DFO’s State of the Salmon Program gave a presentation at the Preliminary Salmon Outlook Meeting on Dec. 17, 2020. It details environmental conditions that will inform salmon returns in 2021. In summary, given broadly similar conditions in recent years it is expected that there will be below average survival for many Fraser stocks, coast-wide declines…
COSEWIC has released its new assessments for South Coast BC Chinook populations most impacted by hatcheries: four were designated Endangered, three Threatened, and one Special Concern, while one was deemed Not at Risk. Three remote populations were determined to be Data Deficient, and will require additional research before being re-assessed. The two Thompson River steelhead…
The MCC recommends a transition of Pacific herring management toward an ecosystem based fishery through lowering the harvest rate and implementing operational control points to maintain the biomass at a higher level.
On April 24th DFO released a package including the feedback they received on the draft Integrated Fisheries Management Plans for Salmon on the north and south coast. The letters include feedback from First Nations, commercial and sport harvest committees and the MCC. The package can be viewed or downloaded below.
On March 2, the DFO sent a letter to stakeholders and First Nations soliciting feedback on proposed management measures for South Coast Chinook. The Department received feedback on the March 2 letter from approximately 15 groups providing recommendations on possible changes to the 2019 Chinook fishery restrictions for the upcoming year, including 9 from First…
Comments on the North and South Coast Integrated Fishing Management Plans for Salmon were due on April 20. We (the MCC Salmon committee) submitted comments on the IFMPs. Our comments cover Chinook, sockeye, coho, pink and chum fisheries management across the province of BC, as well as on catch monitoring and compliance, hatcheries, total mortalities…
On March 2, 2020, Fisheries and Oceans Canada released a letter that intended to communicate their approach for developing fisheries management actions to address conservation concerns for Fraser River Chinook over the next year. On April 9, the MCC submitted a letter in response detailing our Management Recommendations, Rationale and Evaluation. In it we detail…
In a press release and backgrounder sent out on February 5th, 2020, the MCC provided an estimate of total mortalities of endangered and threatened Fraser 42 and 52 Chinook in south coast recreational fisheries. This estimate was based on the recreational fishery in Areas 17, 18, 19, 20, 29 and 121 (roughly Juan de Fuca,…
Deadline for comments extended until April 9. DFO released a letter detailing their 2020 Fraser River Chinook Management Approach on March 2. Comments are due by March 27th, 2020. This letter is intended to communicate the Department’s approach for developing fisheries management actions to address conservation concerns for Fraser River Chinook over the next year….
DFO has released draft Northern and Southern Integrated Fishing and Management Plans for Salmon. Comments are due by April 15th.
Fisheries Related Incidental Mortality is becoming more widely accepted as an potential significant contributor to Total Mortalities from fisheries. To continue discussion, we looked at Fraser River Spring and Summer 42/52 Chinook in one fishery to examine FRIM and TMs.
Many more endangered Fraser River Chinook salmon
were killed in fisheries last year than promised by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
The MCC recommends an intentional transition of Pacific herring management toward an ecosystem-based fishery through lowering the harvest rate and implementing control points to maintain the biomass at a higher level (Healthy Zone). This approach will reduce risk to herring and reliant predators, acknowledge uncertainties in the population structure, and allow fishing opportunities when higher…
The MCC recently submitted comments on the 2019/2020 Pacific Herring Integrated Fisheries and Management Plan, recommending considerations towards a “low risk” ecosystem based management fishery. The growing public concern reflects a perspective that the fishery imposes too large a risk to herring populations and the associated ecosystem linkages than what is deemed appropriate through the…
On November 12, 2019, the salmon committee of the MCC submitted a letter to the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau detailing Pacific mandate priorities. Key components of the mandate are detailed below: Review and update DFO management structures and processes to account for unprecedented low returns, increasing climate change impacts, and implementation of First Nations co-management…