A friend of mine caught a coho this morning with a stamp on the gill plate.
Does anyone know what it means?

You are correct, the run timing diversity is nearly gone. Historically, early run coho spawned in the upper river and tributaries of Chilliwack Lake. That group is still doing relatively well but the later run fish that spawned in December and January in off channels in the lower river are now nearly extinct.

Years ago, 1980's we had good fishing in December in the Lower river for Salwein Creek fish but there was enhancment of this run of fish at that time by the Chilliwack River Hatchery. Not done now. I remember catching a bright coho salmon in January in the Canal section of the river when fishing for steelhead.

It is my understanding that the wild coho population consists of three distinct return groups—early, mid, and late—along the Chilliwack River. The hatchery population was created by interbreeding these three groups. Therefore, it is not unexpected that there are frequent assertions of only encountering wild fish at the beginning and end of the season.

You are correct, the run timing diversity is nearly gone. Historically, early run coho spawned in the upper river and tributaries of Chilliwack Lake. That group is still doing relatively well but the later run fish that spawned in December and January in off channels in the lower river are now nearly extinct.

It is my understanding that the wild coho population consists of three distinct return groups—early, mid, and late—along the Chilliwack River. The hatchery population was created by interbreeding these three groups. Therefore, it is not unexpected that there are frequent assertions of only encountering wild fish at the beginning and end of the season.

Wasn't 2010 a record year for Fraser sockeye salmon? Regardless, I maintain that the returns of salmon do not serve as a definitive indicator of whether fish farms have caused them harm. It appears that the returns cannot be directly associated with fish farms, despite evidence suggesting that fish farms do indeed have detrimental effects on salmon populations.

Any hatch cohos by any chance? I've been getting into a bunch of ho's recently but almost every single one has been wild, all below crossing.

There is still some but the coho season is over now on the Vedder River so you would have to work hard to find one especially in the Lower river. As well the river is up a foot from a few days ago and heavy rain overnight and now so I would guess it will be quite colored.

Yes all sides in many arguments seem to state it wrong when it suits their argument. Were record runs concurrent with high concentrations of salmon farms and maybe even lice? Prove it! I debunked the claim that a record run of pinks returned to the Broughton Archipelago immediately after the infamous collapse. Was there a good return? It was nowhere near a record. Likewise we continue to see good returns in some years despite the historically high numbers of pinnipeds in the SOG. So much for relationships claimed and supported by correlation.

Simple fact is there is more to the variability of salmon returns than a single factor or 2. Get use to it, there is not a single silver bullet or 2 that is going to return us to the ocean survival levels of the 1980s.

But while we are at it how about some hard data on the removal of fish farms might do:

"In response to a federal government order, the number of salmon farms operating in the Discovery Islands region declined from eight in 2020, to one in 2022. Over this period, 1627 juvenile pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and chum (Oncorhynchus keta) salmon captured at sites throughout the study area were examined for sea lice. The average number of sea lice per juvenile salmon declined by 96% over the study period. Such a substantial decline was not witnessed in similar samples from the nearby Broughton Archipelago. The decline could not be attributed to chance sampling, and only a small proportion of it was associated with environmental fluctuations."

source: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. Effect of government removal of salmon farms on sea lice infection of juvenile wild salmon in the Discovery Islands;  V80 #12

https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full/10.1139/cjfas-2023-0039?fbclid=IwY2xjawGjAZ1leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHaT7UamqdAjD3mSVtn7-j-c-txfDh__7rjohVe3G2DhRJYj9j1gre-Pyug_aem_IMBIJQ-lXuLlK_qZ_KrebQ

Thank you for the clarification.
I'm really sorry that this happened. I can't imagine the anguish his family and friends are feeling.
Be careful out there everyone.

Thanks. It’s horrific. He was married with two young children. They will suffer the most. I hope someone finds him and the family can have closure. I was out searching yesterday. The river is high and fast right now.

it’s an error in reporting. Brad was wearing chest waders.

Thank you for the clarification.
I'm really sorry that this happened. I can't imagine the anguish his family and friends are feeling.
Be careful out there everyone.

River was up and a bit colored yesterday. I mostly just drove around looking at different locations, maybe thinking of the steelhead season that is a few weeks away yet.

I saw a number of chum salmon being caught in one spot, one of the gravel excavation spots.

A good number of FOC staff doing dead pitching of the chum salmon morts in differnt locations, that is very good for the river system of course.

One worker I spoke to also added there is a large run this year by the amount oy spawned fish they have counted so far.

Any hatch cohos by any chance? I've been getting into a bunch of ho's recently but almost every single one has been wild, all below crossing.