Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Eagleye on January 02, 2006, 02:49:10 PM
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any thoughts? Due to their small size I'm thinking fish farms could be the culprits
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commercial fishermen
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>:(
how could it ,they didnt have an opening for them as far as i know?
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What does fish farms have to do with it ?
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>:(
how could it ,they didnt have an opening for them as far as i know?
I second that. I was unable to get them from any fish market or their suppliers. But I did manage to get what Dave at Highwater had left from the year before and he even gave me a deal on them!
What does fish farms have to do with it ?
My statement was just some food for thought. I don't know if eulachons travel by the farms but I was thinking the sea lice may have killed them off. Since they are so small I'm assuming sea lice would have a very negative impact on them. But this is pure speculation. Does anyone have any insight?
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I think it has something to do with having to spawn near the City. They have been dropping in numbers every year. There use to be lots out there.
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I think it has something to do with having to spawn near the City. They have been dropping in numbers every year. There use to be lots out there.
You almost got it right. I lived on Douglas Island for the first five years of my life, from 39to 44. I remember the beaches were loaded with these little fish.We had a hunting dog, a lab terrier cross that would see the fish finning close to the surface, then would swim out and retrieve the fish and bring it to shore for me. It is my opinion that pollution did most of the damage. There was not a lot of commercial fishing done for these fish. But at one time all the sewers from above Prince George and below emptied into the Fraser. Along with the chemicals from the log booms, these little fish did not have much of a chance. Most salmon and trout get to spawn in fairly clean water but not so the eulachon. They spawn on the sand bars of the Fraser. Most do not go to far above the Mission bridge. Again man will kill off another creature. This time we are all equally to blame.
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Some people are sure that the decline in Oolie populations coincides almost exactly with the rise in Shrimp Trawling.
It is true that there is no Saltwater Commercial opening for Oolies so what's happening to them out there anyway?
Myself I only eat trapped Prawns no trawl caught Shrimp from anywhere.
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I second the shrimp trawler theory
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The low returns of eulachons seems to be consistent up and down the coast and extending south of the 49th parallel. Fishermen in Oregon reported very poor returns last year.
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I've worked on a shrimp boat. Shrimp trawlers only drag their nets at a speed of 1 knot (eulachons would swim out of the net) and the net is dragged on the bottom (far below the surface feeding eulachons). From my experience only slow bottom fish like rat fish are caught in shrimp trawls.
As for the decline in Eulachons many many things could have contributed
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For unknown reasons the eulachons are not surviving in the ocean. Growing up in Kitimat I remember the only thing more impressive than the salmon runs were the eulachon runs. You could literally stand in the river and catch them by hand. Now the Kitimat is listed by the D.F.O. along with seven or eight other rivers as no longer having a sustainable run.
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Jeez, maybe were polluting the oceans. Ah! no way, could never happen!!!!
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The Cheam's gravel extraction of the eulachon's spawing grounds upstream of Agassiz/Rosedale can't help either.
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I hope there's a sport fishery for them this year. They are yummy
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maybe.... they are getting eaten by the mackeral that frequent our waters every summer now. brought by el nino. catching big mackeral on the inside at nootka sound this year..... they eat everything smaller than them
there's another theory for ya
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Eulachon
(http://www.fishingwithrod.com/fishy_news/pic/050504.jpg)
Small anadromous fish which spawns in about 30 rivers in BC. Eulachon are particularly vulnerable to overfishing and other human activities as there are less than 100 spawning rivers on the Pacific coast (Northern California to the Bering Sea).
An important First Nation fishery, historically there has been a small commercial fishery on the Fraser River.
Spawning stocks declined dramatically in 1994, particularly in more southern rivers, possibly due to ocean climate conditions. All fishing was closed in 1998.
Most stocks recovered significantly 2000-03, First Nation and recreational fishery in the Fraser River re-opened in 2003. Central coast stocks remain weak.
Currently eulachon are listed as "Threatened" by COSEWIC.
Management issues include bycatch in trawl fisheries, particularly the shrimp trawl fishery, which now mandates use of fish exclusive grates to reduce fish bycatch.
