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[chris gadsden]

While out on the Vedder yesterday morning I noticed one group of anglers catching and retaining a number of steelhead smolts just above the confluence of the Vedder and the Sumas River.

 Do you think these are slow migrating fish or as some say they are residual fish and can be harvested with no effect on the hatchery steelhead population or should this fishery be halted as some anglers think should be done by the Ministry of the Environment?

Will be interested in other's comments.

[bbronswyk2000]

I think we should leave them alone. They are too easy to catch and I for one would like to see them just get bigger and thats not going to happen if people keep them.

[leaping steely]

I rarely see anyone actually fishing for them so I don't think it's much of a problem. If they're retaining more than 4 hatchery fish then maybe it's a problem.  I would think if the vedder had a size limit of minimum of 30cm maybe you could avoid they retention of Steelhead smolts?   

  I also heard that if they do become resident Trout they compete with wild fish?

[Rodney]

Juvenile salmonids undergo smoltfication at some point right before entering the ocean. That stage takes place when the fish reaches the right weight, and the right place and time. If the fish remains in the freshwater when that time comes, smoltification does not take place, resulting in a residualized fish. A residualized fish is one that becomes a resident of a freshwater system without following the typical marine lifecycle of a salmonid.

Some hatchery steelhead smolts released into a system will become residualized, due to the fact that they ate more than others in the population when being fed. Instead of sustaining a good number of hatchery adult steelhead for recreational anglers, these resident trout will negatively impact the wild salmonid population. These impacts include predation on smaller juvenile salmonids, direct competition for food and space in the river against other juvenile salmonids.

Those who fish for these trout need to be more informed on the rationalization behind the current regulations. Daily quota of four hatchery trout is there to ensure the above mentioned impacts are minimized. Most juvenile steelhead that were released into the system have most likely undergo smoltification already as the process is usually very fast.

If revision of the current regulation is needed, one should look at which of the two factors, anglers retaining possibly residualized hatchery steelhead and predation/competition of hatchery steelhead on wild steelhead, have a higher implication on the wild steelhead stock of the Chilliwack River system. To simply say the fishery should be closed because we should let them grow bigger is not the solution. There are other underlying problems that need to be looked at as well.

[mr.pink]

 well said rod.thx for clearing it up,at least for me,cheers.

[allwaysfishin]

awesome response rod

[oddjob]

Army and Navy in langley has the vedder open for rainbow trout and they tell there customers to fish for them .

[Rodney]

The important message that shops etc need to let their customers know is daily quota of hatchery rainbow trout 50cm or less is four between July 1st and April 30th.

A hatchery rainbow trout can be identified by the absence of the adipose fin.

An adipose fin is the tiny fin just behind the dorsal fin (second back fin) that all salmon and trout species have. A hatchery raised fish have that fin snipped off when they are little for identification purpose.

Complete region 2 regulations can be found in this pdf file.

I personally think such fishery is great for families to participate in. This province does a great job when catering anglers who seek for trophy fish, but not so much for the entire family to do together.

Here is a thought... The hatchery releases 10 rainbows/smolts into the river, the adult return rate is 10% due to natural mortality. Would the ten hatchery smolts generate more angling days/effort, meaning higher econimical value, than that one adult steelhead?

[Gooey]

Rod's post pretty much summed up what an angler had told me this weekend: those smolts are residualized steelhead and will stay in the river feeding on juvenile salmonids...these smolts need to be culled.

Another interesting fact is that apparently there is a very short window (2 weeks) for smoltification to take place and if it doesn't any left over would there residualize.  If all the steelie smolts are released well before the july 1st opeing, then it makes sense that the remaining fish will not go to sea and become steelhead removing these fish to protect other stocks makes sense to me...I may take a few next trip to see how they are as table fair.

[The_Roe_Man]

I use to catch them before i really got into salmon fishing.  They taste pretty good.  One time late august i was fishing for them and noticed some fish rising.  I casted to the rises and wham, i caught a fish although it was not a trout.  It was a coho.  I caugt a few more coho the next 30min before the fishing died down.  That was a memorable day with no one else on the water.