Weak economy = more fish?

[yo mama]

Heres a weird one...

I was just noticing how good the reports are on the entire coast and i wondered if it has anything to do with the weaker economy in the past few years?

My though behind this is commercial less people eating at restaurants or buying seafood so less commercial demand

Less people going to lodges forcing them to open three weeks later than normal allowing thousands of fish to skate by the north coast in May/June.

Less recreational fishing do to personal cutbacks on expenses like boats, bait, fuel, licenses...

What are the thoughts about this out there?

 

[FishBC.org]

I'm sure all of this may be contributing. I think that despite everyone's scientific claims though, that no one really knows why the fish sometimes go "dire", and then seem to bounce back with a vengeance. I personally think it's just a natural cycle, but it IS nice to see barely any commercial boats sucking the life out of the salmon. If only they'd make halibut worth 1.00 a pound, perhaps they too would be in abundance again in 25 years. The take of sportsfishermen, compared to commercial is minor. Frankly if you want to eat fish, and seafood, people should be forced to get out of their houses and simply go catch it. It's an enjoyable enough thing to do. All the hoity toities that don't want to get their hands dirty for a seafood dinner, it could do some good for, to shed the ties, and grab a rod.

 

[Sharphooks]

It's easy to draw that conclusion but I think good high seas survival and lots of feed is probably more of a factor for the amount of fish moving through the highway. Just got off the phone with one of my guys in Sitka: spring fishing for the commies has been excellent, prices are high ($ 4.25) and everyone is happy that there are lots of chins around. last year was bleak

Early reports from Haida Gwaii also were off the charts for some of the lodges. I think Van Isle is seeing the results of strong hatch output, good wild survival, and lots of feed to keep them growing.

Puget Sound just had an opening in the San Juans. Lights out fishing, better then anyone has seen in years. Same thing at Westport and Neah Bay. Neah Bay was dead last year

It'll be interesting to watch the Uke Derby ladder. I suspect there will be lots of 40+ this year

But the slow economy definitely adds to the mix. Lodges are singing the blues. Stayed in Bamfield last week. Usually at 4 AM you get woken up by the fleet. This year, just a few boats sneaking quietly out of the harbor. Lots of boats stayed tied to the dock.

I'm a steelhead fisherman during the fall and winter. I spend lots of time in Skeena country in September and October. I just love it when gas prices and unemployment is high. People stay home.... No, I don't mean that. Forget I said that.

 

[Enniberg]

Ukee definitely looked quiet last week - hard to believe that on a Canada Day long weekend, there was an abundance of "Vacancy" signs along the street, and very few cars in the motel parking lots.

Island west was more than half empty and the government dock had lots of space.

We stayed at the Island West campground, they had a few trailers below, but at the top of the hill, only 3 spots were occupied.

For the nice people of Ukee, I really wish that things pick up soon.

 

[Dogbreath]

In the years after the Soviet economy collapsed and factories closed fish populations in the Caspian Sea mushroomed as pollution dropped.

On the Tuna front many super seiners that formerly worked the Pacific have been tied up for long periods of time-prices are so low/fuel costs so high.

 

[trophywife]

rats nose july 1 and only 4 boats,, was very different than years previous,, and yup lotsa fish

 

[Charter Tofino]

With low prices they held off on destroying the herring run this year on ECVI. locally the bait is all over. It's all this years spawn aswell. Tiny 2 inch immature herring. Also have caught 3-4 coho already compare to 3-4 in the previous five years.

 

[Bassblaster]

Had an interesting conversation about this with an elder gent at the ferry terminal while waiting to hop over to Quadra for the day with the wife. Started out just chatting when the conversation turned to the fishing and how good it's been. He commented that he'd been chatting with a biologist a while back and the guy made an interesting observation. At the time fish stocks were really low and the biologist didn't seem to be worried. When this old gent asked him why he replied "Economics"

He pointed out that the economy had a larger role in the fish stocks than the biology did and gave this example.

