Select Standing Committee on Fisheries. Bob Hooton

[OldBlackDog]

FOPO – One Last Comment
UncategorizedComments: 0



A final word on that Select Standing Committee on Fisheries (FOPO) meeting of June 5. (The message I sent them immediately prior to their meeting received an auto response acknowledging receipt from 2 of the 11. Time will tell if any of the 11 ever come back with anything more.)



Poul Bech, one of the participants who spoke on behalf of Thompson steelhead as a representative of the Steelhead Society of BC sent me an audio copy of the proceedings. For those of you who are masochistic enough to give a listen, here is the link:



http://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/XRender/en...ge=English&Stream=Video&useragent=Mozilla/5.0





My thanks to Poul for his excellent presentation and also to Dr. Eric Taylor, past chair of Canada’s Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), the group that led the scientific review resulting in a recommendation to federal Minister of the Environment, McKenna, for an emergency listing of the Thompson and Chilcotin steelhead as endangered under Canada’s Species At Risk Act (SARA). Both of these gentlemen emphasized the point that the only way there will ever be meaningful change to the status quo is to force it by listing those fish, thus enacting the provisions of the SARA. They are so right!



In contrast to Dr. Taylor and Mr. Bech’s remarks, try listening to those from DFO’s Pacific Region Director General and the follow up questions and her replies. Process, process, process. We’re collaborating with the province, we’re going to do things under our Integrated Fisheries Management Plan, we’re going to fish selectively with our gill nets and seines, we’re going to cut back on the First Nations fishing…….. Bless me, how does DFO pass the red face test on such utterances? How many times do we have to remind those fence sitters that is precisely what got us to where we are?



From a technical perspective, it is ridiculous to be debating the fine points of steelhead versus resident rainbow trout genetics and uncertainties therein. We’re down to 150 spawners FOPO/DFO. What don’t you get here? If that isn’t a conservation crisis, what is? Do we want to play the genetics card game for sockeye versus kokanee too? And, you want to debate the influence of catch and release angling????? The rec fishery is closed, remember! How about we have a serious discussion about catch and release gill netting or even beach seining as it is now prosecuted along the Fraser?



Not to flog a dead horse but how about that other outlier that I’ve mentioned in several different arenas previously? I’m speaking of Coquihalla summer steelhead. Could one or all of the technical experts please explain how it is that tiny, totally re-configured little river (highway and pipeline construction history) with only a small fraction of the productive habitat of its upstream cousins, Thompson and Chilcotin, displays a relatively stable abundance and as fish as those other two combined over the same time period? Same smolt emigration time and route, same suite of hungry pinnipeds, same ocean rearing environment, same adult return route……..the only difference is those Coquihalla fish don’t see the same nets the Thompson and Chilcotin fish do because they return before the first egg bearing chum salmon do.

One last point relative to those nasty pinnipeds that have become the conservation scapegoat. Dr. Andrew Trites, the marine mammal expert from UBC has pointed out the seal population so many people believe is singularly responsible for the chinook conservation crisis has been stable for a decade. Then, if pinniped predation on chinook is the primary problem perhaps someone can explain the Cowichan circumstances. Science tells us those fish are long term Gulf residents and therefore much more available to the hungry hoard of seals and sea lions that frequent those waters. But, Cowichan chinook abundance has grown dramatically over the past three years (with the large majority being wild). Claims of success in rebuilding that stock are commonplace. Meanwhile there are so many sea lions hauling out on the log booms in Cowichan Bay there is now a well developed tourism industry focused on the viewing opportunity.




Share this:
FOPO – One Last Comment

• Tokenism?

• The Ecstall – Why Bother?

• Yup, Get After Those Pinnipeds

• The Epitome of Frustration?

• CATEGORIES
  
  • Essays
  • Papers
  • Uncategorized

• RECENT COMMENTS
  
  • Cheers Rich R on Tokenism?
  • David on Tokenism?
  • george holford on The Epitome of Frustration?
  • Bob Hooton on Tokenism?
  • Brent on Tokenism?

