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B.C. report card gives Fisheries Department failing grade on salmon fishery
By George T. Baker
PRINCE RUPERT, B.C. — A B.C. conservation group's report card on last year's salmon fishery on the Skeena River has given the Fisheries Department a failing grade on harvest rates and access to First Nations communities.
Greg Knox, executive director of the SkeenaWild Conservation Trust, said there are indications that salmon management has improved compared to previous years.
"But if issues around harvest rates aren't addressed for the 2009 fishing season, we're going to see weak salmon stocks put at even greater risk of extinction," he said.
The report said there were minor reductions in harvesting rates last year but that Canada's aggregate exploitation rate on Skeena sockeye salmon was 42 per cent.
That's well above the 20-to-30 per cent total Canadian exploitation rate recommended by the Skeena Independent Science Review Panel, sanctioned by the Fisheries Department and B.C.'s Environment Ministry.
"The exploitation rate on endangered Kitwanga River sockeye was 50 per cent, well in excess of (Department of Fisheries and Oceans) scientists' own recommended maximum of 34 per cent," the report said.
"Other endangered stocks with similar return timing, such as Slamgeesh sockeye, also likely experienced serious over harvesting."
On First Nations management, the Fisheries Department received an E grade.
The conservation group suggested that the marine and downstream harvest of the endangered populations be set low enough to protect and rebuild stocks so the Gitanyow and Wet'suwet'en First Nations can once again meet their food, social and ceremonial needs.
SkeenaWild recommends that weekly harvest rate caps also need to be set to protect endangered Skeena salmon stocks.
That would mean reducing the total exploitation rates on endangered Kitwanga River sockeye to well below 34 per cent, as recommended by the Fisheries Department's own biologists.
Fisheries spokesman Jeff Grout said the department would be discussing the report after consultations with First Nations, commercial fishermen and recreational fishing operators.
(Prince Rupert Daily News)
Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Jim's Fishing Charters
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B.C. report card gives Fisheries Department failing grade on salmon fishery
By George T. Baker
PRINCE RUPERT, B.C. — A B.C. conservation group's report card on last year's salmon fishery on the Skeena River has given the Fisheries Department a failing grade on harvest rates and access to First Nations communities.
Greg Knox, executive director of the SkeenaWild Conservation Trust, said there are indications that salmon management has improved compared to previous years.
"But if issues around harvest rates aren't addressed for the 2009 fishing season, we're going to see weak salmon stocks put at even greater risk of extinction," he said.
The report said there were minor reductions in harvesting rates last year but that Canada's aggregate exploitation rate on Skeena sockeye salmon was 42 per cent.
That's well above the 20-to-30 per cent total Canadian exploitation rate recommended by the Skeena Independent Science Review Panel, sanctioned by the Fisheries Department and B.C.'s Environment Ministry.
"The exploitation rate on endangered Kitwanga River sockeye was 50 per cent, well in excess of (Department of Fisheries and Oceans) scientists' own recommended maximum of 34 per cent," the report said.
"Other endangered stocks with similar return timing, such as Slamgeesh sockeye, also likely experienced serious over harvesting."
On First Nations management, the Fisheries Department received an E grade.
The conservation group suggested that the marine and downstream harvest of the endangered populations be set low enough to protect and rebuild stocks so the Gitanyow and Wet'suwet'en First Nations can once again meet their food, social and ceremonial needs.
SkeenaWild recommends that weekly harvest rate caps also need to be set to protect endangered Skeena salmon stocks.
That would mean reducing the total exploitation rates on endangered Kitwanga River sockeye to well below 34 per cent, as recommended by the Fisheries Department's own biologists.
Fisheries spokesman Jeff Grout said the department would be discussing the report after consultations with First Nations, commercial fishermen and recreational fishing operators.
(Prince Rupert Daily News)
Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
