Barkley Sound inshore restrictions

[Deewar25]

Hey, we are looking at going here for next summer...looks like Aug 1 has an inshore over/under as of last summer, but in reading further back, perhaps closed to over 77 some seasons? Can someone confirm what the norm has been traditionally? We could deal with 1 over/under, but if totally closed to overs, may need to re-assess options.

 

[searun]

Nothing new there. Always been a slot. One under 77cm one over. The concept is to protect the large spawning females. From my experience 95% of fish caught that are under 77cm are indeed males and therefore safe to harvest as opposed to over 77cm you run risk of whacking a spawning female. Hope that helps explain. BTW, 77 cm is roughly 15 pounds give or take based on body shape etc.

 

[Deewar25]

has it ever been under 77 only? Reading back in 2013, there was lots of talk about it and 'how would they know' whether inside or outside the surfline. With 1 over, doesn't seem like this would be a huge concern or discussion (somehow don't see a group of 6 of us catching 12 overs after all!)

 

[Slabby20]

has it ever been under 77 only? Reading back in 2013, there was lots of talk about it and 'how would they know' whether inside or outside the surfline. With 1 over, doesn't seem like this would be a huge concern or discussion (somehow don't see a group of 6 of us catching 12 overs after all!)

I'm pretty sure you're right and that in 2013 everything over 77 had to go back inside Barkley.

 

[searun]

I'm pretty sure you're right and that in 2013 everything over 77 had to go back inside Barkley.

Only 2013 because there was a very small run (less than 25,000). Was over under slot in 2014, as it has been for quite a few seasons. If you recall they held the Port Alberni Salmon Festival last year and largest fish was 37 pounds. Here's the link to the results:

http://www.salmonfestival.ca/dailywinners.html

 

[Deewar25]

ok, sounds good...so I guess 2016 will be the dicey year then and this year should be decent. Good to know! thx

 

[searun]

2015 forecast is for 25,000 to 30,000. Preliminary of course. So a smaller return. I'm not sure that fits the number of jacks we saw in the river. It was a good jack year. So its early days yet, and DFO will update the forecast as more of the DNA analysis is completed from the Alaska troll catch this winter. Looking at the ocean conditions the fish going out in 2014 did not meet up with good conditions. That could certainly impact 2016.

At the end of the day its all an educated guess, so really anything can happen. Mother nature has a way of making fools out of the poor guys who we ask to make predictions. I like Bertuzzi's approach..."It is what it is."