 

[GLG]

From a technical perspective, it is ridiculous to be debating the fine points of steelhead versus resident rainbow trout genetics and uncertainties therein. We’re down to 150 spawners FOPO/DFO. What don’t you get here? If that isn’t a conservation crisis, what is? Do we want to play the genetics card game for sockeye versus kokanee too? And, you want to debate the influence of catch and release angling????? The rec fishery is closed, remember! How about we have a serious discussion about catch and release gill netting or even beach seining as it is now prosecuted along the Fraser?

Why isn't it a valid point to understand steelhead versus rainbow as if this steelhead stock gets SARA then most likely the rainbow fishery C&R in that area would have to close. Is that not something we need to understand and then accept? Or do we just treat it like a partisan issue and go with what the Bob tells us.

 

[wildmanyeah]

Dear FOPO Members

Thank you for the opportunity to provide you with information in relation to Interior Fraser steelhead. In your deliberations you will hear much discussion about estimates of steelhead mortality in fisheries. You will also hear differing estimates from DFO and the Province based on their respective models. The immediate question that will come to mind is ‘how many steelhead are killed in fisheries?’ The answer is we don’t know. Fisheries and Ocean’s Canada (FOC), unlike what is required by most other management agencies in developed countries (and is detailed by the UN FAO), does not require verifiable, fishery independent catch reporting or compliance monitoring in most salmon fisheries. This is of particular concern in regards to the management of BC salmon fisheries because FOC’s main conservation tool is the discarding of species or stocks other than the target species or stock. FOC does have a policy for bycatch and discard management for BC fisheries, but no salmon fishery is compliant. Further, FOC salmon management refuses to integrate FOC’s Science guidance on estimating how many discarded salmon or steelhead survive to successfully spawn. FOC does use short-term, one-time mortality estimates that are unfounded in any defensible research. Estimates that are inconsistent with FOC Science or Pacific Salmon Commission guidance. Therefore, FOC officials cannot tell you or the public how many Interior Fraser steelhead are encountered in fisheries, released in fisheries, or survive to spawn after being released. Hence, the current reliance on models unpopulated by any real data. FOC can therefore also not tell you or the public the total mortalities associated with fisheries (an exploitation rate), and without this can not say anything reliable about steelhead productivity or how many steelhead can be safely killed in fisheries while still allowing for recovery. The absence of any defensible data on the number of endangered steelhead killed in fisheries that are required to discard Interior Fraser steelhead may challenge the continued certification of the Fraser chum salmon fishery by the Marine Stewardship Council. Condition 14 and Recommendation 2 in the Certification speak directly to this issue. If FOC and the Province of BC fail to come to an agreement on a plan that addresses Condition 14 of the Certification, the Certification – under MSC methodology – will be in put in jeopardy. The Certification will be suspended or withdrawn if there if progress is not recognized in the 2018 and 2019 MSC Surveillance Audits. This will impact not only the fishing industry but Canada’s international reputation as a responsible manager of fisheries. The Marine Conservation Caucus strongly recommends that all fisheries potentially impacting Interior Fraser steelhead not be allowed to proceed in 2019 until each fishery produces a plan that generates accurate and verifiable, fishery independent bycatch reporting and compliance monitoring. While this may sound draconian, it is exactly what FOC required of the BC Groundfish industry. And today the BC Groundfish industry is recognized around the world for its successful integration of verifiable catch reporting and compliance monitoring in its management. Further, each fishery should be required to incorporate FOC Science Guidance on Fishery Related Incidental Mortality. The author spent thirty-five years in the commercial sector, was Chair of the North Coast Advisory Board, President of the Northern Processor’s Association, and Chair of the Herring Industry Advisory Board. He left the industry as Vice-President of a major seafood company in 2010 and has since worked on several projects including harvest reform and supporting the introduction of selective and ‘known-stock’ salmon fisheries.

Greg Taylor Marine Conservation Caucus