chopping salmon??

[Sofa King]

saw something today that I've never seen or heard of before.
got up to my fishing spot and while trolling back and forth, I noticed a boat back in the corner, put ashore but with nobody in sight anywhere.
I figured they must be hiking or something, sightseeing the salmon spawning maybe.
after quite awhile, two official-looking people emerged from the woods along the creek over on that side and got into the boat.
they made their way over to the main creek, where I was trolling back and forth, and some others were casting from shore.
another boat had pulled to shore and set up lawn chairs and made a fire.
this group was just there for a picnic and some of them went walking the creek, watching the salmon.
so, I notice as that boat comes over to the main creek, that it's a fisheries boat.
two workers, a male and female get out after they beach the boat.
right away I notice bear spray on their hips and machetes, and they are carrying gaffs.
they then continue to walk the shore and the creek, gaffing salmon with one hand, lifting it up and hacking it in half with the machete.
there was salmon shit flying everywhere.
what a mess they made.
if the bears weren't attracted to the area yet, they surely will be after that.

so, what is the purpose of them doing that?

[Jagermeister]

Don't know where you witnessed this. However, the practice is to cut the fish in two once it has been counted. This way they are not counting any fish more than once. I presume they were enumerating the fish in the small side stream.

[T300WSM]

yep.....fish counting....

[heyblast]

Ya I saw dead fish a couple of years ago with their tails missing and wondered what's this about. Friend at work said the same as above, counting spawned fish.

[landphil]

So, chopping them in half doubles the numbers, right? :)

[Jagermeister]

So, chopping them in half doubles the numbers, right? :)Only the first one.:wink:

[deadlyshot19]

Don't know where you witnessed this. However, the practice is to cut the fish in two once it has been counted. This way they are not counting any fish more than once. I presume they were enumerating the fish in the small side stream.

^^^ Counting fish.. tedious work as you noticed :p

[steel_ram]

The "dead pitch".

[butcher]

Yeah that's the old dead pitch all right. Every fisheries student ends up doing one season at least.

[Sofa King]

Yeah that's the old dead pitch all right. Every fisheries student ends up doing one season at least.

the dude was a pro, he was an absolute machine to watch.
the girl, on the other hand, looked less-than-impressed with the whole experience.

[BradB]

I presume you were on Quesnel lake? Yes, the guy has been doing it a long time. The girl is new but getting the hang of it quickly.

[Sundance1972]

Friend of mine used to do this on the Cowichan River every fall. Went out with him once to do a count and take scale samples for the biologists. Pretty gross job, almost turned me off fishing.

[Sofa King]

Friend of mine used to do this on the Cowichan River every fall. Went out with him once to do a count and take scale samples for the biologists. Pretty gross job, almost turned me off fishing.

yeah it was pretty disgusting to see.
especially when there were several tourists walking the area watching the spawning salmon.
even worse, after the fisheries people were done and had left, a houseboat full of guys and girls pulled ashore and moored for the night right beside the creek.
they set up some poles for some beer-Frisbee game and got to partying.
the whole time totally unaware that hundreds of rotting, freshly-hacked salmon bits were all over the area.
even more gross, is if they were swimming in that area later.

[longstonec]

Having done "the dead pitch" afew times, Its alot less work to whack their nose off then to cut them in half. Mind you we were working with/counting 50-120LB springs...