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Thread: Somas Sockeye Bulletin

  1. #11
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    Re: Somas Sockeye Bulletin

    When is a good time to come up to Port Alberni and buy some fish from 1st nations.

  2. #12
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    Thumbs down Re: Somas Sockeye Bulletin

    Quote Originally Posted by Gr8 white hunter View Post
    When is a good time to come up to Port Alberni and buy some fish from 1st nations.
    Oddly enough you won't find any.
    All sectors have bought in that NO-ONE will fish for sockeye this year, period.
    And to date, there have been zero incidences of non-compliance from any.

    Nog
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNNhzkJ-UU&feature=related

    Egotistical, Self Centered, Son of a Bitch Killer that Doesn't Play Well With Others.

    Guess he got to Know me

  3. #13
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    Arrow Re: Somas Sockeye Bulletin

    South Coast Salmon Bulletin
    16 June 2020 Escapement Update
    Sockeye—Area 23 Somass River

    ESCAPEMENT ESTIMATES

    The total adult sockeye escapement to the Somass system is estimated at 13,127 adults through Sunday, 14 June.

    For 2020 fishery management purposes, the Area 23 round table agreed to begin fisheries in the “critical” zone for early season harvest management, using a management forecast of 168,788 adult sockeye. No harvest is available at this run size. The first in-season re-forecast is expected on 25 June.

    The combined Somass expected escapement is the predicted run of 168,788 adults. The stock-specific escapement targets below are based on the predicted proportion of Somass returns generated by the best performing forecast—the sibling model (23% Great Central Lake, 77% Sproat Lake).

    DAILY ESCAPEMENT COUNTS

    Since 9 June, daily counts ranged from 121–373 adults through the Stamp Falls fishway and from 572–1144 adults through the Sproat fishway.

    RIVER CONDITIONS

    Hydromet stations, located at both the Sproat River and Stamp Falls fishways, collect data on environmental conditions—air and water temperatures, barometric pressure, rainfall, and water depth. Current data are available here.

    Daily river temperatures over the week of 9–16 June 2020 ranged from 17.3–18.5℃ (average: 17.9℃) at the Sproat River fishway (Figure 6) and from 14.2–16.9℃ (average: 15.5℃) at the Stamp Falls fishway (Figure 7).

    BACKGROUND INFORMATION

    Escapement objectives

     Fisheries targeting Somass (Great Central Lake and Sproat Lake) sockeye are managed with a variable harvest rate strategy. The allowable harvest rate increases with abundance from 15% at run sizes of 200,000 (the lower fishery reference point) to a maximum of 70% at run sizes greater than 1.5 million.

     The optimal spawning escapement target for production is considered about 350,000 adults (200,000 and 150,000 for Great Central Lake and Sproat Lake, respectively). However, for stock evaluation purposes the escapement target increases with run size so that the allowable exploitation rate never exceeds 70%.

     The combined Somass escapement target at the sub-170,000 run size is up to 170,000 spawners. The stock-specific escapement targets (Great Central = 38,821; Sproat = 129,967) are based on the current year’s sibling forecast model for stock composition: 23% Great Central Lake and 77% Sproat Lake.

    Biological benchmarks

     Biological benchmarks are used to assess the conservation status of salmon conservation units (CUs). CUs below the lower biological benchmark are considered at risk of extirpation. CUs above the upper biological benchmark are considered healthy.

     For the Great Central Lake CU, the lower and upper abundance benchmarks are 30,000 and 90,000 spawners, respectively. For the Sproat Lake CU, the lower and upper abundance benchmarks are 12,000 and 65,000 spawners, respectively.

     Note: to achieve production objectives associated with Somass stocks, the fishery reference points and the corresponding escapement targets under the Somass sockeye management plan are higher than these biological reference points for the Somass CUs.

    Overview of escapement monitoring program

    Fish counting operations on the Somass river system are run by the Hupačasath First Nation in cooperation with DFO. The objective of the program is to estimate escapement of sockeye, Chinook, and coho using video counts from the Sproat and Stamp Falls fishways. Counting operations began on 15 and 28 April at the Sproat and Stamp Falls fishways, respectively.

