DFO’s 2019 Fraser Chinook Plan

After all the meetings, wrangling, head shaking and unwilling capitulation, this year’s plan for Fraser chinook has been released by DFO. The June 7 letter is addressed to:

First Nations Chiefs, Councillors and Fisheries Representatives

Sport Fishing Advisory Board

Commercial Salmon Advisory Board

Marine Conservation Caucus

DFO released its fishing plan April 16 with this news release: https://www.canada.ca/en/fisheries-oceans/news/2019/04/government-of-canada-takes-action-to-address-fraser-river-chinook-decline.html).

Earlier, COSEWIC released a report, including 13 Fraser chinook stocks: 7 are assessed as Endangered, 4 as Threatened, 1 as Special Concern and only 1 was deemed Not at Risk.

See: https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/committee-status-endangered-wildlife/assessments/wildlife-species-assessment-summary-nov-2018.html.  In addition, productivity of many of these populations has declined to the point where fewer offspring are returning compared to the parent generation and the populations will continue to decline even in the absence of fishery mortalities unless conditions improve.

I will return to this bold faced section below as it is the whole point here.

How bad are things? This bad: Only 490 natural origin Chinook returned to the Nicola River (Spring 4-2s) in 2018 from a parental generation of 7,122 Chinook.

And the plan takes the following into account: “Achieving these conservation objectives is our highest priority and requires significant actions in commercial troll, recreational and First Nations fisheries in times and areas where at risk Fraser Chinook may be encountered. Fraser Spring 4-2 and Spring 5-2 Chinook return to spawn from early March through late July, with migration peaks in June through the lower Fraser River. Summer 5-2 Chinook have later timing and return to the Fraser River to spawn from late June to August with a peak in late July.”

The overall plan is: “While conservation of at risk Fraser Chinook is the primary objective in managing the resource, the Department is also committed to respecting Constitutional and Treaty obligations to provide priority for First Nations harvest opportunities for Food, Social and Ceremonial and Treaty obligations after conservation requirements are met. Conservation measures will constrain First Nations Chinook harvest opportunities while at risk Fraser Chinook or other stocks of concern (e.g. Early Stuart Sockeye) migrate through fishing areas. Prior to July 15th, the Department is permitting very limited Fraser River FSC fishery opportunities to harvest small numbers of Chinook for ceremonial purposes which is consistent with the overall management objective for fishery mortalities near 5% for these stocks. In addition, new restrictions in commercial and recreational fisheries are intended to support increased availability of not at risk Summer 41 Chinook for First Nations fisheries harvest opportunities during August and September. These restrictions include an extended closure of the commercial troll fishery in Northern BC until August 20 which is intended to pass through not at risk Summer 41 (South Thompson) Chinook that typically comprise 20-30% of troll harvests to the Fraser River. The Kamloops Lake commercial demonstration fishery targeting South Thompson (Summer 41) Chinook will also be closed. Recreational salmon fisheries in southern BC will remain at reduced limits of 1 Chinook per day after the Chinook non-retention period ends (i.e. after July 14 or July 31 depending on area) and recreational fisheries in the Fraser River will remain closed until at least August 23.”

So, what is the plan? The rec-fish plan, which is what we care about, is:

“Recreational fishing: Management measures are identified where at-risk Chinook stocks may be encountered, including:

• Non-retention of Chinook in Queen Charlotte Strait, Johnstone Strait and Northern Strait of Georgia until July 14; a daily limit of one (1) Chinook per person per day from July 15 until August 29, and two (2) Chinook per person per day from August 30 until December 31.

• Non-retention of Chinook in the Juan de Fuca Strait and Southern Strait of Georgia until July 31; retention of one (1) Chinook per person per day from August 1 until August 29, and two (2) Chinook per person per day from August 30 until December 31.

• West Coast Vancouver Island offshore areas (seaward of 1 nautical mile from the surfline) will have non-retention of Chinook until July 14 followed by a limit of two (2) Chinook per day from July 15 to December 31. West Coast Vancouver Island inshore waters will remain at two (2) Chinook per day.

• Fraser River recreational fisheries will remain closed to salmon fishing until at least August 23. After that date, opportunities for species other than Chinook will be informed by in-season abundance and other conservation issues (Coho, Steelhead, etc.). Reduced Fishing opportunities may be provided in tributary areas during times and locations at-risk Chinook stocks would not be encountered.

• An overall reduction in the total annual limit for Chinook that can be retained per person in tidal waters from 30 to 10.”

For, in season updates, look here: http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/index-eng.html.

