Steelhead data reveal major conservation concerns across B.C.

[IronNoggin]

Steelhead data reveal major conservation concerns across B.C.

The Pacific Salmon Foundation has released new datasets and a report outlining the poor status of most British Columbia steelhead and recommending urgent actions.

New status assessments for steelhead populations in British Columbia highlight conservation concerns for the iconic fish species. The Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) has published these province-wide assessments in the Pacific Salmon Explorer, an online tool that provides free access to comprehensive data for salmon, and now steelhead.

Of the seven population groups with sufficient data available, none were assessed as “good” status. The vast majority (six) had “poor” status and one is classed as “fair” status. It was only possible to assess 19 per cent of steelhead population groups in the province given the available information.

While the decline of some steelhead populations (e.g. interior Fraser steelhead) has been well-documented, these new assessments reveal the poor status of other steelhead populations based on the best-available estimates of adult steelhead abundance.

https://psf.ca/news-media/steelhead-data-reveal-major-concerns/

[jlirot]

I know I beat the same drum repeatedly on this. But at the risk of being annoying, I think this is one of the most important sentences of the report:

"Mixed-stock fisheries that target salmon can also intercept steelhead, introducing conservation risks for some steelhead populations."

Let's eliminate ALL nets across the only 2 channels remaining at the mouth of the Fraser for 2 years and see what happens. And, let's eliminate ALL nets further upstream as well. I haven't seen it but I have second hand knowledge of netting in Kamloops lake where it narrows into the Fraser. Again, I didn't see it but I trust the person who did. These are choke points that no fish can get through.

Seems to me that ALL parties involved would be open to this if we want to save the steelhead.

I know there's more to this problem than just the nets. But those seem so obvious to me.