More Unhappy Campers - by Bob Hooton
- Thread starter OldBlackDog
- Start date
This not about satisfying me, rather it is about managing angling pressure during an extreme conservation crisis. Repeated catch and release does have an impact on fish survival especially on fish such as steelhead that already have to survive extreme conditions in order to spawn. I am afraid the lodges on the Skeena showed their true colours and that the $'s come before conservation ( as others have mentioned). There was no push by the guiding community to enforce the one and done with the ministry as far as I know....but there certainly has been a push to keep the rivers open and challenge widely accepted data used by the province to gauge steelhead returns.
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
I am in support of what Searun said also. The elephant in room is the BC Government.
searun
Well-Known Member
Absolutely true.....then we need to focus on other key areas responsible for the declines that are within our capabilities to address rather than just ignoring them. IMO if we want to get serious about actually doing something to save steelhead we should consider few things (not limited to) such as:
1) Predation - strategic focus on both in-river and estuary predation on smolts, and also address adult predation. Lots of potential solutions there which are non-lethal approaches such as banning log booms in Rivers and Estuaries - removal of haul out habitat that is man-made as a starter.
2) Recruitment - Address strategic short-term recovery enhancement to give a short term boost in egg to smolt survival; modify fishery related removals; improve water management; address riparian habitat losses impacting fish passage and temperature mitigation
3) Strategic Habitat improvement - identify net new opportunities to create productive habitat; rehab estuaries; create off-channel habitat and cold ground water recruitment for juvenile salmon
OldBlackDog
Well-Known Member
So, where did this money go?
How much money was actually spent on Steelhead?
www.wltribune.com
How much money was actually spent on Steelhead?
Interior Fraser wild steelhead conservation program nets $98K in funding
Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation has supported the program continuously
www.wltribune.com
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OldBlackDog
Well-Known Member
British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund annual results summary 2019 to 2020
British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund annual results summary 2019 to 2020
Project proponentProject titleAllocationBatch 1 - Projects approved in summer 20191Canadian Groundfish Research and Conservation SocietyElectronic application for enhanced selective fishing and bycatch avoidance$ 600,0002University of Victoria, School of Environmental StudiesEnhancing rockfish recovery through citizen science, outreach and field experiments$ 758,7803BC Centre for Aquatic Health SciencesBuild wet lab to investigate wild/farmed interaction and stock restoration$ 3,550,0004British Columbia Conservation Foundation (BCCF)Innovative habitat restoration demonstration$ 4,980,7805National Indigenous Fisheries InstituteNational Indigenous Fisheries Institute: engagement$ 355,0956Scw’exmx (Nicola) Tribal AssociationRehabilitation of critical infrastructure to improve survival of Thompson steelhead and chinook$ 1,314,0277The Nature Trust of BCEnhancing estuary resiliency: An innovative approach to sustaining fish and fish habitat in a changing climate$ 8,552,4158UBC (Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences)Enhancing sustainability of capture and release marine recreational Pacific salmon fisheries using new tools/technology$ 1,938,0029Secwepemcul’ecw Restoration and Stewardship SocietyElephant Hill fire riparian restoration project$ 2,629,83310Baker Creek Enhancement Society with Nazko First NationsPlateau Fire Recovery – Riparian plant collection and planting for restoration of chinook and coho salmon habitat in the Nazko area$ 750,00011Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (University of Victoria)Place-based risk of climate change to sustainability of BC wild and hatchery-origin salmon$ 1,025,00012Namgis First NationBroughton wild salmon restoration project$ 4,220,52913Namgis First NationIndependent BC First Nations’ Genomic Lab for BC (Phase 1)$ 50,56014Namgis First NationImplementation of the Broughton First Nations Indigenous Monitoring and Inspection Plan$ 7,349,00015Comox Valley Project Watershed SocietyField application and testing of tools for identifying, mapping and quantifying important forage fish populations and their habitats to support