And after the season, DFO will be looking into: “The challenges facing at-risk Fraser River Chinook salmon stocks are multi-faceted. The road to recovery requires a long-term view and the collaboration of First Nations, multiple levels of government and all interested parties. DFO will be following up with First Nations, the Province of BC and stakeholders to establish a process to address a broad range of issues that are impacting Chinook stocks, including: land and water use issues; fish habitat issues; the role of hatcheries to support rebuilding and the potential for mark-selective fisheries targeting hatchery-origin fish; how predation by seals and sea lions may be affecting Chinook salmon; and other concerns. Establishing a process to have these important discussions will play a vital role in determining how best to steward this resource going forward and what options may exist to further address the social, cultural and economic importance of these Chinook stocks. This will require everyone to work toward identifying mutually-beneficial solutions and ensuring conservation objectives are met to provide for future opportunities. Further information will be provided on this process in the near future.”

The major issue, and what my boldfacing was about, is that this process is: after 50 years of managing salmon into this depressed state, DFO expects to continue forward, doing the same things and thus manage salmon into extinction. Once they are finished off, there is no need to do anything.

The major item is always: freshwater habitat restoration. We all know that to foster wild salmon, the best thing to do, is protect and restore habitat so that nature can do its thing. Along with this we need to develop epigenetic hatchery output so that enhanced fry are as near to wild as possible. Some of this work has already begun, but the point here is that pretty much DFO’s whole focus is ratchetting down fishing mortality, rather than putting more fish in the sea.

My post on a plan is here, and has received more than 10,000 page views, netpens of sterilized chinook every year for the next ten years, while we are doing epigenetic hatchery work, and fixing and preventing habitat from being lost as the next best thing: http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2018/05/dfo-salmon-and-killer-whales.html. This is a five minute read.

Go read that for a base plan to move forward. And then consider that the $142M by DFO and $40M by the BC govt should find most of the cash used for freshwater habitat restoration and beginning to make changes that addresses climate change. I am working on this one.

Note that the money is skewed toward ‘innovation’, ‘new technology’ and ‘an Indigenous component’. You need to apply for $$ hitting those buttons, while trying to do the most important thing which is freshwater habitat restoration. The post is a two minute read with a link to the DFO site on accessing the cash: http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2019/04/salmon-restoration-and-innovation-fund.html.

Cheryl Webb Note to DCR - Wild BC Salmon Funding, DFO

Here is the Cheryl Webb note to me from DFO on getting funding from the new pot of money for freshwater habitat restoration etc. I include it in entirety, though I have only commented on limited parts of it in the next post on this site.

Mr. DC (Dennis) Reid

< dcreid@islandnet.com >

Dear Mr. Reid:

Thank you for your correspondence of April 5, 2019 regarding habitat restoration. I have been asked to respond on behalf of the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) understands the importance of the fishery resource to all who depend on it for their sustenance, livelihood, and recreation. DFO works to protect and conserve marine and freshwater ecosystems and the living resources they support.

As you mention, the BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF) will provide up to $142.85 million in new investments over five years and can support a broad range of activities. BCSRIF will support British Columbia’s fish and seafood sector, and fund projects to ensure the sustainability of wild Pacific salmon and other BC fish stocks. While the protection and restoration of salmon species is a key focus, the fund also allows for projects that target other species, such as forage fish, groundfish, and shellfish. Additionally, BCSRIF will ensure that the fish and seafood sector in British Columbia is positioned for long-term environmental and economic sustainability through a variety of projects—bycatch reduction is one example. This fund is a critical collaboration for Canada and British Columbia, as BC’s land- and water-use management responsibilities have a great impact on fish stocks.

During the first year of the program, the BCSRIF team will be reaching out to Indigenous communities, stewardship organizations, and stakeholders to identify priority funding areas for future years.

As you are likely aware, several other DFO programs contribute to habitat restoration for salmon. The Salmonid Enhancement Program (SEP) delivers a comprehensive coast-wide salmon production program. Current hatchery production directly benefits fisheries and provides key assessment information used to manage stocks. SEP’s Resource Restoration Unit supports a multitude of partnerships and projects that contribute to salmon habitat restoration. And the Coastal Restoration Fund has provided over $18.6 million to fund restoration projects in freshwater, estuarine, and marine habitats in British Columbia.

DFO also works in partnership with the Pacific Salmon Foundation. As you know, the Pacific Salmon Foundation is dedicated to the conservation and restoration of wild Pacific salmon and their natural habitat. The Foundation receives funding from DFO annually to work on projects that enhance and protect salmon and their habitat.

In addition, the Department funds and delivers the Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program (RFCPP). The RFCPP was developed to support projects led by recreational fishing and angling groups, as well as conservation organizations, aimed at improving the conservation of recreational fisheries habitat.

