global warming, El Nino with mackerals in the past. Other fisheries management areas such Gold River and Sooke are doing well.

Stamp River is the winner by now having lots of sockeyes coming in.
 
We fished 20 to 90 feet (alternating depths) As did everyone else. Tried all my tackle. Not even a bite. I have fished Alberni for at least 15 years and the last 3 years its been a waste of time. Why is that? Last year we counted 52 commercial boats from Pill Point to China Creek. But we hear the same tune every year. I am sure the wise decisions that are made on our behalf when sitting down with all parties doesn't take into account what we (sporties) contribute to Port ALberni businesses. But it don't seem to matter. It is a shame to destroy a prime spot like the Canal by not fishing BUT harvesting.
 
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