Port alberni Inlet massacre

Ok, you guys are mad because the gillnetters got their quota and you didn't and you think if they did not fish first you would have got your quota. Is that the gist of the argument?
If that is the case, how long are the gillneters expected to wait before they fish?
I could be wrong here but I think the issue most guys have is that some groups went ahead and overfished during their openings. This likely resulted in poorer fishing during a few of the busiest rec fishing weekends which left even more quota for someone else to fish afterwards. This resulted in a terrible couple weeks of fishing at the end of August including the derby weekend for most guys because 25k springs or so were pulled out of the inlet the week before. It’s not all about the derby but that derby does bring a lot of money and people to the area so it would be nice if the inlet wasn’t completely cleaned out the week before in my opinion .
 
I could be wrong here but I think the issue most guys have is that some groups went ahead and overfished during their openings. This likely resulted in poorer fishing during a few of the busiest rec fishing weekends which left even more quota for someone else to fish afterwards. This resulted in a terrible couple weeks of fishing at the end of August including the derby weekend for most guys because 25k springs or so were pulled out of the inlet the week before. It’s not all about the derby but that derby does bring a lot of money and people to the area so it would be nice if the inlet wasn’t completely cleaned out the week before in my opinion .
How many days in total were the gillnets open? How many days in total was the recreational fishery open?
 
The last 5+ years have ranged from well below average to almost no wild chinooks on the spawning beds in the stamp compared to my observations over the last 25 years on the river itself. to use those numbers as a baseline is poor management. There is ample capacity in the stamp and tributaries to support the numbers we saw this year many kilometers of spawning area and when there were healthy stocks the river stayed fertilized and full of healthy growing salmon and all the conditions they need. Pre hatchery the river like many on the island was suffering from heavy industrial logging and poor practices as well as heavy commercial fishing pressure and a heavily polluting pulp mill in the estuary to use numbers from then to justify a lack of capacity is also misguided.
 
quite a few of my older friends (dad and uncles too), know the rhythm set by the dfo and gillnetters and do not bother with the derby for the last five or so years.
 
It doesn't matter even if there were 200K fish spawning it would still be complaining. If the escapement is reached have no issues with other sectors having share of harvest. Too be fair it was recreational chinook 2/4 all summer long and plenty of time for people to get their fish. It is hard to listen to as even areas like French Creek which has the Big Q hatchery were reduced to size limits. South island completely decimated with a daily limit slashed to make a political statement. Georgia straight murdered....

From someone new too fishing this area I say you guys have a real gem there to be honest. Just needs some tweaks to round table, but at least you have one. Isn't it funny how Cowichan and Alberni have round tables and their chinook runs are stronger than other areas in BC...hmmmm

Work together and stop bickering. Hopefully next year the derby timing can be figured out.

`
 
I think the point being made is removing 19K in one night 2 weeks before the end of prime rec fishing isn't respecting the needs of rec stakeholders. The Area D gill net fishery could have taken place in a different manner that wouldn't have resulted in impediments to the rec fishery while still achieving their harvest opportunity. Everyone can get what they need, we just have to go about it differently. And, front loading commercial fisheries does reduce rec expected catch, and any un-used rec catch benefits whom?
 
It doesn't matter even if there were 200K fish spawning it would still be complaining. If the escapement is reached have no issues with other sectors having share of harvest.

Work together and stop bickering. Hopefully next year the derby timing can be figured out.

`

Its not about derby timing at all - its about rec opportunity being impeded by the manner in which the fishery was structured this season. The derby isn't about to get moved either, that is a non-starter.
 
So obviously the Robertson creek Chinook stock is one of the most important stocks in terms of fishing and economic value that we see on our coast. The money that the hatchery creates to the rec, commercial sector as well as the communities around the coast that can not be matched in BC. Why are we not asking for more hatchery production for the Chinook? All parties are wanting more fish? If 20k is what we need for brood, what would happen if we did 40k for brood?

This is something that the round table, local communities and our government officials should be pushing.
 
I think the point being made is removing 19K in one night 2 weeks before the end of prime rec fishing isn't respecting the needs of rec stakeholders. The Area D gill net fishery could have taken place in a different manner that wouldn't have resulted in impediments to the rec fishery while still achieving their harvest opportunity. Everyone can get what they need, we just have to go about it differently. And, front loading commercial fisheries does reduce rec expected catch, and any un-used rec catch benefits whom?

So having the gillentters "do it differently" is code for, gillnetters should wait till the bitter end when they are black and worthless and catch them right in the river mouth after the rec sector has had every opportunity possible to catch their share.
 
Last edited:
So having the gillentters "do it differently" is code for, gillnetters should wait till the bitter end when they are black and worthless and catch them right in the river mouth after the rec sector has had every opportunity possible to catch their share.

no code, some fairness. 10k pieces 2 weeks before the derby.. max. they can get their bright fish, and sport fishers have abetter chance at supporting the economy.
 
