Where do 40+ lb Chinook come from? (via PSF)

[tincan]

Recently got some really cool updated stats (from contact at @Pacific Salmon Foundation) on WHERE chinook that are caught in Area 1 (Northern Haida Gwaii) ORIGINATE from. These are fish that are caught by participating lodges who then take genetic samples to be analyzed at DFO's lab in Nanaimo. Thought I'd share this info as I'm sure others will be as interested in it as I am.

This study has been going on about 9-10 years now so they have accumulated a solid number of samples in that time.... and the results are quite striking!

First, my key takeaways from Figure 1 below are:
-Nearly 50% of all chinook caught in Area 1 (at lodges like Langara, QCL, WCFC, WCR, etc) come from America
-A very small % of chinook caught in Area 1 actually originate from Area 1, or anywhere near it. (WCVI, Fraser, and US comprise the vast majority)
-Holy sh*t! US chinook contribute a TON of chinook to our fishery


Figure 1. Chinook stock contribution by region to random samples of Chinook salmon collected from the Langara Island recreational fishery

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And if Figure 1 wasn't eye-opening enough, take a look at Figure 2. This figure includes only chinook OVER 40lbs caught in Area 1. This tell us where BIG fish come from. These are the hogs that people from all over the world come to catch (and hopefully release) up in the Charlottes (Haida Gwaii).

Figure 2 takeaways:
-Around 75% of 40+ lb chinook come from either the Kalum or Wannock Rivers. 3 in 4!
-While US chinook are a huge % of total chinook, they are a tiny % of large chinook caught in Area 1
-The BIG chinook in BC essentially come from 2 tribs of 2 river systems... let's not F one of these up!

Figure 2. Chinook stock contribution by region to large fish (>40 lbs) samples of Chinook salmon collected from the Langara Island recreational fishery.

Have a gander and air your thoughts on this. As a past guide in Area 1 I can safely say that this level in insight into where 'our' chinook come from didn't exist all that long ago and it's nice to see how technology (genetics) and cooperation between Langara and other lodges and DFO have allowed a better understanding of the resource they rely on.

 

[bones]

Nice read, I kinda thought that 40+ fish where fish that genetically spawn on 5-6 year cycles.

 

[Charter Tofino]

Awesome stuff from PSF. Do Wannock and other rivers stock fall under "northern mainland BC"? These stats keep making me want to push further north to intercept a higher percent of these 40+ fish that rarely swim by the south coast.

 

[tincan]

@kelly, here's the breakdown of these 40lb + fish by river since 2007 :

As you can see, of the 279 fish sampled that were in the 40lb + category, 211 were from either the Kalum or Wannock, representing 75.6% of all BIG fish caught and sampled.

 

[Charter Tofino]

Great info. Surprised by the low amount of recorded big Harrison fish. 2007-2010 wcvi saw good numbers of 40+ whites that I always assumed were mainly Harrison/Chilliwack fish. Might just be a location/timing of catch.

 

[tincan]

Great info. Surprised by the low amount of recorded big Harrison fish. 2007-2010 wcvi saw good numbers of 40+ whites that I always assumed were mainly Harrison/Chilliwack fish. Might just be a location/timing of catch.

Maybe those big Harrison whites know a secret route past Haida Gwaii?? ... the more we learn about the ocean the more we realize how little we know.

 

[TheBigGuy]

The sad part is how small the random samplings are from the Fraser watershed now. It has shrunken dramatically from the start of the sampling. Very few of the big fish are of Fraser origin, and the overall percentage of fish from the Fraser has really declined. Not a very good sign for the health of Fraser river Chinook stocks. Hard to believe the once mighty Fraser river has declined to such a pitiful remnant of it's former glory.

 

[Stew]

Hard to believe the Kitsumkalum Chinook run is holding up the way they get slaughtered every year. Literally hundreds of people every day just down stream of Terrace target these fish for over a month. Absolute gong show.

 

[agentaqua]

just to open up a potentially acrimonious discussion...

What does everyone think of a slot limit - letting the big mammas go to produce little giants???

 

[tincan]

Hard to believe the Kitsumkalum Chinook run is holding up the way they get slaughtered every year. Literally hundreds of people every day just down stream of Terrace target these fish for over a month. Absolute gong show.

@Stew , here's a @Pacific Salmon Foundation program you might wanna check out that brings together stock assessments and habitat assessments for the Kalum and all other salmon runs in the Skeena system - http://salmonexplorer.ca/#skeena/chinook/kalum-early&section=population

 

[tincan]

A few more interest tidbits to add to the charts above re: Area 1 sport caught chinook salmon:

Big Chinook are quite rare:
- 1/200 is bigger than 40 lbs
- 1/700 is bigger than 50lbs
- 1/10,000 is bigger than 60lbs

Around 80% of 40+ lb salmon were males

75% of 40+ lb salmon have 4 marine years (half of them are stream type and half ocean type)

Attributes of rivers with BIG fish:
- all glacial
- all lake stabilized
- all close to the ocean (0 to 150 km)

 

[ericl]

http://wildfishconservancy.org/images/news/CaughtFarFromHome2011journalchart.jpg

Looking at these pie charts I'd say it's likely that the area 1 catches never have had a high percentage of Fraser river fish - looks like they stay farther south.
Also, the Lodge season in Haida Gwaii is short & probably misses earlier & later runs. There are 3 rivers in souther Oregon known for fish over 50 that have runs into December. I was told by a Westport Charter Captain that the real hogs on the WA coast don't show-up until October.

