after several walks on local rivers, wearing my high end polarized shades, which in 10 or so feet of clear water you can count the rocks on the bottom..... I have come to the conclusion that there is something wrong..... coho do not seem to be returning anywhere near like we have come to be used to. It's not like they are there and just have lock jaw, they simply aren't there. If after these rains the river edges are not lined with small waves of coho passing by regularly, there is some cause for concern. So far the fall cap coho are non existant, the big bump of early coho on the chilliwack never really showed up, and a creek i hike into every year on the north side of the fraser, is devoid of coho period. Normally by end of oct they can be seen on thier redds by now by the hundreds. This creek has some hatchery introduction but is primarily a wild coho stream with the usual catches on a decent year seeing about 1 hatchery clipped fish for every 15 or 20 landed. I feel that there is something very wrong and for the past 3 to 4 years this trend is worsening
I totally hear what you're saying .....
Check out that article in the Vancouver Sun, where all kinds of learned people put chinook and coho stocks at 10% of where they were for the BC coast...as an average.
I advocate the complete closure of wild Coho fishing in the 'chuck, the increase of minimum size limits on springs to 70 cm coastwide, with non retention of all Springs over 37 inches, and a license buy back plan to HALVE the entire commercial fishing fleet in BC for ALL SPECIES, including Herring, groundfish, etc... the time is NOW to act. I also recommend the annual limit of springs be halved, and possession limits be halved as well.
Kill the industry and put innocent people out of work? So be it, if we're going to have any fish left to fish for, this must happen.
I'm tired of hearing environment this, and environment that, Natives this, Natives that, Commercial Guys this, Commercial Guys that, Americans this, Americans that and the Sporties the last to say...Sporties this, and Sporties that...if at all.
I talked to a buddy this morn and he say people walk out of the Vedder yesterday with limits of everything....hatchery or no hatchery...that doesn't mean diddley....even the hatchery fish didn't make it... tells us that it's more than just over fishing...its a systemic problem.