enhanced conservation of chinook salmon in coastal BC$ 321,77916Makeway Charitable Society (formerly Tides Canada Foundation)Resilient Waters: Phase 1$ 598,75517Cowichan Valley Regional DistrictCowichan River salmon restoration program - sustainable water supply - Engineering$ 4,075,91218Pacific Salmon FoundationScience-based review of hatchery results in the Pacific Region$ 1,083,49819Canadian Wildlife FederationBC Fish passage restoration intiative$ 3,999,72120British Columbia Cattlemen’s AssociationPromotion of habitat restoration and stewardship on agricultural lands in the BC Interior$ 550,00021North Pacific Anadromous Fish CommissionInternational Pan-Pacific Salmon Expedition (2021)$ 3,022,00022Sport Fishing Institute of BCBC Fishing App$ 910,50023Sport Fishing Institute of BCVision 2021$ 700,879Batch 2 - Projects approved in winter 201924Peninsula Streams SocietyMillstream fishway project$ 300,00025Pacific Salmon FoundationWinter salmon survey in the Gulf of Alaska$ 650,00026Squamish River Watershed SocietyElaho River chinook salmon restoration project$ 522,48627Gitanyow Huwlip Society; Gitanyow Fisheries AuthorityKitwanga River sockeye salmon recovery plan implementation$ 867,020Batch 3 - Projects approved in spring 202028University of British ColumbiaOptimizing recirculating aquaculture systems for sustainable salmon production$ 1,829,49029University of British ColumbiaDrivers of inter-annual variability in zooplankton feeding in the Strait of Georgia: A combined model-observation approach$ 165,00030Pacific Prawn Fishermen’s AssociationImproving sustainability of British Columbia's commercial spot prawn (Pandalus platyceros) fishery and prawn stocks$ 117,99631Juan de Fuca Salmon Restoration SocietyCreation of salmon conservation facility$ 920,00032Seymour Salmonid SocietySeymour Watershed Restoration Project$ 618,84433Spruce City Wildlife AssociationUpper Fraser chinook strategic enhancement project$ 240,36234Adams Lake Indian Band (ALIB)Upper Adams Salmon Restoration Program$ 2,521,18135Osoyoos Indian BandInkaneep Creek Restoration$ 360,28336Namgis First NationPhase 2: Independent First Nations' Genomic Lab for BC$ 1,977,82837Pacific Salmon FoundationPercy Walkus Hatchery upgrade$ 336,89538Pacific Salmon FoundationDetermination of bottlenecks limiting wild and enhanced juvenile salmon and steelhead production in BC using PIT tags and spatially comprehensive arrays$ 4,619,87739Pacific Salmon FoundationEmpowering Indigenous community fisheries with deep learning – computer vision for adaptive management of terminal salmon fisheries$ 410,30040Lower Fraser Fisheries AllianceChilliwack Coho PIT tag escapement project$ 679,69041Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal CouncilPartnership for a novel framework for assessing and managing Pacific Herring fisheries on the West Coast of Vancouver Island$ 390,50042Skeena Fisheries CommissionBear River Autonomous Salmon Enumeration$ 402,439
OldBlackDog
Well-Known Member
See the word Steelhead there?
Glasses help: Pacific Salmon Foundation Determination of bottlenecks limiting wild and enhanced juvenile salmon and steelhead production in BC using PIT tags and spatially comprehensive arrays$ 4,619,87739
OldBlackDog
Well-Known Member
Good job, now bottleneck limiting production of Steelhead Using pit tags. Thought that was done and nothing found? They left the rivers and disappeared?
OldBlackDog
Well-Known Member
71 million spent and Steelhead are now pretty much done.
These may be of interest:
OldBlackDog
Well-Known Member
Yup, more studies. Wonder what they will do for the Skeena and northern rivers?
searun
Well-Known Member
Quite a few of the BCSRIF projects that will both directly and in-directly benefit Steelhead. Many of the Chinook habitat projects will benefit steelhead given they both rely upon heavy stream complexing (large flows, boulder habitat, cold water). I think there are a few others that contribute to steelhead.
Here's one.....
Tribal AssociationRehabilitation of critical infrastructure to improve survival of Thompson steelhead and chinook$ 1,314,0277
And another......
British Columbia Cattlemen’s AssociationPromotion of habitat restoration and stewardship on agricultural lands in the BC Interior$ 550,000
Sadly, given the dire situation many steelhead streams are in today, much more needs to be done to improve basic recruitment (hatcheries, improved habitat, and predator control). Unfortunately the Province has been drinking the kool aid of the proponents of applying restrictions on anglers and attempting to get gill nets out of rivers, as opposed to addressing the broader issues. As the evidence shows, angling restrictions to achieve steelhead recovery are a failed strategy.