Great info tin can - thanks

 

[OldBlackDog]

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/...eleased+coast+record+books/7135250/story.html

 

[tincan]

K, 2 more charts to show from the data I was provided.

This first one show escapement history for around 20 years for the Kalum and Wannock with the latest numbers here being 2010 so a little outdated.



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And this last one below will help you plan your next fishing trip to Haida Gwaii as it's got the run timing (catch dates) of all 40+ lb chinook that were part of the study in Area 1 (note: I believe the data below was just for the 4 years ending 2010).

 

[Fish Camp]

It comes from a hook and sinker with a trolling motor for youth (under 9.9) and the willingness to get up to see the great outdoors and to be home at times to keep family.Then any fish is equill to 40+ chinook.you just have to try.and # of days are few.Quatsie riv what news.

 

[TheBigGuy]

just to open up a potentially acrimonious discussion...

What does everyone think of a slot limit - letting the big mammas go to produce little giants???

I have no problem with that. However, I get the impression the average guy on the chuck would be vehemently opposed to that. Unfortunately, you can't have it both ways. You can't expect to harvest all the large specimens out of the gene pool and still have monster fish to catch down the road. Everyone wants to keep the monster fish they catch while at the same time complaining the quality of fishing is declining. Maybe I'm wrong, but the sentiment expressed by most members on this forum seems totally opposed to slots on larger fish.

 

[fishin_magician]

Big fish aside, ultimately there should be a larger minimum and a smaller maximum IMHO. The reason this hasn't already happened is politics and economics. Those are the facts. The same should apply to Lings.

I'm not going to get into it but politics interferes and trumps sound conservation sense based on scientific evidence. The reality is that society has come to accept lower highs as norms. History holds all the answers. When the last monster salmon is finally caught only then people really understand. Sad but true.

 

[california]

Big fish aside, ultimately there should be a larger minimum and a smaller maximum IMHO. The reason this hasn't already happened is politics and economics. Those are the facts. The same should apply to Lings.

I'm not going to get into it but politics interferes and trumps sound conservation sense based on scientific evidence. The reality is that society has come to accept lower highs as norms. History holds all the answers. When the last monster salmon is finally caught only then people really understand. Sad but true.

A moratorium on keeping the large fish should be in place, for commercial fishers and sports. However that is only likely to slow, not prevent the selection of these fish out of the gene pool. The issue for these fish is they spend multiple cycles in the salt water, and for the biggest ones they may have to run the gantlet of commercial and sport fisherman 4 summers in a row. A future 70lber may be caught as a teener in its first summer feeding, has another summer as a 25-30lber, another in the 40s or 50 and finally its last as a huge hog with fisherman targeting it all the way almost to the mouth of the Kalum and Wonnock rivers. There is a high selection pressure to eliminate these fish as the spawning success is much higher for a 4 year fish than a 5, 6 or 7

 

[spring fever]

I have no problem with that. However, I get the impression the average guy on the chuck would be vehemently opposed to that. Unfortunately, you can't have it both ways. You can't expect to harvest all the large specimens out of the gene pool and still have monster fish to catch down the road. Everyone wants to keep the monster fish they catch while at the same time complaining the quality of fishing is declining. Maybe I'm wrong, but the sentiment expressed by most members on this forum seems totally opposed to slots on larger fish.

I'm not sure guys on the forum or the general fishing public would be against the slot or not keeping large fish IF it applied to all user groups and then it might be seen as a conservation measure. It is very hard to release a fish of a lifetime if it is just going to be scooped up by commercial interests who only cherish it for the amount of money it brings. Won't get into where that happens now but that is my 2 cents worth!!

 

[TheBigGuy]

I'm not sure guys on the forum or the general fishing public would be against the slot or not keeping large fish IF it applied to all user groups and then it might be seen as a conservation measure. It is very hard to release a fish of a lifetime if it is just going to be scooped up by commercial interests who only cherish it for the amount of money it brings. Won't get into where that happens now but that is my 2 cents worth!!

I totally respect your opinion spring fever, however read the posts from this summer after the slot was introduced in the JDF fishery. There was a pretty extreme backlash against it.

I would like to think a regulation like that for conservation purposes would be accepted, but that's not the sense I get from most posts on this forum. Most guys on the chuck are not very accepting of the catch and release concept. In freshwater catch and release has had high acceptance for many years, on the chuck I get the distinct impression most guys are very resistant to releasing there catch. Very different mentalities in freshwater vs the ocean from my perspective.