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[Hike_and_fish]

Just thought I would post this.



http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/adams-river-sockeye-catches-face-significant-restraint-to-save-endangered-cultus-lake-stocks

Fishermen who have been waiting four years to harvest the famous Adams River sockeye run on the Fraser River system could see their catches cut in half in an effort to save the endangered Cultus Lake sockeye.

Only about 1,000 spawners are expected to return to Cultus Lake this summer.

Because they are swimming with millions of sockeye headed further up the river system to the Shuswap area — about one-third to the Adams River — fishery managers may have to scale back harvests in the name of conservation.

“It’s a needle in a haystack situation,” said Mike LaPointe, chief biologist of the Pacific Salmon Commission.

The conservation goal is a maximum 20-per-cent harvest of Cultus Lake sockeye, which swim up the Vedder River, an area upstream of the bulk of fishing opportunities. First Nations further up the Fraser River could benefit under such a scenario.

“That puts a pretty significant restraint on the harvest,” LaPointe said. “There’s quite a few fish that can’t be caught.”

Fisheries and Oceans Canada said that a fisheries plan, including for Cultus Lake, is not yet available. LaPointe estimated that fishing opportunities on the so-called late Shuswap sockeye, including the Adams River, could be half of what they might otherwise be.

“If that happens, it could be a very limited commercial harvest in Canada,” he said.

The U.S. catch will depend, in large part, on how many sockeye migrate down the Inside Passage rather than the west coast of Vancouver Island, where U.S. commercial boats can more easily target them.

The late-run Shuswap has a pre-season forecasted return of 6.9 million fish, but with a one-in-four chance that the run could be as low as 4.5 million or as high as 10.4 million.

The peak arrival for these Shuswap sockeye to marine areas on the south coast of B.C. is around the middle of August.

[CohoJake]

I see this as nothing but fantastic news.  If the commercial opportunities are curtailed to allow higher escapement of Cultus fish, it seems that would also benefit interior coho and steelhead. 

[SilverChaser]

Thanks for posting this! I did a project two years ago on the Cultus Lake Sockeye run as part of a school project with the help of Mr. Gadsden. Seems like a positive.