Chilliwack River Guardians
Posted on November 20th, 2018
BC's Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development will soon be implementing the first year of the Chilliwack River Guardian Program. Similar to the Fraser River Guardian program, two well experienced and knowledgeable River Guardians, Troy Ganzeveld and Garret Marindale, will be monitoring the river by truck and foot.
The River Guardians will be speaking with recreational anglers to promote awareness and conservation of steelhead by providing educational opportunities through training and awareness, and collecting valuable catch and effort data from anglers. We anticipate the program to begin within the first two weeks of December and we are expecting patrols to continue until late April. In order to properly estimate steelhead catch and effort on river, patrol days will be randomly generated and include a mix of weekday and weekends, early mornings and afternoons.
Similar to other RG programs, the objectives of the Chilliwack River Guardian Program are to:
- Provide a River Guardian presence to assist with fishery implementation by way of improved compliance with angling regulations.
- Promote angler knowledge and best handling practices for fish being caught and released and educate anglers about the objectives of the hatchery steelhead harvest fishery.
- Gain a better understanding of the level of current use, composition of users and the quality of the fishery and the angling experience.
- Collect feedback from anglers about management of the fishery.
Anglers are reminded to please cooperate with and assist the River Guardians to ensure the accurate collection of data and success of the program.
