Stamp river

[agentaqua]

It is easy to claim little bycatch when the bycatch runs have been eliminated. I am wondering if there is an example on the island of a sockeye net fishery in river with gill nets that has minimal bycatch? The somass is a glaring example of steelhead runs being ignored and almost eliminated as bycatch. The first nations fishery on the somass creates good local economic spin off but that doesn't change the fact that it has been at the expense of steelhead populations. If it appears there is little bycatch it is because the damage has already been done and so few are returning, not that the gill net fishery is so good at keeping bycatch down. Don't expect that there is any reporting of the steelhead mortalities it is responsible for, those pictures of dead skeena steelhead in tin boats is the same thing you will or would have seen on the somass. Unreported bycatch is business as usual on the somass.

Its also easy to claim that steelhead runs are being ignored and almost eliminated as bycatch in Somass in-river sockeye net fishery w/o proof or confirmation and instead claiming that is solely because of no reporting. I'm not saying sockeye fisheries in the Somass have or have not impacted steelhead numbers but there should be some proof for that claim. They do have dockside observers during commercial openings. I think that it would have been noticed.

 

[onefish]

Its also easy to claim that steelhead runs are being ignored and almost eliminated as bycatch in Somass in-river sockeye net fishery w/o proof or confirmation and instead claiming that is solely because of no reporting. I'm not saying sockeye fisheries in the Somass have or have not impacted steelhead numbers but there should be some proof for that claim. They do have dockside observers during commercial openings. I think that it would have been noticed.

What a load of rubbish. Gillnetters have been hiding, tossing, and bsing about steelhead byecatch for decades.

 

[steeler]

Its not a claim its also not recorded by anyone so how would it be proven with numbers. Observers c'mon, they get tossed straight back or hidden just like white fisherman no different. Having lived on it my whole life and seeing it first hand and knowing the fisherman is what I am basing it on. You can use numbers and pretend like they are accurate all day but I know better. I don't doubt the last few years have had little bycatch, that is the most concerning part of all. No numbers of steelhead are good numbers for fisheries managers and reconciliation, prove that isn't true.

 

[agentaqua]

"everybody knows gillnetters lie" isn't really a defensible argument. If that fishery took substantial numbers of steelhead it would be seen. And in an aboriginal fishery there isnt as much incentive to throw fish back if they can take them home for FSC.

I guess on some contentious subjects (gillnets, hatcheries) I see things in shades of grey verses black and white. There are examples on both sides of that spectrum, but painting it as a black and white issue demonstrates to me inexperience in the subtleties of gill net fisheries.

 

[Whitebuck]

Using AA rational for selective fisheries....the Stamp and Sproat could be the poster child of selective fisheries. Both have fishways where the fish must pass through. Literally they could take the EXACT number of fish and species out with zero bycatch or going OVER allotment.


As for beach fishing being selective I have yet to see it actually being done without bycatch and other species being harmed, that includes with DFO.


Great posts one fish,steeler,nog aces etc love to see the guys posting who have been involved in these fisheries all their lives.

 

[agentaqua]

I think all fisheries have strengths and challenges - as do all fisheries management processes. As I was saying - shades of grey - with examples from both sides of that spectrum. There are few examples of accurate and timely stock assessment for more terminal fisheries attached intimately to an in-season management process - but they do exist. And as I mentioned, certain fishery techniques are more or less effective in certain areas due to their capture methodology. And monitoring, enforcement and timely inseason fisher management are crucial to effective fisheries management. So many components, and examples of both poor and better management regimes out there. Something to learn from both examples, IMHO.

 

[IronNoggin]

I worked the river for the past couple days with a couple buddies. the last rains kicked the sockeye into the system so hard it is actually rather tough to get through them to find any coho. All the springs (they are much fewer in number than many might suggest) we saw are colored right up now and not worth a look. Coho are silver brights, and the socks show varying degrees of decay from their long hold in the Inlet.

Nog

 

[IronNoggin]

SOMASS CHINOOK BULLETIN # 8 – 2021 Date: September 23, 2021

Somass Chinook Stock Assessment Update Pre-season forecast:

The forecast terminal return of adult Stamp/RCH Chinook to Barkley Sound and Alberni Inlet in 2021 was approximately 133,000 (range 98,000 to 167,000).
In-season forecast: An in-season forecast of 115,000 has been adopted for management purposes.

Chinook Escapement
September 21– 23,017 Stamp Falls – 23,015 Chinook and 14,953 Coho Sproat – 2 Chinook and 4,263 Coho

Somass Sockeye Escapement September 21 – 282,676

Catch Estimate: 82,158
Somass First Nations – 33,425
Recreational – 20,471
Maa-nulth First Nations – 1,790
Area D Gillnet – 15,744
Area B Seine – 9,970
Test Fishery – 688 Stewardship – 70

NEXT WEEK’S FISHING PLANS: (All plans are subject to change depending on weekly meetings)

First Nations
Tsu-ma-uss (Hupacasath, Tseshaht)
Food Social and Ceremonial (FSC) – Hook and line open 7 days a week in Alberni Inlet and between 5:00 am - 9:00 pm daily in the Somass River below Papermill Dam Pool. Non-retention of Sockeye. Gillnet FSC opportunities TBD.
Economic Opportunity (EO) – Open 9:00 am – 1:00 pm Fri Sep 24 below Papermill Dam Pool. Coho and Chum retention for FSC only. Creek mouth boundaries in place to protect local Coho stocks in Kitsucksus Creek, Roger Creek, McCoy Creek. Additional EO opportunities TBD.
Maa-nulth – Open 7 days a week – hook and line, and gillnet. The harvest plan includes the contracting of designated Area D gillnet vessels displaying Maa-nulth identification flags to harvest Chinook and Coho.

Stewardship – No fishery planned.

Commercial
Area D Gillnet – No fishery planned.
Area B Seine – No fishery planned.

Recreational
 Chinook conservation measures now in effect (FN0678) https://notices.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fns-sap/index-eng.cfm?pg=view_notice&DOC_ID=247454&ID=all
 Stamp River and freshwater sections of the Somass River opened August 25 for Chinook and Coho retention.
 See https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/tidal-maree/a-s23-eng.html for details
For more information please contact the DFO office in Port Alberni at 250 720-4440

 

[Bryan Allen]

What a load of rubbish. Gillnetters have been hiding, tossing, and bsing about steelhead byecatch for decades.

And it ain't just FN gillnetters not reporting steelhead

 

[Pastafarian]

Its also easy to claim that steelhead runs are being ignored and almost eliminated as bycatch in Somass in-river sockeye net fishery w/o proof or confirmation and instead claiming that is solely because of no reporting. I'm not saying sockeye fisheries in the Somass have or have not impacted steelhead numbers but there should be some proof for that claim. They do have dockside observers during commercial openings. I think that it would have been noticed.

Dockside observers! Reporting bycatch!!!
Ha!
You've never been in the fishing industry, that's apparent.
Proof and confirmation of wiping out a run isn't something the net fisherman will be doing anytime soon.
Nets spanning an entire river will certainly contain steelhead when they are present.
You don't need a picture to prove this.

Pastafarian

 

[Admin]

Wow...has this thread ever drifted off the OP's original question. Time to carry this conversation on in the Conservation Forum if you are so inlcined.