British Columbia Fishing Blog

If you enjoy fishing the Chilliwack River, this may interest you.

There is a proposal out (in progress) with the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources to have a largish (25 hectares/50 football fields) gravel mine in the location of Larson’s Bench. This proposal may threaten the viability of the recreation fishery in the Chilliwack River.
 
The Fraser Valley Regional District has opposed this, for many reasons, such as it is near Pierce Creek ponds – an important salmon spawning area. It is also in close (less than 1km) to Chipmunk Creek Caves and the Chilliwack River. Other likely environmental impacts include silt, run-off, 10 acres to be logged). Unfortunately, the FVRD’s opposition may not be enough to stop it. Residents, businesses, clubs and others who may be impacted could also have an effect on the outcome.

There will be siginificant impacts on local residents and businesses with gravel trucks on the road if this proposal goes through. It is estimated that 47 round trips per day would be made by gravel trucks between Monday and Saturday. 
 
There is a website for more information and a link where you can sign an online petition:
 
http://www.stopthegravelpit.com
 
http://www.gopetition.com/online/35764.html
 
A petition is also at On The Way store and Pointa Vista Cafe, both on the Chilliwack Lake Road.

Those who fish it regularly know how siltation can affect the fishing, so one can only imagine how the fishing might be if this proposal is approved and possible impacts take place. While this is simply at the proposal stage, I encourage others to get involved by visiting the above websites and staying informed so there would be no regrets in a couple of years from now.

The common misconception on dealing with fishery violations is that little or none is done because whenever people phone in a violation, it is not attended. This perceived lack of enforcement certainly does not motivate people to be part of the solution and it poses no deterrence for those who do not choose to play by the rules. The reality is that fishery officers cannot be everywhere at anytime in this province and when they do crack down on violations, the public never hears about it because the information rarely makes it to the media.

At the most recent Upper Fraser Valley sportfishing advisory committee meeting that I attended in Chilliwack, we once again were briefed by DFO enforcement in the area. A summary on what has been done between January and September 2009 in the Fraser Valley was provided. Many thanks to the Lower Fraser fishery manager for putting these numbers together in the meeting minutes.

There have been 12 illegal fish sales filed with 8 boats seizured. These files are at the charge approval stage.

How officers’ time breakdown:

• Enforcement/patrol: 47%
• Other programs (assisting other agencies): 3%
• Administration (paper work, meeting, training, etc): 50%

Enforcement/patrol time breakdown:

• Closed time/area: 56%
• Aboriginal fisheries: 29%
• Recreational fisheries: 11%
• Habitat: 3%
• Commercial/other: 1%

Type of patrol:

• Vessel: 48%
• Vehicle: 48%
• Helicopter: 4%

Type of violations:

• 100+ gillnet seizures
• 8 vessel seizures
• 60+ recreational tickets
• 25 aboriginal charges
• 11 Restorative Justice cases
• 26 habitat charges

Fishery violations should always be reported by phoning 1-800-465-4336 when witnessed.

This Lower Fraser River pink salmon has generated plenty of angling interest in the Lower Mainland, which is excellent to see. Angling interest generates angling licence sale and interest in resource protection. While this recreational fishery is healthy, it has also left a bad mark that is so commonly seen in modern human history.

Littering! For some reason, many individuals simply cannot keep their trash in their pockets and the garbage cans. Instead, they can be seen scattered along the Fraser River banks. Beer cans, lure packages, fast food wrappers are just some of the common items found when we are out fishing. One tide cycle can wash these into the river and transport them into the Pacific Ocean. What’s even more damaging is discarded fishing lines that are wrapped around everywhere!

Fishing line kills wildlife! It may wrap around water fowls, end up choking them to death. Somehow this common knowledge is forgotten constantly. Anglers get a birdnest, pull all the line off the reel and casually discard it on the ground as if it is biodegradable. Little do they know that this becomes a permanent animal strangler, working either in the discarded area or anywhere it gets blown or washed to.

We enjoy harvesting these salmon, yet we don’t think twice about tampering the water that they feed in. Pack your trash away when fishing, because in the long run, we would be the ones who pay for this poor behaviour.

September 27th is World Rivers Day. We can all celebrate and do our part by picking up a couple bags of garbage when fishing this weekend. I will be involved in the celebration and cleanup at the Chilliwack River, perhaps we will see you there too!

