Squamish River Salmon Enhancement

[littlechucky]

Some encouraging work being done on the Squamish.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.piq...al-levels/Content?oid=12848609&media=AMP+HTML

 

[Cuba Libre]

Hey Derby-- funny how things come around again eh ?

 

[searun]

It would be nice if they placed fish into the habitat work we reconstructed in the 1990's in the upper Squamish. Habitat without fish is simply an unproductive waste. Hopefully the anti-hatchery crowd stays out of it.

 

[wildmanyeah]

A Biological Risk Management Framework for Enhancing Salmon in the Pacific Region


http://publications.gc.ca/site/arch...collection_2016/mpo-dfo/Fs144-38-2013-eng.pdf

 

[Derby]

Hey Derby-- funny how things come around again eh ?

Of course remember those days well..

 

[Whitebuck]

IMO.....i have always argued for a large hatchery to be placed on the lower Squamish to take some of the pressure off the LM flows as well as to provide economic benefits for the city of Squamish.
With the amount of guides that now ***** out the squamish you can see the downgrade of certain species.

 

[Fishmyster]

IMO.....i have always argued for a large hatchery to be placed on the lower Squamish to take some of the pressure off the LM flows as well as to provide economic benefits for the city of Squamish.
With the amount of guides that now ***** out the squamish you can see the downgrade of certain species.

Are you implying that the guides whoring out the activity of fishing and contribute greatly to the economy have caused the demise of some species?
I am curious to why you have such discontent to guides? Did some guides treat you badly in the past?

 

[Whitebuck]

Kenny don't twist my words. Have zero issues with guides. Use guides throughout the year. Friends with many guides.
My issue is on a river like the squamish....you have a couple tackle stores who offer walk and wades raft trips etc. The anglers take in the knowledge and how-to get to certain areas. In 10 years we have gone from a couple rafts and maybe a handful of anglers each day to close to a dozen rafts and 40 to 50 plus anglers a day in the spring. The fish get absolutely beat on...
Playing the same fish over and over again. Seeing dead steelhead and dollies in the shallows is not an uncommon experience now.
The numbers of fish don't justify the amount of pressure they recieve.
We couldn't guide on the Thompson why is it ok on an even smaller system?

 

[wildmanyeah]

I herd they sold 17 thousand sturgon stamps last year.

That’s basically happened in the last 20 years, mostly because salmon fishing been closed more then it’s been open.

 

[Fishmyster]

Kenny don't twist my words. Have zero issues with guides. Use guides throughout the year. Friends with many guides.
My issue is on a river like the squamish....you have a couple tackle stores who offer walk and wades raft trips etc. The anglers take in the knowledge and how-to get to certain areas. In 10 years we have gone from a couple rafts and maybe a handful of anglers each day to close to a dozen rafts and 40 to 50 plus anglers a day in the spring. The fish get absolutely beat on...
Playing the same fish over and over again. Seeing dead steelhead and dollies in the shallows is not an uncommon experience now.
The numbers of fish don't justify the amount of pressure they recieve.
We couldn't guide on the Thompson why is it ok on an even smaller system?

Maybe we should just close fishing to everyone except you and maybe some others you approve of?

 

[Whitebuck]

I have zero problem putting down my rod when actual conservation is a concern.

 

[Cuba Libre]

Of course remember those days well..
View attachment 43455

Who is that good looking dude with that icky spawner ??? !

 

[Brian Klassen]

It would be nice if they placed fish into the habitat work we reconstructed in the 1990's in the upper Squamish. Habitat without fish is simply an unproductive waste. Hopefully the anti-hatchery crowd stays out of it.

Hello Pat, BK here. Just a couple of updates on that habitat we all built under the Squamish Futures and Watershed Restoration Program back in the early 90's. Since I retired I have been working on these streams again and for the most part they are functioning fairly well with generally only minor maintenance issues. Shop 3 has minor debris jam problems but is accessible to coho for it's total length and for the most part all of the structures are still in place. The same can be said for 36 Mile creek as well. Both have decent amounts of coho using them. The Shovelnose berm at the top is still functioning but Shovelnose it's self is still under threat of the Squamish moving back to the east side of the valley in a big flood. This stream is still the top producer but the groundwater channel all have issues due mainly to small debris jams caused by broken branches and leaves preventing access. This will be addressed for next spawning season.
Ashlu is the big problem with the river intake not moving the expected amount of water due to infilling caused by main river gravel movement. This is causing the habitat downstream to not function well or consistently at all. Another fix is in the works ( again) and hopefully it will work as well as it did for 20+ years.
28 Mile Creek also has issues related to debris jams and the ponds constructed never did function as intended ( anoxic) . However there are still coho using the system
Some of the projects constructed more recently on the Powerhouse are working very well ( Branch 100). Highfalls Creek is still moving lots of bedload and this causes issues with the channels but they have been modified and we will see how that works out.

The big issue we have is the lack of chum spawners which do a great job of cleaning the gravel as well as providing nutrients for juveniles. Since the Johnstone Straight chum fishery went to a fixed 20% exportation rate the overall chum return has plummeted but protests have fallen on deaf ears. Most years returns are pitiful with the odd good return ( or what we would have called a normal return many years ago).

Hope this helps.

Brian

 

[Derby]

Great hearing from u agian Brian.. thank u for the update... when did Johnston become a 20% exportation rate? if u get on this side of the pond let get out for a fish and catch up... we can jump on Searun boat

 

[Dave]

Hey Brian, welcome to SFBC, the site old DFO folks retire to, lol!
It's a treat to see someone use their real name - well done.

 

[Brian Klassen]

Great hearing from u agian Brian.. thank u for the update... when did Johnston become a 20% exportation rate?

Fixed 20% exploitation rate started in 2004

 

[Whitebuck]

Brian great post. Thanks for the update...I miss the days of being at Judd or Mamquam seam and seeing wave after wave of silver chum pushing in on the tide!

Hopefully net fisheries stop before it’s too late!