MacDonalds has been in Japan for almost thirty years now. They, and others like them, have effectively changed the diets of two generations of Japanese. Where once they cherished herring roe as a popular dish, now the vast majority of Japanese can't stand the stuff and wouldn't be caught dead eating it. As a result the harvesting of the roe has almost ceased due to lack of demand. Since the herring have been left to spawn naturally the populations of one of the oceans staple food sources has skyrocketed providing huge amounts of feed stock for the larger fish species. When there is plenty of food, populations climb to match them, as does size of preditors. Survival rates also go up improving stocks.

Personally I had never looked at things in this perspective but it makes sense given several other posts here regarding fishing fleets being grounded due to lack of demand and rising expenses.

 

[Dogbreath]

MacDonalds has been in Japan for almost thirty years now. They, and others like them, have effectively changed the diets of two generations of Japanese. Where once they cherished herring roe as a popular dish, now the vast majority of Japanese can't stand the stuff and wouldn't be caught dead eating it. As a result the harvesting of the roe has almost ceased due to lack of demand.

That's something of an oversimplification.

While changing demographics have impacted seafood consumption the idea that all Japanese are now lining up outside McDonalds is ludicrous- Japan is the world's largest consumer and importer of fish and seafood products

 

[sammyslabber]

That's something of an oversimplification.

While changing demographics have impacted seafood consumption the idea that all Japanese are now lining up outside McDonalds is ludicrous- Japan is the world's largest consumer and importer of fish and seafood products

times are changing just look at our native's(1st nation) diet...sammy

 

[Bassblaster]

I agree with you DB, I was just quoting what the other gentleman said to me, but you can't deny that changing diets of even a few million people, not just from Japan, can and does have an impact down the line.

 

[Sharphooks]

A friend of mine spots herring in Togiak. The herring roe market is still alive and well in Japan.

As far as Japanese seafood consumption goes, the tsunami last March wiped out hundreds and thousands of metric tons of salmon, black cod, P. cod, herring roe, salmon roe, king crab, and everything else that was stored in Sendai and along the coast that got hit the hardest.

Since the rebuilding efforts, Japanese seafood importers have been on a rampage to build some of those inventories back up. The only hiccup in current salmon prices in Japan is over-supply of farmed coho from Chile and farmed Atlantics from Norway, not so much the declining Japanese demand for salmon in general.

But black cod ($ 10.75/lb) and king crab ($ 16.00/lb) are trading at all-time highs, specifically because of Japanese demand.

You're right that Mickey D's has changed some eating habits of the younger Japanese generation but Japanese live to be 80 years old and the older gen still want seafood and are willing to pay for it.

When salmon roe and herring roe prices come down as is indeed the case in 2011, it's not so much declining consumption patterns: it's usually over-supply, and 9 times out of 10, you can trace market dumping of seafood products like salmon roe (pinks and chums) and herring roe to the Russian Far East

Meanwhile, herring on the East Coast has fallen off a cliff in both the Gulf of Maine and the Canada Maritimes. Strong demand from Russia and EU, over-fishing and probably deleterious temperature gradients have contributed (same with mackerel)

The fact that bait fish populations are alive and well on the West Coast is great news. My guess, it's water temps (= plankton blooms) that are all working in the salmon's favor. It's an up-year for lots of species, but keep in mind that one man's bounty (Canadian pilchards) is another man singing the blues (the guys in California took a 25 % quota cut in pilchards this year) My off the cuff guess---they moved north

Enjoy the filthy lucre while you can-- the predictions are that in a decade, the trend in Pacific Northwest water temperatures will push salmon cycles into a decline and we'll all be golfing

 

[Aces]

Ukee definitely looked quiet last week - hard to believe that on a Canada Day long weekend, there was an abundance of "Vacancy" signs along the street, and very few cars in the motel parking lots.

Island west was more than half empty and the government dock had lots of space.

We stayed at the Island West campground, they had a few trailers below, but at the top of the hill, only 3 spots were occupied.

For the nice people of Ukee, I really wish that things pick up soon.

Also, it's the quietest in Tofino that i have ever seen in the over 20 yrs i have been here. Thank God for regular clients!