Port alberni Inlet massacre

[rusty_master_baiter]

Sad to see another year, and another commercial opening before the derby! But the real shame is the fact they were allowed to take 18000 fish in one set cleaning out the canal! Most years that’s more than half of the return! And with so few past the counter this year and to allow that, it’s no wonder our salmon fishery is collapsing

 

[Foxsea]

Sad to see another year, and another commercial opening before the derby! But the real shame is the fact they were allowed to take 18000 fish in one set cleaning out the canal! Most years that’s more than half of the return! And with so few past the counter this year and to allow that, it’s no wonder our salmon fishery is collapsing

Just as on the east coast DFO will successfully "manage" wild salmon to collapse.

 

[Whitebuck]

What has more economic value for B.C. and Port Alberni, a viable sports fishing fishery or a handful of commercial fishing within the year for sockeye and springs?

 

[SpringVelocity]

Sad to see another year, and another commercial opening before the derby! But the real shame is the fact they were allowed to take 18000 fish in one set cleaning out the canal! Most years that’s more than half of the return! And with so few past the counter this year and to allow that, it’s no wonder our salmon fishery is collapsing

This is managed differently though, and the round table makes the recommendation not DFO. Sorry I don't have latest round table communication. I believe decisions are based on a committee with sport fishing guys present? FN had an opening now commercial. Rec has been open first crack for a bit. I do agree with you though kind of sucks with timing of derby. Sorry speaking out of turn I don't know enough about the background, but I do know the round table process is what governs canal. Not perfect but it is a process.

I heard there as test fishery conducted mid canal last few days. Maybe that indicated the forecast was greater than expected, and allowed commercial those numbers?

 

[rusty_master_baiter]

This is managed differently though, and the round table makes the recommendation not DFO. Sorry I don't have latest round table communication. I believe decisions are based on a committee with sport fishing guys present? FN had an opening now commercial. Rec has been open first crack for a bit. I do agree with you though kind of sucks with timing of derby. Sorry speaking out of turn I don't know enough about the background, but I do know the round table process is what governs canal. Not perfect but it is a process.

I heard there as test fishery conducted mid canal last few days. Maybe that indicated the forecast was greater than expected, and allowed commercial those numbers?

Ya I understand the round table but they were allotted 7000 but took 18000, in time’s like this we should be doing more to protect strong runs for the future instead of praying that more fish are gonna come later, or at least make sure there is a strong number past the counter

 

[fishinforever]

Anyone know what the quota for summer run steelhead was

 

[Islandgirl]

This bullsh*t happens year after year. They take more than allocated. I have seen this for the past 16 years. How about a fine of millions of dollars to go to the local hatchery?

The derby stimulates the local economy for millions. A sad day indeed.

They will be hoping for a late run to get the escapment. Dfo doesn't want wild salmon stock. I understand they were allocated 5000 and took 18000

 

[Teal]

Anyone know what the quota for summer run steelhead was

You hit the nail on the head, I wonder how many incidental Summer runs were reported caught......there was once a wonderful May and June Summer Run steelhead fishery that now has largely been exterminated by gill nets.

 

[Salmonface]

Same thing happened in Nootka on August 12th. 75 Gillnetters showed up and within 6 hours over 7000+ fish disappeared. After that the Chinook fishery was finished for the season IMO. I'd be curious to know how they come up with dates and quotas so I could plan my trips a bit better in the future.

 

[Thiago]

Sad to see another year, and another commercial opening before the derby! But the real shame is the fact they were allowed to take 18000 fish in one set cleaning out the canal! Most years that’s more than half of the return! And with so few past the counter this year and to allow that, it’s no wonder our salmon fishery is collapsing

Really sad!

 

[Fishalot]

Same thing happened in Nootka on August 12th. 75 Gillnetters showed up and within 6 hours over 7000+ fish disappeared. After that the Chinook fishery was finished for the season IMO. I'd be curious to know how they come up with dates and quotas so I could plan my trips a bit better in the future.