Here's one.....
Tribal AssociationRehabilitation of critical infrastructure to improve survival of Thompson steelhead and chinook$ 1,314,0277
And another......
British Columbia Cattlemen’s AssociationPromotion of habitat restoration and stewardship on agricultural lands in the BC Interior$ 550,000
Sadly, given the dire situation many steelhead streams are in today, much more needs to be done to improve basic recruitment (hatcheries, improved habitat, and predator control). Unfortunately the Province has been drinking the kool aid of the proponents of applying restrictions on anglers and attempting to get gill nets out of rivers, as opposed to addressing the broader issues. As the evidence shows, angling restrictions to achieve steelhead recovery are a failed strategy.
OldBlackDog
Well-Known Member
Let’s change things. Let’s demand that the BC Government treat Steelhead just like Sheep Hunting?
Why not? They are just as few.
So, minimum $35,000 to fish and catch one. All money to go to Steelhead.
You must be guided at $100.00 per hour and the guide must give half his salary to Steelhead. Costs of accommodation and jet boats etc. are extra.
You must be drawn to do this and cost to go into draw is $1000.
??
Why not? They are just as few.
So, minimum $35,000 to fish and catch one. All money to go to Steelhead.
You must be guided at $100.00 per hour and the guide must give half his salary to Steelhead. Costs of accommodation and jet boats etc. are extra.
You must be drawn to do this and cost to go into draw is $1000.
??
Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
QUOTE
Unfortunately the Province has been drinking the kool aid of the proponents of applying restrictions on anglers and attempting to get gill nets out of rivers, as opposed to addressing the broader issues. As the evidence shows, angling restrictions to achieve steelhead recovery are a failed strategy.
UNQUOTE
What are these broader issues you refer to, if I may ask? I would say removing gill nets from the river can be construed as a fairly broad issue... as in 90 meters long and 60 meshes deep, as broad an issue as one can find when looking to address the precipitous declines of Interior Fraser steelhead .....
In river gill nets are the last remaining barrier standing between a potential spawning adult Chilcotin or THomspson River steelhead and the gravel its homing in on.....to dismiss that issue as “kool aid” is not being sincere. Angling restrictions? Same thing. There’s a documented mortality rate associated with C&R fishing. When you get down to a couple of hundred (at best) returning steelhead as in the case of the Thompson River, gill net and angler restrictions make complete sense. Drinking kool aid is when people believe that steelhead incidentally caught in a gill net can be released unharmed.
And it’s all the more galling that fishery managers in Victoria didn’t shut down the Skeena to all sport fishing in early September.
The broader issues? You mean like climate change.....warming oceans, increased acidification, Pacific blobs and a welcome mat of anoxyic layers of water for not only outgoing smolts but incoming adults....not sure the Provincial fishery managers can have their feet held to the fire on those issues the way they can on angler restrictions and attempting to deal with the plague of in-river gill nets
Unfortunately the Province has been drinking the kool aid of the proponents of applying restrictions on anglers and attempting to get gill nets out of rivers, as opposed to addressing the broader issues. As the evidence shows, angling restrictions to achieve steelhead recovery are a failed strategy.
UNQUOTE
What are these broader issues you refer to, if I may ask? I would say removing gill nets from the river can be construed as a fairly broad issue... as in 90 meters long and 60 meshes deep, as broad an issue as one can find when looking to address the precipitous declines of Interior Fraser steelhead .....
In river gill nets are the last remaining barrier standing between a potential spawning adult Chilcotin or THomspson River steelhead and the gravel its homing in on.....to dismiss that issue as “kool aid” is not being sincere. Angling restrictions? Same thing. There’s a documented mortality rate associated with C&R fishing. When you get down to a couple of hundred (at best) returning steelhead as in the case of the Thompson River, gill net and angler restrictions make complete sense. Drinking kool aid is when people believe that steelhead incidentally caught in a gill net can be released unharmed.
And it’s all the more galling that fishery managers in Victoria didn’t shut down the Skeena to all sport fishing in early September.