Eulachon Stewardship Projects
Eulachons are a historically and culturally significant species for First Nations. Eulachons (Thaleichthys pacificus) are an oil rich fish that migrate to rivers in the spring. They are highly prized by First Nations along the coast and rendered for their ‘grease’, which is used heavily by First Nations. Runs have been declining because of reports from First Nations and from the reduced catches of the small commercial fishery (in recent years, the eulachon fishery has closed because of low returns). This trend prompted the BC Ministry of Environment to add the species to their blue list of threatened species. As it stands, COSEWIC has selected Eulachon as a high priority species selected for report preparation in the near future.
Kitamaat Village Council and Haisla Fisheries Commission, 2000 - 2002
The purpose in year one was to raise awareness of the role of eulachon to the ecosystem, through identifying eulachon habitat and habitat preferences, coordinating research activities, and determining key life cycle indicators. In year two, the Coast Wide Eulachon Project continued its objective from year one, which was to protect Eulachon habitat and promote stewardship for this provincial blue listed species. The numbers of Eulachon returning have been declining year after year and collaboration between Alcan and Haisla technicians has produced a fundamental strategy for Eulachon conservation. This project focused on gathering Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) from First Nations, which was used to develop a management strategy for the 2002 Eulachon fishery. The Kemano Eulachon Fishery 2002 Interim management Plan was distributed to all comp members. Also a report on the status of Eulachon habitat and abundance based on the collaboration between Alcan and Haisla technicians was completed and distributed.
Eulachon Conservation Society, 2001 - 2002
The Eulachon Conservation Project brought together the Eulachon Conservation Society and several First Nations (Nuxalk, Tsimshian, and Haisla) in a stewardship project in the central coast region of British Columbia near the communities of Bella Coola, Kitamaat, Terrace, and Prince Rupert. HSP funds were used for the gathering of First Nations traditional ecological knowledge TEK) about Eulachon, the collection of population data and the preparation for a conference to develop a conservation strategy. More specifically, catch release cages were built, a white sturgeon presentation and display materials were developed, and radio and newspaper interviews were conducted at 11 media outlets in the Columbia River basin.
Source: http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/sara/stewpro_e.htm#Eulachon%20Stewardship%20Projects
Also:
For reasons unknown, eulachon abundance have shown a declining trend in many rivers throughout their distribution in recent years. There was a sudden drop in returns to several rivers in 1994, most notably in the Fraser and Columbia. Eulachon have virtually disappeared in California and in the last two years they have not been seen in several BC rivers. Rivers which experienced virtually no returns in 2000 were: Stikine, Unuk, Skeena, Kitimat, Kemano, Kitlope, Bella Coola, Kimsquit, Owikeeno, and Kingcome Rivers. Concurrently, there has been a recent increase in the abundance of eulachons in marine waters, off BC and parts of Alaska. While this is an encouraging sign, previous observations of high eulachon abundance in marine waters were not followed by any apparent increases in spawning biomass in freshwater rivers.
Factors hypothesized to have detrimental effects on eulachon returns can be broken down into "in-river" and "marine" effects. In-river effects may include: habitat loss, pollution, directed fisheries, logging, and marine mammal predation. Marine effects may include: oceanographic changes due to global warming or other factors, bycatch from commercial fisheries, changes in food abundance or distribution, and predation.
Source: http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/ops/fm/herring/eulachon/default_e.htm
There were no eulachon openings in the commercial, recreational and First Nation fisheries in 2005, see closure notice (http://www-ops2.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/xnet/content/fns/index.cfm?pg=view_notice&lang=en&DOC_ID=77559&ID=recreational).
Eulachon test fisheries were conducted in New Westminster in 2005, see notice (http://www-ops2.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/xnet/content/fns/index.cfm?pg=view_notice&lang=en&DOC_ID=77895&ID=recreational).
Test fishery results from 1995 to 2005 can be viewed on this page (http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fraserriver/eulachon/eulachonreport.htm) or this PDF file (http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fraserriver/eulachon/eulachonreport.pdf).
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Thanks for all the input guys and a special thanks to Rod for a very well put together overview of the situation. With all these probable causes for decline it doesn't sound very good for the poor little oolies :'(
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Decline of the eulachon: Are candlefish getting snuffed out?