I assure you that our goals are the same, namely the protection, conservation, and safety of our fish resources for current and future generations.

I hope that the information I have provided is helpful.

Yours sincerely,

Cheryl Webb

Regional Director

Ecosystems Management

Pacific Region

DFO SRKW Measures 2019

DFO has come up with measures for protecting southern resident killer whales (SRKWs) in 2019. They include draconian sport fishing closures, among other things, and are summarized in a PDF released in April 2019. I have sent the Excel Spreadsheet PDF to members of my sport fishing list, but I can't find a way to load it to this site. If you want it, send me a note/leave me a comment at the bottom of this post and I'll send it your way.

In summary, the problem is this: DFO has managed both salmon and killer whales into extinction for the past 50 years. Now, faced with public outrage, it is closing sport and commercial fishing for chinook, to try and save extinction level killer whales with extinction levels of chinook. It's the wrong approach.

See my post on what needs to be done: http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2018/05/dfo-salmon-and-killer-whales.html. Basically it is: fresh water habitat restoration and a dozen netpens of 2M marked, sterile chinook each for at least 10 years.

Now, in the note that goes along with the current PDF, DFO says it is taking ‘a precautionary, science-based approach to the protection and recovery of SRKW.’

The problem is that DFO talks about science, but it refuses to use it, as well as the precautionary principle unless it suits their purposes. See this:  https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2019/02/evidence-and-science-based-decisions-at.html.

In other words, don't expect DFO to do the precautionary thing, and expect it to close sport fishing, as SRKWs plummet to extinction, and then, from their point of view, both problems are solved.

Here is a brief summary of the PDF:

Slide 8: 

Prey - solutions include:

·      * Area-based fishery closures

·      *   Mobile (bubble) closures/fishery avoidance zones 

*   * Sanctuary – hmm?

Slide 9 - Technical Working Groups (TWGs):

 

-        *  Salmon habitat rehabilitation - this sounds good, but if you are looking to get some money to do a project, it has to be new technology with innovation. I told DFO that what is needed is people to get their gumboots on and do some freshwater habitat restoration. DFO has not responded. I said this to them: https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2019/04/salmon-restoration-and-innovation-fund.html.

-       *  Salmon enhancement - this sounds good, but no details as yet. Are we talking sterilized fish? Or marked fish, so a fishery can mop up returnees, but not wild fish? And, are we talking epigenetics?

-      *  Chinook-predator interactions

-      * Forage fish management - does this include stopping the herring roe fishery that DFO says is hunky dory, but there are lots of documents around, that I have seen, preceding the documents it is now using to say things are swell, that point out the stock now fished is the last one left, and nowhere near as big as it used to be.

DFO says answers are to come in June, 2019

Slide 12: 

* Critical habitat 

*Proposed Enhanced Management Areas 

* Key Foraging Areas

In our area: All of Juan de Fuca, including Laperouse and Swiftsure banks, past Victoria and the islands to the mouth of the Fraser. Either closed or no-go zones.

Slide 14: Context: Prey Availability.

*Recognition that long-term rebuilding of Chinook will be key to SRKW recovery

*Reduced fisheries. This sounds good, but the proof is in the pudding, for example, DFO could close fisheries and let chinook bring themselves back rather than enhancement and freshwater habitat restoration. With climate change and fish farm effects, it is unlikely that the stocks will come back.

Slide 16: Scenario A Closure of sport fishing in 20-4 and 20-5 and Swiftsure Bank.

Slide 18: Scenario B: Closure of sport fishing in Scenario A as well as extended areas adjacent to Swiftsure Bank (SB), including SB.

Slide 24: Fishing, small boat measures, includes voluntary measures like turning off depthsounders when not in use. Mandatory 400m approach distance, and go-slow measures with in 1000m, along with no-go areas, including SB.

Do send DFO your thoughts on its approach. The email to mail to is: DFO.SRKW-ERS.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca. 

Note that I have figured out the sport fishery brings in $2.52B for fresh- and salt-water in BC. This is far bigger than the figure DFO uses. Here is how I figured it out: http://fishfarmnews.blogspot.com/2015/05/salmonfishing-revenue-towers-over.html.

Towns like Port Renfrew, Bamfield and others are going to go bust under DFO's plan. Please send in some critical comments. Remember, it is netpens of sterile chinook that will solve the problem as soon as possible, while habitat restoration goes on, which is a long term project. We need both things, as well as epigenetic enhancement of chinook stocks ASAP, for example, the Nitinat chinook, along with Conuma, Robertson Creek and Cowichan on Van Isle. Then DFO should do some enhancement of Fraser streams, like the proposed Willow Creek.