    Fish passing through all fishways are recorded 24 hours per day (tunnels are illuminated at night) using a video monitoring system. Trained and experienced observers review migration on the recordings from both sites to estimate escapement into each system. For most time periods, observers typically review all 60 minutes of each hour. During periods of high migration, observers review clips varying from 5–30-minutes from each hour of video footage depending on fish density. Counts from these shortened clips are then expanded to estimate hourly totals.

    Observers identify fish to species and estimate the proportion of marked (e.g. adipose-fin-clipped) fish. Biological samples are collected from sockeye 2–3 times per week from fish at both counting sites to estimate the age and sex composition of escapement. The age results from biosampling are applied to total escapement numbers to more accurately estimate daily adult and jack escapements.

    Information produced in partnership between Hupačasath First Nation and Fisheries and Oceans Canada

    For more information contact: Nick Brown, WCVI Salmon Stock Assessment Biologist
    Cell (77 700-1687, e-mail: Nicholas.Brown@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNNhzkJ-UU&feature=related

    Egotistical, Self Centered, Son of a Bitch Killer that Doesn't Play Well With Others.

    Guess he got to Know me

  4. #14
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    Arrow Re: Somas Sockeye Bulletin

    SOMASS SOCKEYE BULLETIN # 4 – 2020 Date: June 18, 2020
    For more info please call the Port Alberni DFO office at 250 720 4440

    Somass Sockeye Stock Assessment Update

    Pre-season forecast: Somass (Great Central and Sproat) – 169,000 Henderson Lake Sockeye outlook < 15,000

    Escapement to June 17: Stamp: 3,881 Sproat: 15,758 Total: 18,639

    Test Fishery: Seine vessel Nita Maria testing June 14th - 15th estimated 8,500 inside 10 Mile Point and 7,500 outside. First in-season re-forecast: June 25th

    Catch Estimate: 538 Somass First Nations – 0 Maa-nulth First Nations – 0 Area D Gillnet – 0 Area B Seine - 0 Recreational – 0 Test Fishery - 538

    NEXT WEEK’S FISHING PLANS:

    All Fishing plans are subject to change depending on weekly meetings.

    First Nations

    Hupacasath & Tseshaht – Sockeye FSC closed, EO - closed.
    Maa-nulth – Sockeye Treaty closed

    Commercial

    Area D Gillnet – closed.
    Area B Seine – closed.

    Recreational

    Sockeye closed
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNNhzkJ-UU&feature=related

    Egotistical, Self Centered, Son of a Bitch Killer that Doesn't Play Well With Others.

    Guess he got to Know me

  5. #15
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    Arrow Re: Somas Sockeye Bulletin

    SOMASS SOCKEYE BULLETIN # 6 – 2020 Date: June 30, 2020

    For more info please call the Port Alberni DFO office at 250 720 4440

    Somass Sockeye Stock Assessment Update

    Pre-season forecast: Somass (Great Central and Sproat) – 169,000 Henderson Lake Sockeye outlook < 15,000

    Escapement to June 30: Stamp: 41,743 Sproat: 66,181 Total: 107,924
    Test Fishery: Seine vessel Nita Maria testing June 28st, 29nd 30th estimated 25,000 inside 10 Mile Point and 15,000 outside.
    First in-season re-forecast: June 25th run size upgraded to 250,000
    Catch Estimate: 1,760
    Somass First Nations - 0
    Maa-nulth First Nations - 0
    Area D Gillnet - 0
    Area B Seine - 0
    Recreational – 0
    Test Fishery – 1,760

    NEXT WEEK’S FISHING PLANS:

    All Fishing plans are subject to change depending on weekly meetings.

    First Nations

    Hupacasath - FSC gillnets open 12 pm Tuesday June 30 to 12 pm Thursday July 1Tsu-ma-uss (Hupacasath & Tseshaht) – FSC Hook and Line open 7 days a week.

    Maa-nulth – 7 days a week hook and line and gillnet.

    Starting June 30th, the harvest plan may include the contracting of designated Area D Gillnet vessels displaying Maa-nulth identification flags to harvest sockeye.

    Commercial

    Area D Gillnet– open 8 hours from 12 pm to 8 pm Thursday July 2nd, Bamfield Harbour to Hissin Point.

    Area B Seine – No opening scheduled.