Lots of hot takes happening.

The the biggest debate was the decision of such heavy fishing from both gillnet and FN EO (51,390 pieces combined) before there was any sign of fish at the falls/hatchery, and secondly the gillnetters taking more than their quota especially so close to the derby which effectively removed basically anything that was in the area to be caught by the rec sector.

Many people have said if everyone is getting a crack at the resource then it's a success but a couple sectors took the lion share of the pie this year and also benefit (commercial and FN) from one sector performing poorly (rec).

No one is saying commercials should be shut down or wait until the fish are black boots staging at the river mouth for a month.
 
So having the gillentters "do it differently" is code for, gillnetters should wait till the bitter end when they are black and worthless and catch them right in the river mouth after the rec sector has had every opportunity possible to catch their share.
I think you are missing the entire point. How was catching 19,000 fish 2 weeks before the end of the fishing season not impeding the rec fishery from achieving their catch? What effective controls did the fishery as planned and executed have on ensuring this did not happen? Are there ways to plan future fisheries so we prevent this from happening? Could we plan in a way that spreads out catch and ensures everyone's needs are met? I'm suggesting that the point of the RT and the TOR is to ensure that we create a process that takes care to ensure every sector's needs are met without impeding the other sectors while pursuing your own objectives. Suggesting that we move the date of a derby so the Area D gill net fishery can go full speed in the last 2 weeks of August (prime Rec fishing time and tourism peak) is completely tone deaf. If you are suggesting perhaps we can take greater care to plan Area D fisheries in a way where there are controls in place to ensure we don't repeat what happened this season, then that is a whole other discussion.

I note that Area D was happy to participate in the post Labour Day fishery - what was the price differential? Did you get less per pound because of lower quality or was it because of supply or was there any difference at all? How about you show me your sales slips?
 
Last edited:
I see why searun is saying how does removing such a large qty and cleaning out canal help other fisheries? Sorry I didn't get full picture before I posted above. Doesn't sound like working together 19,000 pieces is a lot in one shot.

Does this happen every year or is this new?
 
I see why searun is saying how does removing such a large qty and cleaning out canal help other fisheries? Sorry I didn't get full picture before I posted above. Doesn't sound like working together 19,000 pieces is a lot in one shot.

Does this happen every year or is this new?

Yes it was a one day opening which their TAC was 19K but they ended up catching 24k and the rec underage would cover the commercial overage, seiners also got a TAC of 6000 but showing final catch of 8000 (but seiners may have got a bump up I did not look at all the DFO opening/updates just the intial post). FN got a small opening once they seen how much the commercials were allocated they put blockade at the boat launches and demonstrated in front of the DFO building and then they got a massive economic opening where they took 24k total.

Normal years openings are usually under 10K between gillnet and seines combined. (Thinking last decade not historic) because I know some used to say 100k was the norm for the inlet/hatchery until it was scaled back because of funding being cut.

I noticed 2019 was also an exceptional year for the robertson creek hatchery, and I know SEAK fishery reduced it's effort in the spring to focus more during the summer is that what is driving the increased returns? Was alot of our Area 23 fish being killed in alaskan waters?
 
Last edited:
The total Terminal Area Run forecast is 117,000. The escapement requirement is 21,000, leaving 96,000 for allocation to sectors. The allocations which were pre-determined prior to the season are:

Maa-nulth = 1820
Expected Rec Catch = 38,610
Tsu-ma-uss FSC = 2000
Tsu-ma-uss Economic Opportunity = 24,695
Commercial Net = 26,695 (Area D Gill Net & Area B Seine combined)

That leaves 21,122 uncaught by rec fishery or 55% left for other sectors.

Area D Commercial Fisheries in August

o Aug 25 – 26 night opening = 5,292 caught

o Aug 30 – 31 night opening = 19,648 caught

Total is 25,103 (last count with additional catch from Sept)

Area B Seine total is 8,382

Combined = 33,485

That is 33,485 - 26,695 = 6,790 over the planned fishery allocation, which was covered off by the Rec fishery underage.

Personally I would rather see any Rec underage caught in the FSC fishery and/or EO fishery - at least the $ remains in the local community as opposed to sailing off to Vancouver. OR, perhaps the excess to allocation is sold and placed into an enhancement fund so we can create abundance for all.
 
Pretty clear what much of the rec communities feedback is regarding how the fishing plan this year wasn't satisfactory. Interested to hear ideas on how we could shape future fishing plans for all sectors that result in win/win outcomes for all sectors. Thoughts?
 
Increase the recretional limit on abundant runs, allow smaller commercial openings earlier and more frequent so they do not mop out the inlet right before the derby, FN business as usual.
 
If the FN fish the excess rec quota maybe a significant percentage of the profit should be donated to the Robertson creek hatchery?(50%) Or if the run size allows it and it appears we aren’t going to make our quota, increase rec limits for the month of August.
 
Back
Top