The broader issues? You mean like climate change.....warming oceans, increased acidification, Pacific blobs and a welcome mat of anoxyic layers of water for not only outgoing smolts but incoming adults....not sure the Provincial fishery managers can have their feet held to the fire on those issues the way they can on angler restrictions and attempting to deal with the plague of in-river gill nets
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searun
Well-Known Member
Pinniped predation for starters. Are you trying to suggest removing angling C&R mortality is larger than the impact of pinniped predication? I sure would like to see the mathematics on that one. The number of mortalities associated with C&R mortality are so small it would hardly make any measurable difference for steelhead recovery. Having listened to Rob Bison and Dr. Carl Walters on this topic, they seem to agree that the juice simply isn't worth the squeeze when it comes to the efficacy of using angling closures as a recovery strategy. History also should provide more than a little guidance....what have closures done to recover steelhead stocks? Any examples?
Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
Nobody said a word about angling closures being used as a recovery strategy. It’s a simple measure to keep the knuckle draggers off rivers that have been deemed ECC , as have both the IFS drainages and the Skeena system steelhead based on the projected returns for 2021......the few remaining fish in these systems should be left to spawn in peace.....its not about recovery at this point...it’s about avoiding extirpation of the resource!
And meanwhile, the “One and Done” concept that was bandied around last August is not only a ridiculous notion....it’s bordering on the obscene. It didn’t surprise me to hear that concept thrown around by FLNRORD officials and tackle shop owners in Smithers..... What a flimsy conservation arguement they used to unleash a hoard of guided jet boats on the 5,000 projected fish returning to the Skeena (a run that should be in the multiple 10’s of thousands......)
One and Done......yes, I get mine, then the 20 jet boats and their clients waiting downstream around the bend get that same fish all over again.....maybe call it Twenty One and Done?
One and Done...now there’s a recovery strategy for you......the lodges and guides get to recover all the lost revenues from 2020 on the broken backs of the few steelhead that made it back to spawn....thanks, FLNRORD....brilliant way to respond to the Tyee Test Results which clearly supported an ECC situation for Skeena steelhead in the fall of 2021...how are you ever going to look First Nations fishery representatives in the eye again and talk conservation??????
And meanwhile, the “One and Done” concept that was bandied around last August is not only a ridiculous notion....it’s bordering on the obscene. It didn’t surprise me to hear that concept thrown around by FLNRORD officials and tackle shop owners in Smithers..... What a flimsy conservation arguement they used to unleash a hoard of guided jet boats on the 5,000 projected fish returning to the Skeena (a run that should be in the multiple 10’s of thousands......)
One and Done......yes, I get mine, then the 20 jet boats and their clients waiting downstream around the bend get that same fish all over again.....maybe call it Twenty One and Done?
One and Done...now there’s a recovery strategy for you......the lodges and guides get to recover all the lost revenues from 2020 on the broken backs of the few steelhead that made it back to spawn....thanks, FLNRORD....brilliant way to respond to the Tyee Test Results which clearly supported an ECC situation for Skeena steelhead in the fall of 2021...how are you ever going to look First Nations fishery representatives in the eye again and talk conservation??????
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searun
Well-Known Member
SH...My prior post #24 bears repeating as I believe you may be taking the intent of my post out of context.....my whole point is when it comes to developing priorities to apply as a recovery strategy, using angling closures is pretty ineffective. But as you say, it does have one advantage in providing the angling community with some sort of weird moral high ground. Flip side of that is when people don't have a meaningful connection with steelhead, who will be there (other than some grey hairs living out their by gone glory day dreams) to speak up for steelhead?
"I think you are not reading my post correctly. I NEVER stated that we should continue angling for Steelhead...I stopped doing that for the past decade other than on 2 occasions fished summer runs. What I did say was closing angling is not the panacea many are posting up. The solutions rest by taking other more concrete actions to address the more substantive reasons for the declines. Wearing the angling closure badge of honour just makes people feel like they are doing something,"
"I think you are not reading my post correctly. I NEVER stated that we should continue angling for Steelhead...I stopped doing that for the past decade other than on 2 occasions fished summer runs. What I did say was closing angling is not the panacea many are posting up. The solutions rest by taking other more concrete actions to address the more substantive reasons for the declines. Wearing the angling closure badge of honour just makes people feel like they are doing something,"
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