That opening has been happening in recent years in Nootka and is why I stopped going to Nootka in mid August.

 

[Thunder21]

There is a FN protest happening right now at the DFO office in Alberni. Not sure exactly what it’s about but may have something to do with this latest commercial opening . I ducked my head out for a sec to listen to the speaker and all I heard was that they are planning on being peaceful now but if they aren’t givin more fish to feed their families or aren’t made financially whole it will get worse. That’s not an exact quote but very close.

 

[Langer]

Time for DFO to be held accountable! There is no reason that more than double the TAC should taken. It is time to get rid of all net fisheries and go to troll fisheries. This is not rocket science, give the fish a chance!!

 

[RevyG]

You don’t catch the fish you don’t get fish. You buy farmed fish.
You don’t raise meat or hunt yourself, you buy farmed meat.
Simple.

 

[PurgedTT]

First of all let it be known I am against the commercial openings, and second of all unsure why there isn't more pressure from the round table or representatives to be more vocal about these openings less than a week before a major derby.

But unsure where you guys are getting double the TAC looking at the openings posted it was 7000 (upped from the original quota) for the seiners and 11,000 allocated for the gillnet sector in which neither would be extended.

Based on the run of 90,000 which seems very high for the inlet, never seen an escapement or run show up anywhere near that number in the last ten years since I've lived on the west coast.

I can't find anything showing the escapement to date but isn't peak migration early September wouldn't the fish holding in the canal be the bulk of the run, or more important the ones just removed be the bulk of the run?

I know nog said in the past that the fishery is primarily a roe fishery, is that still true?

The decisions made just makes me shake my head.

 

[Fishalot]

Looks like seine was allocated 6000 https://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&DOC_ID=236730&ID=all
Gill nets 12000 https://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&DOC_ID=236744&ID=all

That is a lot of fish not going to the spawning grounds.

 

[Islandgirl]

Time for DFO to be held accountable! There is no reason that more than double the TAC should taken. It is time to get rid of all net fisheries and go to troll fisheries. This is not rocket science, give the fish a chance!!

Dfo need s to be held accountable.. it is only us that can make that happen.

Troll fishery is the most dollars per pound of product and they are able to use their fingers and toes to count properly unlike the gillnet fleet.

 

[traveller]

As has been mentioned before, there is a very well functioning Roundtable here that does manage and make recommendations to DFO for harvest. I have no idea why they have not made a post here, but they hold the key information. This run is primarily a hatchery based run, so the numbers put on spawning beds are not as critical as in other mainly wild rivers. In fact, under the Wild Salmon Policy, and now being closely monitored, DFO does not want hatchery fish spawning, hence the big push by DFO to fin clip all hatchery fish, to prevent them from being harvested for brood stock for hatcheries. If there is a large run ikncoming, and if the test fishery indicated large numbers, then the harvest , to me, does not seem unreasonable.

 

[Salmonholic]

I just talked to Mike Spence at dfo in Port who said the other nights gill net opening caught 18,000. Last night’s native opening caught about 5,000. There is about 5,000 in the river now and they look for about 20,000 to reach escapement target . Still saying a return of about 91,000. Commercial fishers have taken 50,000 to date .

 

[wildmanyeah]

This is managed differently though, and the round table makes the recommendation not DFO. Sorry I don't have latest round table communication. I believe decisions are based on a committee with sport fishing guys present? FN had an opening now commercial. Rec has been open first crack for a bit. I do agree with you though kind of sucks with timing of derby. Sorry speaking out of turn I don't know enough about the background, but I do know the round table process is what governs canal. Not perfect but it is a process.

I heard there as test fishery conducted mid canal last few days. Maybe that indicated the forecast was greater than expected, and allowed commercial those numbers?

pretty sure most of it is posted here: https://www.roundtables.westcoastaquatic.ca/area-23-barkley-harvest