SFAB Meeting Coming Up and SVIAC News

The next Sport Fish Advisory Board meeting is coming up shortly. Just in from Chris Bos: "There will be a pre-season Victoria and Area SFAB Committee meeting, Wednesday, March 8th, 7:00 pm, Esquimalt Anglers Clubhouse, 1101 Muro Street, Victoria. An agenda and reminder will be sent out closer to the meeting. If you have any specific topics you want included please let me know. Attendance is open to the public, so feel free to circulate this notice. 

So, make a date to attend and come on out.

The South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition, also headed by Chris Bos, has just released its current newsletter. Some of its items include:  

Kiss My Chinook Derby  

The second annual Kiss My … Chinook Derby, is on Saturday June 17^th. Pedder Bay RV Park and Marina in Metchosin will be the derby headquarters and weigh scale location. This is a one day no-frills fun Chinook derby that will run rain or shine on the Saturday of Father’s Day weekend. 

Tickets are $80.00 each and include one year of SVIAC membership. They are currently building the prize board and like last year there will be a special draw prize and largest Chinook main prize. Proceeds go to SVIAC projects and lobbying efforts. Fraser Chinook management actions will determine the final fishing rules. See: www.anglerscoaltion.com, or  contact Chris: 778 426-4141.

2017 Juan de Fuca Fishing Tournament:

The SVIAC 2017 Juan de Fuca Fishing Tournament, is Saturday and Sunday, August 12th and 13th, 2017. Pedder Bay Marina and RV Park is the weigh station. Top prize for heaviest Chinook is again $20,000. Expect $100,000 in total prizes. There are 500 public tickets available at $150 per rod. They have omitted the requirement for ticket holders to be a SVIAC member or pay an additional $50 per ticket – to attract anglers from up-Island, mainland USA and sell all 500 tickets.

The Accumulator Jackpot, won in 2016 by Garth Wright, was $8,400.00 for his 21.6-pound Chinook, the lucky weight required to win. SVIAC will once again seed the start of the new jackpot with $1,000 and the price to enter remains $20 per person.

This tournament is the main fundraiser for the SVIAC, so pick up the tickets. And pick up your membership. See: www.jdfderby.ca for the derby rules.

Chinook Retention Rules 2017

Effective March 1st, we will be fishing with a 45- to 67-cm slot size on wild (unmarked) Chinook, in Oak Bay, Victoria, Metchosin and Sooke, until Saturday, June 17. Anglers can retain hatchery marked Chinook greater than 67 cm; usually there are generous numbers thanks to the United States hatchery system.

Fraser stream-type Chinook in the 2017 projection is far below average at 25,000. So, draconian measures, in part the result of the First Nation fishing for chinook in a low sockeye year, in 2016, are possible.

Here is what the SFAB proposes:

Replace the Juan de Fuca recreational Chinook fishery (Subareas 19-1 to 19-4 and Subarea 20-5) and Strait of Georgia (Subareas 18-1 to 18-6, 18-9, 18-11, 19-5, and portions of Subareas 29-4 and 29-5) with the following management actions. These would continue to protect spring 42 chinook and meet the impact reductions required for Spring 52 and summer 52 chinook under zone 1, 2 or 3 management approaches.

The SFAB wants a consistent and predictable public recreational fishery management package for abundance in either zone 1 or zone 2. The proposal meets or exceeds the conservation criteria set forth in the DFO, R. Reid Fraser Chinook Management policy letter of 2012 when the three-zone abundance-based framework was launched.

The harmonized regulations would now read: Juan de Fuca recreational fishery (Subareas 19-1 to 19-4 and Subareas 20-4 and 20-5), March 1 through June 16th, the daily limit is two chinook per day which may be wild or hatchery marked between 45 and 67 cm or hatchery marked greater than 67 cm in Subareas 19-1 to 19-4, 20-4 and 20-5. Then from June 17th through July 31st, the daily limit is two chinook per day of which only one (1) chinook may be greater than 67 cm. 

Strait of Georgia recreational fishery (Subareas 18-1 to 18-6, 18-9, 18-11, 19-5, and portions of Subareas 29-4 and 29-5), May 9 through July 31st, the daily limit is two chinook salmon per day of which only one (1) chinook may be greater than 67 cm. The minimum size limit in these areas is 62 cm in length.

Halibut Retention Rules

The Total Allowable Catch of 7.45 million pounds will provide 1,118,000 lbs for the sport fishery. This is slightly more TAC than last year to our sector, so a similar fishery would be expected.

The SFAB has recommended the same halibut regulations as in 2016: 1 halibut per day, 2 in possession, of which one may not exceed 133 cms and the second fish may not exceed 83 cms, annual catch not to exceed 6 halibut per year. Expect an answer by April 1, 2017.

Volunteers Needed

If you want to help salmon, and of course you do, contact the SVIAC: e-mail: info@anglerscoalition.com; or phone, 778 426-4141. The derbies are coming up, and the net pen for chinook needs people, too.

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Final Note: History of Saanich Inlet Angling

Next week I will run the story sent to me by Bill Gower, on Saanich Inlet angling. All you other Saanich Inlet anglers, from the heydays, send me your story so it can go up on our site: http://saanichinletangling.blogspot.ca/.