 

With the Fraser River sockeye salmon returning in much lower number than first anticipated, the debate on catching and releasing sockeye salmon by recreational fishermen when there is not a sockeye salmon retention opening is once again very heated. With water temperature gradually rising in the Fraser River, it is thought that sockeye salmon that are incidentally hooked and released may die prematurely due to stress. What makes this year’s discussion slightly different, is the presence of last year’s sockeye salmon catch and release study result, which indicates a rather low mortality rate on fish that were caught by recreational fishermen. While the angling community has adopted these numbers as evidence that show incidentally catching and releasing sockeye salmon while targeting chinook salmon on the Fraser has minimal impact, there are some cautionary notes that all should be aware of so we do not regret our actions later.

What alarms me is that science has become so mainstream that it is now a religion on its own. This has had positive impacts, such as the green movements in recent years, but it takes away a lot of integrity that science once had. It has become a powerful ammunition that advocates (note, not suggesting you) use to sway public’s opinion. No disrespect to anyone, but swaying the opinion of individuals without a scientific background is easy and it has a cascade effect that’s almost impossible to stop once those ideas are planted in people’s mind.

One should realize that scientific papers are not conclusive. In the scientific community, studies undergo peer reviews and critiques. This is done not because others dislike the results obtained in the study, but it is done to determine if the methodology used to obtain those results and the statistical interpretation of those results are done correctly. While there are the usual participants who are against the sockeye sportfishery dismissing the study completely, there are also individuals who have a scientific background making some constructive criticisms on the study. Again, in an internet discussion forum where most do not reveal their identity and background, it is difficult to decide whose words should be taken seriously at first. On the other hand, outspoken advocates of the sockeye sportfishery, who mostly have not looked at the study in depth, dangle the result of this study in front of you before you have a chance to blink.

A mortality study of caught and released sockeye salmon is needed because as long as the Fraser River is opened for sportfishing, incidental catches during sockeye salmon closures will occur. Quantitative facts allow fishery managers to make sound decisions instead of half guessing on what might be happening in the water. Some suggest that the second part of the study should not be conducted due to warm water temperature, my response would be to look at the large picture. Data obtained from caught and released sockeye salmon at a higher water temperature than last year’s lead to comparative studies of caught and released sockeye mortality at various water temperature. This information would be beneficial for managers who need to make conservation measures when discharged water temperature rises.

Results from last year’s study were pretty uniform to what is already known. Fish that are hooked externally survive better than fish that are hooked internally because it minimizes the chance of servere loss of blood. This is why in some parts of the world, treble hooks are used rather than single hooks as a management measure in catch and release fisheries. Managers and anglers rather see externally injured fish rather than dead fish. This is also why some have started pegging their trout bead a few inches above the hook so the fish is hooked outside the jawline rather than in its oral cavity. It may contradict the traditional definition of fishing, but from the practical aspect, it serves a better purpose in catch and release fisheries.

That being said, these results cannnot be viewed as definitive proof that the number of sockeye salmon dying from catch and release is minimal. The results presented are simply demonstrating temporary mortality, due to the fact that these fish were held for 24 hours in a channel that has a similar discharge velocity of the Fraser River around Chilliwack. Scientific studies create models of the real scenario, they do not paint the whole picture. Factors such as predation of released fish during its recuperation, recapturing by other sportfishermen and nets, mortality in higher stream velocity, spawning performance are not being considered. This is not suggesting that study designers intend to disregard these and flaw the results. Budget constraints and the inability to create these scenarios prevent them to factor these in. Nevertheless, they are significant factors that can skew what we are actually trying to find, which is how many caught and released sockeye salmon can arrive at their natal streams and spawn successfully.

This is why the study is planned for five years and it is premature to use one year’s result to conclusively suggest the sockeye salmon that anglers catch and release are perfectly fine. This type of false sense of security is not good for the fish, and not good for anyone.

Based on what has been written, most might suggest that I am against the sockeye sportfishery. At the same time, others might suggest I am for the sockeye fishery based on my view on the difference between external and internal injuries of caught and released fish. For or against, if only it is that simple, that black and white, there wouldn’t be these long winded debates at all.

If there is one message to take away from this long post, it is that anglers should have some reservation on the unnecessary impact of the fish that they need to release. Do I need to be by-catching a certain number of sockeye salmon when exclusively targeting chinook salmon? Would the sockeye salmon that I release make it to their natal streams and spawn successfully? Maybe, maybe not, one would never know, but remember that these doubts may have significant impacts on the resource when it can be avoided. Would barfishing, which has a much smaller possibility of intercepting sockeye salmon, be a good alternative for targeting chinook salmon?

On one rainy February morning in 2005, Shane and I walked along the Cheakamus River, hoping to connect with a silver winter steelhead. After hiking and fishing through a large section of the river, we came across one run that seemed extremely fishy. There had to be a fish laying in it.