    Recreational

    July 1st until further notice 2 sockeye per day in Area 23 including the tidal portions of the Somass River.

    Tidal Portion of the Somass River is open 5 am to 10 pm daily.
    See FN 0617 FN 0617 Sockeye opening Area 23
    Somass Park open July 1st to July 24th daily 1 sockeye per day in a portion of the freshwater section of the Somass River.

    See FN 0618 FN 0618 Somass Park
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNNhzkJ-UU&feature=related

    Egotistical, Self Centered, Son of a Bitch Killer that Doesn't Play Well With Others.

    Guess he got to Know me

  6. #16
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    Re: Somas Sockeye Bulletin

    Legit or DFO just trying to sell some licences?

  7. #17
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    Arrow Re: Somas Sockeye Bulletin

    Quote Originally Posted by tyreguy View Post
    Legit or DFO just trying to sell some licences?
    Legit.
    However it is still a tad early to loose the hounds IMHO...

    Nog
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNNhzkJ-UU&feature=related

    Egotistical, Self Centered, Son of a Bitch Killer that Doesn't Play Well With Others.

    Guess he got to Know me

  8. #18
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    Arrow Re: Somas Sockeye Bulletin

    SOMASS SOCKEYE BULLETIN # 7 – 2020 Date: July 2, 2020

    For more info please call the Port Alberni DFO office at 250 720 4440

    Somass Sockeye Stock Assessment Update

    Pre-season forecast: Somass (Great Central and Sproat) – 169,000 Henderson Lake Sockeye outlook < 15,000

    Escapement to July 1: Stamp: 61,179 Sproat: 79,688 Total: 140,867

    Test Fishery: Seine vessel Nita Maria testing June 28th, 29th, 30th estimated 15,000 inside 10 Mile Point and 25,000 outside.

    Re-forecast July 2 - run size remains 250,000

    Catch Estimate: 9,995

    Somass First Nations – 2,240

    Maa-nulth First Nations – 1,637

    Area D Gillnet – 3,440

    Area B Seine - 0

    Recreational – 0 (available next bulletin) Test Fishery – 2,678

    NEXT WEEK’S FISHING PLANS:

    All Fishing plans are subject to change depending on weekly meetings.

    First Nations

    Hupacasath - FSC gillnets open 5 am July 3 to 12 pm July 5.

    Tseshaht - FSC Communal Drag Seine daily 5 am to 12 pm July 3 - 5.

    Tsu-ma-uss (Hupacasath & Tseshaht) – FSC Hook and Line open 7 days a week.

    Tsu-ma-uss (Hupacasath & Tseshaht) – FSC Gillnets opens 12 pm July 5 to 12 pm July 6.

    Maa-nulth – 7 days a week hook and line and gillnet. Starting June 30th, the harvest plan may include the contracting of designated Area D Gillnet vessels displaying Maa-nulth identification flags to harvest sockeye.

    Commercial

    Area D Gillnet– open 6 hours from 6 am to 12 pm July 7th, Pocahontas to Hocking Point.

    Area B Seine – No opening scheduled.

    Recreational

    July 1st until further notice 2 sockeye per day in Area 23 including the tidal portions of the Somass River.


    Tidal Portion of the Somass River is open 5 am to 10 pm daily.
    See FN 0617 FN 0617 Sockeye opening Area 23

    Somass Park open July 1st to July 23 daily 1 sockeye per day in a portion of the freshwater section of the Somass River.
    See FN 0618 FN 0618 Somass Park
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNNhzkJ-UU&feature=related

    Egotistical, Self Centered, Son of a Bitch Killer that Doesn't Play Well With Others.

    Guess he got to Know me

  9. #19
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    Arrow Re: Somas Sockeye Bulletin

    SOMASS SOCKEYE BULLETIN # 8 – 2020 Date: July 9, 2020
    For more info please call the Port Alberni DFO office at 250 720 4440

    Somass Sockeye Stock Assessment Update

    Pre-season forecast: Somass (Great Central and Sproat) – 169,000 Henderson Lake Sockeye outlook < 15,000

    Escapement to July 8: Stamp: 71,777 Sproat: 93,360 Total: 165,137

    Test Fishery: Seine vessel Nita Maria testing July 5 and 6 estimated 15,000 inside 10 Mile Point and 25,000 outside.

