Due to the large return of sockeye salmon to the Fraser River this year, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has extended the recreational sockeye salmon fishing openings in the Fraser River until September 19th. Please see notices:

While this is great news for recreational fishermen who enjoy taking some fresh salmon home for dinner, there are several important points that you need to be aware of when taking part in this fishery between now and September 19th.

Early September to mid October is typically designated as the interior coho salmon and steelhead run timing. Salmon fishing is usually prohibited during this period. These vulnerable stocks that are travelling into Interior BC streams are at their historic lows and management measures are usually in place to protect them. These management measures include no salmon fishing and bait ban. Because this year's sockeye return is healthy, recreational fishermen are allowed to target sockeye salmon but all coho salmon and steelhead are required to be released with care.

What does releasing a fish with care mean? It means to keep your catch in the water until you know exactly what it is before bringing it onto the beach. If your catch is a coho salmon or steelhead, then you should unhook your fish in the water. By releasing your fish without doing damages to it, you can ensure its survival and successful spawning. The Fraser River sockeye salmon fishery attracts many new enthusiastic fishermen who have a tendency to drag their catches up the river bank as quickly as possible under all the excitement. This technique is extremely harmful to fish that you intend to release. Please consider your action so we can still have a sustainable sockeye salmon fishery while protecting vulnerable stocks at the same time.

For more information on proper catch and release, please read this article.

It is important that you identify your catch correctly for several reasons. The most important one is to avoid killing a protected species such as coho salmon and steelhead. Secondly, killing and keeping a fish that you are not allowed to may result in a stiff fine by conservation officers. Here are some tips on how to identify chinook salmon, sockeye salmon, coho salmon and steelhead correctly.

Sockeye salmon are completely spotless, so if you catch a salmon that have spots, chances are you cannot keep it unless it is a chinook salmon.

Chinook salmon have spots along their entire back and across their entire tail. While coho salmon also have spots along their entire back, only the top portion of their tail are spotted. Steelhead also have spots along their entire back and across their entire tail, but their tail are not as forked as chinook salmon's tail.

A chinook salmon tail

A coho salmon tail

A steelhead tail

Chinook salmon have black gum inside their mouth while coho salmon have white or grey gum inside their mouth. The edge of coho salmon's gum is black so that can be deceiving at times.

It is a good idea to use a combinations of identification clues (gum, back and tail) rather than only looking at one characteristic of the fish. While the above characteristics are generally correct, there are exceptions in nature at times, so please take your time to identify your catch and ask nearby anglers for assistance if you are unsure.

If you cannot identify a fish and are not very sure, then it is best to release it. The river has no shortage of sockeye salmon, but misidentifying and killing a coho salmon or steelhead only puts more strain on an already vulnerable population.

Beside identifying your fish correctly, you should also note that a bait ban is in place so all natural bait substance such as roe and dew worms cannot be used.

Please take out all your garbage and keep your fishing area clean after using so other fishermen can enjoy it just as much as you afterward.

Please note the no salmon fishing period after September 19th.

Good luck and enjoy the rest of this year's salmon fishing on the Fraser River!

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