Will SOG be open 2020?

[SpringVelocity]

I agree-wait til the other shoe drops or the fat lady sings-whatever your choice of sayings is/are

I know going to be interesting year. Still hopeful though.

 

[SerengetiGuide]

If they clear the slide that will relieve some pressure to change any regs. So hope for that.

 

[bigbruce]

Ironic, isn’t it that if the slide isn’t opened up, there’s not much point in restricting the Fraser catch in the SOG - they won’t be going anywhere...

 

[Whitebuck]

Regardless of the slide getting fixed or not these upper Fraser Chinook stocks are enroute to be going extinct in a few cycles anyway. So expect closures in place to protect these so that they can be reallocated to FN Fraser river fisheries.

 

[fish4all]

Speaking with a few concerned fishermen this morning. The new factory boat coming across from Europe to fish on WCVI has a net that is 2500ft (8 football fields) wide by 360 ft deep and will be the largest on the BC coast. Not to mention the vessel will have a built in reduction plant..... how does this fit in with Chinook conservation.

 

[littlechucky]

Speaking with a few concerned fishermen this morning. The new factory boat coming across from Europe to fish on WCVI has a net that is 2500ft (8 football fields) wide by 360 ft deep and will be the largest on the BC coast. Not to mention the vessel will have a built in reduction plant..... how does this fit in with Chinook conservation.

Completely insane that this is permitted.

 

[searun]

Speaking with a few concerned fishermen this morning. The new factory boat coming across from Europe to fish on WCVI has a net that is 2500ft (8 football fields) wide by 360 ft deep and will be the largest on the BC coast. Not to mention the vessel will have a built in reduction plant..... how does this fit in with Chinook conservation.

Absolutely, and this was raised in the Groundfish IFMP response, and the Salmon IFMP response. People should be asking DFO very direct and tough questions regarding how salmon bycatch is going to be managed. These factory super trawlers could easily scoop up a lot of Chinook stocks of concern depending on where they fish.

 

[searun]

I dont know where he gets his information but Westview Marina in Tahsis is advertising to their clients that that 2020 is likely going to have fewer restrictions in area 25/125, that the offshore area is likely going to be open before july 15 for chinook, maybe with a size restriction. I have a hard time believing that those decisions have been made, or that DFO is letting them out this early. We tell clients we expect the same as last year. Just wishful thinking on their part?

Sorry, but there is no inside track being shared here....reads like a pile of marketing to me.

I think the Department is signalling a return to status quo (as in 2019 measures) or similar. Even if they repair the Big Bar slide they will toss the precautionary principle at us until actual fish passage can be assessed...and as some others said, it is clear that Stream Type Chinook are in real trouble. Its highly likely that nothing we could do will save them now, at least unless government can pull a rabbit out of the hat and invest in serious measures to increase emergency fish culture, predator control, and do some amazing habitat work to combat climate change....the Stream Type Chinook are battling 3 very significant issues.

1. Climate Change impacting their freshwater survival (they spend 1 to 2 years in warmer fresh water)
2. The predation issue - Stream Type Chinook smolt as very large smolts making them preferred prey item based on their relative size compared to Ocean Type Chinook
3. For those that survive early ocean entry, they migrate way offshore into the area of the warm blob....not very fertile rearing grounds.

Combine all 3 issues and it spells real trouble for Stream-Type Chinook and I think the politicians will simply dither away just long enough to send these critters into extinction. Maybe my glass is half empty, but I based my assessment on the reality of not what government has said it will do, but rather the reality of what their track record has been.