    Re-forecast July 9 - run size upgraded to 280,000

    Catch Estimate: 32,969 Somass First Nations – 17,630 Maa-nulth First Nations – 3,595 Area D Gillnet – 3,520 Area B Seine - 0 Recreational – 4,779 Test Fishery – 3,445

    NEXT WEEK’S FISHING PLANS:

    All Fishing plans are subject to change depending on weekly meetings.

    First Nations

    Hupacasath - FSC gillnets open 5 am July 10 to 12 pm July 12.
    Tseshaht - FSC Communal Drag Seine daily 5 am to 12 pm July 10 - 12.
    Tsu-ma-uss - FSC Gillnets opens 12 pm July 12 to 12 pm July 14
    Tsu-ma-uss - FSC Hook and Line open 7 days a week.
    Maa-nulth – 7 days a week hook and line and gillnet. Starting June 30th, the harvest plan may include the contracting of designated Area D Gillnet vessels displaying Maa-nulth identification flags to harvest sockeye.

    Commercial

    Area D Gillnet– open 12 hours from 5 pm July 13 to 5 am July 14, from Pocahontas to the Clock Tower. An additional opening is possible depending on catch and could occur as soon as 12:00 July 14 with adjusted boundaries.
    Area B Seine – No opening scheduled.

    Recreational

    July 1st until further notice 2 sockeye per day in Area 23 including the tidal portions of the Somass River. Tidal Portion of the Somass River is open 5 am to 10 pm daily. See FN 0617 FN 0617 Sockeye opening Area 23

    Somass Park open July 1st to July 23 daily 1 sockeye per day in a portion of the freshwater section of the Somass River. See FN 0618 FN 0618 Somass Park
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNNhzkJ-UU&feature=related

    Egotistical, Self Centered, Son of a Bitch Killer that Doesn't Play Well With Others.

    Guess he got to Know me

  10. #20
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    Thumbs down Re: Somas Sockeye Bulletin

    Sadly the limited fishery has gone right off the rails. One sector unilaterally decided they not only no longer need to appear at the round table discussions, but that their exceeded quota is actually something to be openly ignored.

    Picture from one of two beach seines which resulted in the harvest of over 6,200 sockeye (putting this sector well over their assigned and signed off on numbers):



    The disappointment is obvious in this FB post by a Harvest Round Table member:

    "The Barkley Sound Harvest Roundtable met this afternoon for three hours. This was one of our most difficult meetings. The relationships that have taken decades to build up are feeling some strain with the stresses that the table is currently under. My intention is to just stick to the facts, so I apologize if this update seems a little sterlized or flat.

    Escapement number are proceeding at a steady level, through both sets of counters, into both lakes. Escapement is not huge, but it is steady and acceptable for the run size.

    The run-size has been reforcasted to 330,000 adults, with the split to Great Central likely to arrive at around 45% by the end of the run, which is a good ratio. There is some uncertainty around the age of some of the escaped fish, because the aging laboratory is off-line right now due to Covid. So the age is being estimated by body length, which is not as accurate, but it is good enough for us to use for in-season purposes.

    There is some concern that with the smaller females, egg counts could be lower, so we need to keep that in mind when we are considering escapement.

    There is some concern about the accuracy of the total harvest being reported. While this inaccuracy does change allocations, more importantly it could damage future years, and make it harder for us to get this run back up to a level where we can harvest an a more economically viable number.

    The Area D specific allocation has not been caught, but it is the feeling of the table today that the total catch allocation has already been exceeded at the 330,000 run size.

    The Area D advisors on the call today made a very difficult decision to not plan a fishery for us next week to take the rest of our allocation, even though we have fish remaining, because it is not sustainable to fish into the escapement numbers that the entire table has agreed were responsible numbers in the past.

    The recreational fishery will also be phasing out their sockeye fishery and switching to target chinook, although making regulation changes for the recreational fishery is more difficult and takes more time, and more notice has to be given, due to the size and scope of the fishery and its broadly distributed participants.

