Management, Death on the Highway

[high tide]

Just wondering, has any one else noticed or observed the Death of Hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of floating Dead Coho, big and small. Recently, fishers out on the Highway as they call it off Nootka Sound were fishing for Chinook, some recreational, but over 70 commercial trollers ...... targeting Springs, so DFO demands use of 7 inch plug style lures for these Commercial guys. Unfortunately, these plugs also are a good lure for Coho, they work well. So DFO demands these Commercial Trollers to throw them back, they can not be included in catch allotment. The waste is incredible, is there not a way that DFO can make these incidentals go to the needy folks, or be part of the FN harvest ....... Wow! Can it some how not become part of the Over all Quota? I know targeting Chinook with big plugs is an attempt to not catch these Dead fish but can't some thing be done to avoid the waste.
What the hell is happening to our fishery when we see this going on, imagine what's happening for what we Can't see?

Seems to me to be such a waste. Any suggestions or opinions.

It appears our West Coast Salmon Fishery is headed to the bottom, like the mismanagement of the East Coast Cod. In so many ways. Truly sad to see. IMO

HT

 

[bigdogeh]

That is sad.
Not sure what the answer might be. filming it and taking it to social media would hopefully open people's eyes to the matter. I remember seeing a "highway" of floating rockfish and other incidentals in a video awhile back and it was pretty disgusting the waste that was occuring. There is definitely alot going on out there that we don't see and they don't want us to see.... more so farther out on the open ocean I would think....

 

[Clint r]

FN take DFO to court?

 

[Samnjoe]

I just spent the last 2 weeks fishing the highway off of Brookes bay in among the troll fleet.
Chinook fishing for us and them was very slow.
Coho did come in in waves at time to where you could not get your gear down below 200 feet.
When these waves were in we noticed that the commie trollers moved away North or South and did not tack back.
I am assuming this was to reduce by catch of Coho.
I did not see one dead Coho in the time I was there.

Just a note. DFO decided that as the sport fleet was not making their Chinook quota they would give an additional 20,0000 to the trollers.
I am assuming they did not consider that perhaps the Chinooks simply were not there in the abundance predicted.
Very sad.

 

[Aces]

Just slow your troll speed down to slow the coho bites and the Chinooks will still go for it

 

[JuandeOne]

Just slow your troll speed down to slow the coho bites and the Chinooks will still go for it

Thanks Tips

 

[straightup]

In the 70 s the spring only commercial boats knocked the coho off on the side off the boat.That was in Nanaimo.Its time for a change of tactics