I posted this article up as a reminder of why data is important. Listen to these words spoken by Greg Taylor of Watershed. The MCC does want us on the water, and does sit as a stakeholder in the decision making process.
Clouds hang low over the hills and a sporadic, warm rain slicks the docks at the Pacific Gateway Marina in Port Renfrew.
www.timescolonist.com
Pacific chinook salmon are in ‘a critical state’
But data can be collected in several ways and Greg Taylor, fisheries adviser with Watershed Watch — a science-based charity that advocates for the conservation of B.C.’s wild salmon — says data used by charter boat operators looks at the catch across 12 months instead of the critical months when endangered stocks are passing through the area.
“The science is provided by DFO based on DNA. [Charter boat operators] actually have a significant impact on the stocks of concern — the spring and summer chinook that are endangered — when those fish are migrating through their fishery,” says Taylor, who spent 30 years in the commercial fishing industry and is a member of the marine conservation caucus, a group of nine conservation organizations mandated to provide advice to DFO.
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They are intercepting a significant proportion of those fish that are passing through in the months of May, June and July,” he says.
An added concern is the mortality rate of fish that are caught and released. While DFO estimates that 15 per cent do not survive, a recently released paper puts the mortality rates much higher, Taylor says, adding he would like to see a complete closure of chinook fishing during the critical months.
But the hard truth is that populations of Pacific salmon are shrinking and it is unlikely that the glory days of sports fishing will return in the foreseeable future.
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada has found that 12 out of 13 Fraser River chinook populations are at risk. Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, announcing the restrictions, said stocks must not knowingly be put on the path to extinction: “The science is clear: Pacific chinook salmon are in a critical state. Without immediate action, this species could be lost forever.”