By Jeff Nagel
Black Press
Mar 24 2006
Fears are rising for the health of the Fraser River as a the number of a small, oily fish that once swam upstream in abundance at this time of year dwindles toward extinction.
The eulachon, a smelt-like fish so high in oil content you can dry it, stick a wick in it and burn it like a candle, has been added to a federal list to assess for possible endangered species status.
“For the last 15 years, they’ve been dropping right off,” says Jimmy Adams, a Katzie First Nation band member who has been fishing for nearly 50 years.
Adams said he didn’t even try to catch eulachon last year and two years ago he got just a few hundred pounds – barely enough for band elders to smoke and keep an ancient tradition alive.
A federal fisheries survey of last year’s eulachon spawn found the estimated number of eggs and larvae deposited in the Fraser hit a new all-time low – just a tenth of what biologists had set as an alarm point for fishing closures. The report recommends there be no commercial fishery again this year.
That’s small comfort to aboriginal people who have seen the population of a fish critically important to their culture severely depleted.
Ernie Crey, the Sto:lo Tribal Council’s senior policy advisor, says close to a century ago, his people would send a lookout to the top of Chilliwack Mountain to see downstream in early spring. “They described two long silver bands on either side of the Fraser River stretching out for miles downstream,” he said. “We’re talking about hundreds of millions of fish.”
Back then, the eulachon, alternately “oolichan” or “hooligan,” were also called swewi or “saviour fish” by the Sto:lo.
“In a year of hardship we always knew the eulachon would show up in the spring by the millions to feed us,” Crey explained, noting the fish helped natives survive until salmon arrived later in the year.
Aboriginal people across coastal B.C. tell similar stories.
Besides eating eulachon fresh, dried or smoked, many would render the fish down for their oil. The resulting grease, used as a butter-like condiment, was an important commodity – it’s why aboriginal trade routes were called “grease trails.”
And it’s not just people who depend on the “candlefish.”
Big eulachon runs on healthy north coast river systems are chased upriver by hordes of seagulls, eagles, seals and sea lions.
Up until about 10 years ago, Crey said, that kind of evidence could still be seen in the Fraser near Coquitlam.
“There used to be huge colonies of sea lions and seals sunning themselves on the log booms there,” he said. “The reason they were there is they were following the eulachon up the river. You rarely see that any more.”
The Fraser placed third on the Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C.’s just-released annual endangered rivers list. Urbanization, industrial pollution, sewage, agricultural impacts and logging in the headwaters are ongoing threats, it said. The river has been in the list’s top five 13 out of the last 14 years.
Pollution, habitat loss, logging and changing ocean conditions due to global warming are among the likely reasons for the decline, according to DFO.
Shrimp trawl boats would accidentally catch large numbers of eulachon as an unintended by-catch.
“They would jettison them overboard literally by the tonne,” Crey said.
Everything from river dredging to the bark scrapings from log booms to the increased industrialization and urbanization of the region has played a role, he said. “You have to be utterly blind not to see the changes that are occurring along the river.”
Crey sees the declining eulachon as akin to a canary in the coal mine, signalling the river’s overall health is in danger.
“In my mind this represents the triumph of industrial values over environmental values,” he said.
Politicians at all levels talk about the river’s importance to the region’s economy, he said, but do little to safeguard its ecology.
“Some folks think making a buck is more important than saving a species of fish,” Crey said. “To these types, saving eulachon is about as important as saving a cloud of mosquitoes.”
http://www.tricitynews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=74&cat=23&id=614489&more=
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FYI, there will be no openings for eulachon in the commercial, sport and First Nation fisheries in 2006.
I've read the drafted IFMP (Integrated Fisheries Management Plan) of DFO for 2006/2007, I'll post a summary of the plan if there is still an interest.
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Overall they've been in decline for more than 10 years. I used to live in bella coola in 92 and the people then said (paraphrased) 'we used to be able to scoop them up by the bucket full'
That year we went harvesting, they seem to be stunned coming up river and would get stuck in the foliage so it was like picking veggies in a garden. There still were quite a few but by no means were there enough to 'scoop by the bucket full'
It leads me to believe something is happening out in the ocean. And its not just the weather.