I made a long cast out and allowed the large pink rubber worm drifting gently down the flow. Suddenly the float was buried. The dive was too swift to be a snag, it was a fish! I yanked the rod back beyond my shoulders and watched the rod kicked down furiously. Before I had a chance to scream “Fish on!”, it darted toward me and made a big splash right in front of Shane as I frantically tried to pick up the slack line on my centerpin reel. It was silver, it was one of the largest steelhead that I had ever seen on my line. Shivering from the cold and the excitement, I walked downstream slowly as the fish used the current as its advantage to escape. After a few minutes of tugging, it emerged on the surface and slowly made its way toward me. I reached my hand out, thinking that it was ready to be tailed but only to be startled by another burst of its energy. It splashed several times on the surface and the hook fell out of its mouth. I looked back at Shane, who looked at me with the “What were you thinking?” look.

Still fueled with adrenaline, I went straight back to where I had connected with the fish and made another cast. As if I had orchestrated, the float once again disappeared beneath the surface! Another fish made its splashy appearance on the surface as I attempted to pick up the slack line once again. It was a smaller fish, but still very solid. It was almost a replay of the previous fight. I made my way down to where I had previously lost the fish and prepared to land the fish. Just when I thought that I had it this time, the fish managed to go behind a rock and rubbed the leader a few times. As expected, the leader suddenly snapped and all I could do was to hopelessly watch it swimming away. Shane let out a loud chuckle behind me. What a disappointment it was, two steelhead hooked without being able to photograph with them. Nevertheless, these beauties were on their way to produce more offsprings to ensure the future of this unique steelhead run.

That future was instantly shattered several months later, when a sodium hydroxide spill due to the derailment of a CN Rail train killed almost every living organisms downstream from it. Offsprings of these trophy steelhead, were surely wiped out, among with other juvenile steelhead runs that had also been rearing in the river since the previous year.

The spill also jeopardized the pink salmon return, which was poor in the following return year (2007). The Cheakamus River and other tributaries of the Squamish River, have always given me memorable angling experiences since I was introduced to them in 1995. In the winter months we have had the opportunities to catch many bull trout, cutthroat trout, rainbow trout and steelhead. In the fall months, its chum and coho salmon fisheries have given us many wonderful days with multiple large chrome fish captured. There are not many places in the world where you can experience this type of quality fishery, especially being only one hour from a populated city.

Since the disastrous spill, efforts have been made to restore these lost populations. The short term result has not been very positive. The salmon and steelhead returns in the Squamish River have been dismal in the last couple of years. Anglers used to visit, enjoy and celebrate the return of these fish between September and April. This is no longer the case. The river is empty of fish, fishers and other animals that depend on them. Despite of its grim state, volunteers have not given up by continuing its restoration, hoping to revive it in the long run.

The coffin is not fully closed yet, but it seems like it is about to be nailed. The currently proposed Garibaldi at Squamish project aims to create a Whistler-like ski resort that will accommodate over 15,000 users at one time. beside the obvious concern of development over natural land that we already enjoy recreationally, the largest concern that anglers and river stewards have is the capacity of its required water usage. Its plan is to utilize the headwater of Brohm Creek as the source of its water supply. This, in my opinion, is environmentally irresponsible. Brohm Creek is one of few tributaries of the Cheakamus River where salmonids such as steelhead spawn. Headwater is the source of a creek’s discharge. By drawing water from it to supply the resort’s need, it ultimately puts an end to the future of the Cheakamus River steelhead, which is already uncertain. In a world where concerns of water shortage crisis is growing rapidly, it is unbelievable that projects at this magnitude are even being considered.

We are currently seeing the killing of a river that has served many of us well. I would like to experience that rainy February morning in 2005 again, but it could only be relived by a few photographs if projects such as this are approved. The natural landscape and wildlife in the Squamish region already provide limitless recreational opportunities to anglers, hikers, mountain bikers, rockclimbers and many others. Do we need another manufactured “nature” experience that requires us to pay a significant sum of money to enjoy? This province markets its tourism as Supernatural BC, there is nothing natural about this development.

What can you do as a concerned angler? You can voice your concerns! The Environmental Assessment Office is currently accepting comments from the public before July 19th. Simply download this PDF file, print it, fill it and mail it to the address provided on the form. If you do not have a printer, we will have forms available at this year’s Fish for the Future for you to fill out. I will even mail it for you.

It is not only your responsibility to protect the few fish left in the Cheakamus River, but it should also be your interest to see better fishing like what many used to experience in the past. Please don’t stand by and regret when it is lost beyond recovery.

Here is a news video clip from Global BC in late 2008 that provides some background information on Brohm Creek.