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Commercial Salmon Fishery Threatens Endangered Thompson Steelhead
- By Brendan Mason
- Published 10/22/2004
- Conservation
- Unrated
Brendan Mason
Brendan Mason is a Canadian born angler who now lives in Seattle, Washington. Brendan has fished all of his life and started a passion for fly in British Columbia where he grew up. His father a search and rescue expert and his mother a teacher, Brendan has the brains and skills to both out think and survive longer than the average Joe Blow. Brendan has fished extensively for trout and salmonids but in recent years has attacked the saltwater with gusto. His travels have taken him to Australia, Mexico, Argentina and beyond. Brendan also has the distinction of catching a 600 lb Mako on fly while fishing San Diego in 2006. You can often find him stalking carp in the shallows of Green Lake in Seattle.
Rare B.C. Steelhead Facing New Threat
October 20, 2004
Release from: Mark Hume
Globe and Mail (Canada)
VANCOUVER - A federal government decision to open the lower Fraser River to commercial salmon fishing today has raised concerns about an endangered run of steelhead, world renowned among anglers.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans made the announcement to the commercial fleet this week, allowing gill net boats to fish for a prolific run of chum salmon on the Fraser. However, steelhead bound for the Thompson River are expected to be intercepted accidentally.
"The greatest race of steelhead in the world is in mortal danger," Tyler Kushnir, a director of the Steelhead Society of British Columbia, said yesterday.
Mr. Kushnir said the peak of the Thompson River steelhead run is just entering the Fraser River this week, putting the fish on a collision course with the commercial nets.
"We find this outrageous and unbelievable," he said.
Ehor Boyanowsky, a fly fisherman who owns recreational property on the Thompson, is shocked. "I think this is a crime against the environment," he said.
Mr. Boyanowsky, who has played host on the Thompson to sports anglers from Paris, London and New York, said the river was closed to sports fishing for the first time this fall because of conservation concerns. "Sports fishermen accepted that the river had to be closed to protect the steelhead. But now we learn a commercial fishery will be allowed. It's just hard to believe."
The provincial government closed the Thompson, which flows into the Fraser River near Lytton, about 150 kilometres east of Vancouver, when biologists reported fewer than 800 steelhead were expected back from the ocean this fall.
Steelhead are rainbow trout that run to the sea, before returning to spawn, much like Atlantic salmon. Historically, the Thompson River, where steelhead typically grow to more than seven kilograms, has had more than 10,000 spawners, but the stock has been declining for years.
Christopher Bos, chairman of the B.C. Wildlife Federation's fisheries committee, said sports anglers accepted catch and release regulations on the Thompson River years ago to protect steelhead. They supported a fishing ban this year because the run is endangered.
The B.C. government, he said, earmarked $50,000 just last month to draft a recovery plan for the steelhead.
"To have a commercial fishery in the Fraser now could be devastating," he said. "We could see the run extirpated."
Al Martin, director of Fish and Wildlife for the B.C. government, said provincial officials weren't advised of the commercial fishery.
"The [federal] Department of Fisheries and Oceans has the authority to start and stop fisheries," Mr. Martin said. "These latest developments caught us unawares. I certainly am concerned."
He said chum salmon fisheries on the Fraser are usually held later in the year, after steelhead have migrated through the area.
DFO officials could not be reached yesterday.
In a fishery notice, Barbara Mueller, resource manager for the department, states that more than one million chum salmon are entering the river. "Fishers are . . . requested to release all live coho, steelhead and sturgeon back to the water unharmed," the notice says.
It is widely known, however, that gill nets often mortally wound fish, making live release impossible.
October 20, 2004
Release from: Mark Hume
Globe and Mail (Canada)
VANCOUVER - A federal government decision to open the lower Fraser River to commercial salmon fishing today has raised concerns about an endangered run of steelhead, world renowned among anglers.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans made the announcement to the commercial fleet this week, allowing gill net boats to fish for a prolific run of chum salmon on the Fraser. However, steelhead bound for the Thompson River are expected to be intercepted accidentally.
"The greatest race of steelhead in the world is in mortal danger," Tyler Kushnir, a director of the Steelhead Society of British Columbia, said yesterday.
Mr. Kushnir said the peak of the Thompson River steelhead run is just entering the Fraser River this week, putting the fish on a collision course with the commercial nets.
"We find this outrageous and unbelievable," he said.
Ehor Boyanowsky, a fly fisherman who owns recreational property on the Thompson, is shocked. "I think this is a crime against the environment," he said.
Mr. Boyanowsky, who has played host on the Thompson to sports anglers from Paris, London and New York, said the river was closed to sports fishing for the first time this fall because of conservation concerns. "Sports fishermen accepted that the river had to be closed to protect the steelhead. But now we learn a commercial fishery will be allowed. It's just hard to believe."
The provincial government closed the Thompson, which flows into the Fraser River near Lytton, about 150 kilometres east of Vancouver, when biologists reported fewer than 800 steelhead were expected back from the ocean this fall.
Steelhead are rainbow trout that run to the sea, before returning to spawn, much like Atlantic salmon. Historically, the Thompson River, where steelhead typically grow to more than seven kilograms, has had more than 10,000 spawners, but the stock has been declining for years.
Christopher Bos, chairman of the B.C. Wildlife Federation's fisheries committee, said sports anglers accepted catch and release regulations on the Thompson River years ago to protect steelhead. They supported a fishing ban this year because the run is endangered.
The B.C. government, he said, earmarked $50,000 just last month to draft a recovery plan for the steelhead.
"To have a commercial fishery in the Fraser now could be devastating," he said. "We could see the run extirpated."
Al Martin, director of Fish and Wildlife for the B.C. government, said provincial officials weren't advised of the commercial fishery.
"The [federal] Department of Fisheries and Oceans has the authority to start and stop fisheries," Mr. Martin said. "These latest developments caught us unawares. I certainly am concerned."
He said chum salmon fisheries on the Fraser are usually held later in the year, after steelhead have migrated through the area.
DFO officials could not be reached yesterday.
In a fishery notice, Barbara Mueller, resource manager for the department, states that more than one million chum salmon are entering the river. "Fishers are . . . requested to release all live coho, steelhead and sturgeon back to the water unharmed," the notice says.
It is widely known, however, that gill nets often mortally wound fish, making live release impossible.