Non-retention of Chinook Salmon for Commercial and Recreational Fisheries Throughout

[albravo2]

So if people don't buy from them they won't have that much need to fish as much. Many like to slam the natives, but if the customer base ceases, things may improve all around.

Totally agree. If you buy a hot stereo you can't bitch when your house gets robbed.

[russm86]

So if people don't buy from them they won't have that much need to fish as much. Many like to slam the natives, but if the customer base ceases, things may improve all around.

Doesn't work that way with them, they will catch regardless and if people don't buy and they can't use that much themselves they leave it on the beach to rot. Has been documented and photographed in the past...

[tubby]

russm86 is 100% right. Plus with the underground illegal fish sales to Vancouver restaurants there will never not be a market

[guest]

This has been coming for a long long time and NO politician past or present is willing to stand up to the mismanagement of the entire resource. It's truly sad and pathetic what and how our Wild Pacific Salmon have been managed and abused in so many ways. Be it the over fishing by Commercial, the endless nets, waste black market by FN and or Recreational abuse ....... It's all part of the problem.
Manage to Zero, then the Gov doesn't have to worry about it, bring on more approval and increase of foreign owned fish farms along our Coast, the great Sell off. How pathetic.

[elknut]

Well I have been following the Skeena test fishery and it is very disturbing...The run of springs and sockeye are at historic lows ..They still allowed an opening for springs on July 15th..This opening should not of happened ...There were no fish...The guides said they had the worst season ever...I think that all fisherman should be prepared to see a full closure on the Skeena next year and I hope they shut down the Fraser as well ...DFO ...well I have no faith in their decisions because they sure haven't been managing the fishery ...The only minister in the past of the DFO was Anderson and he stepped up and saved the coho...Need someone with testicles to again step up and lead or get out of the job...Dennis

[Rupert Retired]

elknut - Be careful what you wish for. This year's chinook returns have nothing to do with next year's chinook returns, unless, that is, that the environment has degraded to such an extent (ie ocean warming) that it is affecting multi-years. The worry will be when this year's progeny are returning, that is when things need to either be shut down or monitored very carefully and managed very conservatively, because there won't be a lot of them. As for the chinook opening on July 15 this year, the rules to allow that opening should be crystal clear in the Integrated Fisheries Management Plan, and I am certain that all sectors, especially the Sport Fish Advisory Board (SFAB) have been all over DFO about their management. It is easy to say in hindsight that it should not have happened, but the trick is to try to predict the run at the time that a decision needs to be made. If the decision is to wait and see, then the run will have migrated up the river and any opportunity will have been lost. So, no decision, in itself, is a decision, if you see what I mean. Finally, Minister Anderson did not save the coho, Mother Nature did that, and the amazing resilience of coho. They rebounded at an astounding rate, and would have regardless of the draconian restrictions put on all the various fisheries at the time. It is easy to be "risk averse" and protect the salmon, just close everything down, mission accomplished. However, that is not want Canadians want, they want to fish. So, management needs to develop tools to allow that to happen, if possible, with of course no fishery, if needed to preserve the runs.

[IronNoggin]

Fraser Chinook this year:




Nog

[uraarchr]

I agree about the buying.I work in camp up north (1500)man and hear about so many people buying from FN.Or they bring in the smoked salmon.Even hunters and fisherman who should know better.so many support it and that's most of the problem.

[Hunterguy]

Never heard of a native buying fish off a native!