    The food fishery in outer Barkley proceeds at a steady pace, with the catch being spread out over multiple weeks. There is allocation remaining and this fishery will continue because it is a negotiated treaty fishery that is triggered by run-size alone, and was never negotiated to respond to escapement.

    The food fishery in the Somas River has exceeded its allocation and there will be no more licensed food fisheries in the Somas River unless the run size is substantially upgraded.

    The next meeting could be on Monday, if there is a substantial abundance of fish seen by the test boat, and/or large numbers of fish seen escaping through the counters. Otherwise the next meeting is next Thursday.

    Any potential Area D fishery is extremely unlikely, for all the reasons you can figure out in the above paragraphs, plus the fact that if the run size gets upgraded to 350,000 then the seine fishery comes on-line, which splits the commercial fishers allocation 60:40. The result of that split coming into play at 350,000 means the Area D allocation remains fairly constant between 300,000 and 350,000, and doesn't start to grow again until the run hits 400,000 - which seems extremely unlikely at this point.

    -Ryan

    Arthur Nott no, its good to have the discussion in the open if possible - usually others have the same questions. So - most years each group of harvesters work hard to stay within their own allocation. Everyone has an allocation, except for the sports fleet, which has an expected catch. If the sport fleet ever got close to their expected catch, then we would consider lowering their bag limit, but since the sports fleet has gradually shrunk since the allocation tables were built, they rarely catch their expected catch these days.

    The challenge with this year is that one harvester has decided to keep fishing even though they have already exceeded their allocation. This is a large scale problem, and the harvest table doesn't have the resources to deal with it - it is squarely in the hands of the DFO to deal with this problem. The harvest table is good for dealing with small conflicts, opening plans, sharing information, etc - but if one group decides not to attend the meetings or follow the allocation tables that have been negotiated, then it is really out of our hands and all we can do is react to save the fish as best as we can.

    A difficult topic.

    -Ryan"
    .................................................. ...........

    There has been no visible enforcement presence.
    The buyers are still in the main parking lot at the marina, and the fishing by the over-quota sector continues unchallenged.

    The latest Bulletin:

    SOMASS SOCKEYE BULLETIN # 9 – 2020 Date: July 16, 2020

    For more info please call the Port Alberni DFO office at 250 720 4440

    Somass Sockeye Stock Assessment Update

    Pre-season forecast: Somass (Great Central and Sproat) – 169,000 Henderson Lake Sockeye outlook < 15,000

    Escapement to July 15: Stamp: 88,081 Sproat: 106,996 Total: 195,077
    Test Fishery: Seine vessel Nita Maria testing July 12 and 13 estimated 25,000 inside 10 Mile Point and 12,500 outside.

    Re-forecast July 16 - run size upgraded to 330,000

    Catch Estimate: 61,673
    Somass First Nations – 34,403
    Maa-nulth First Nations – 6,196
    Area D Gillnet – 7,042
    Area B Seine - 0
    Recreational – 8,334
    Test Fishery – 5,698

    NEXT WEEK’S FISHING PLANS:

    All Fishing plans are subject to change depending on weekly meetings. Remaining sockeye allocations are limiting fisheries.

    First Nations

    Hupacasath – No fisheries scheduled.
    Tseshaht – No authorized fisheries.
    Tsu-ma-uss - No authorized fisheries or sales.
    Tsu-ma-uss - FSC Hook and Line open 7 days a week non retention of sockeye.
    Maa-nulth – 7 days a week hook and line and gillnet. The harvest plan may include the contracting of designated Area D Gillnet vessels displaying Maa-nulth identification flags to harvest remaining allocations of sockeye.

    Commercial

    Area D Gillnet – No fisheries scheduled.
    Area B Seine – No fisheries scheduled.

    Recreational

    July 1st until further notice 2 sockeye per day in Area 23 including the tidal portions of the Somass River.
    Tidal Portion of the Somass River is open 5 am to 10 pm daily. See FN 0617 FN 0617 Sockeye opening Area 23
    Somass Park open July 1st to July 23 daily 1 sockeye per day in a portion of the freshwater section of the Somass River.
    See FN 0618 FN 0618 Somass Park
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVNNhzkJ-UU&feature=related

    Egotistical, Self Centered, Son of a Bitch Killer that Doesn't Play Well With Others.

    Guess he got to Know me

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