November 29, 2012 by Sandra Hines

Aquatic nonnative species – those found in the water but not including those on land alongside rivers and streams – are just one example of invasive species that can effect young salmon and foodwebs in the Columbia River Basin. Credit: K Barnas/B Sanderson/NOAA (Phys.org)—Food webs needed by young salmon in the Columbia River basin are likely compromised in places, something that should be considered when prioritizing expensive restoration activities aimed at rebuilding endangered runs.

Right now there are probably too many young fish and not enough food in places. Taking hatchery fish and wild fish together, there are twice as many young salmon in the system today as there were before major hatchery and dam construction, say scientists in an article that went online today (Nov. 28) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences early edition. The food web also is under assault from chemical contaminants as well as invasive species – and even a few native ones – that gang up on young salmon because of the way the river is managed. “The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has a strong fish and wildlife program that is based on what’s called the four Hs – hatcheries, harvest, hydrosystem and habitat,” said lead author Robert J. Naiman, a University of Washington professor of aquatic and fishery sciences. “Our suggestion is that the fish and wildlife program needs to incorporate food web concerns to improve its effectiveness.” For example, habitat restoration may have been effective in places but overall it has not worked out as well as originally hoped and incorporating food webs might help, he said.

Food webs explore what eats what, as well as how much is eaten and where and when it is consumed. In the Columbia River, the web extends from tiny microbes, algae and insects to fish such as salmon and other top predators such as birds and bears. Naiman led an effort considering food webs, concluded in 2011, for the Independent Scientific Advisory Board, a committee of scientists reporting to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Columbia Basin Tribes.  The scientists found little existing information for the Columbia although they evaluated about 1,000 peer-reviewed papers and contacted more than 40 agency, tribal, university and private-sector scientists.

Three main concerns deserve more attention, they said. Enlarge Average yearly pesticide application from 1999-2004 – expressed as kilograms per square kilometer – and a growing number of wastewater treatment plants in the Columbia basin are reasons to learn more about such chemical inputs and food webs. Credit: Northwest Power and Conservation Council Is there enough food in river for young fish? Managers need to determine what’s called the carrying capacity – how much food is available compared to how many fish are there – in stretches of the Columbia and its tributaries. The team, for example, estimated that the 9 million wild and hatchery Chinook salmon passing between Lower Granite and Bonneville dams for two weeks in the spring of 2008 needed 166.5 metric tons of prey. It’s the first time any group tried such a calculation. “That’s a lot of food for a section of river to produce,” Naiman said. One recommendation: To make better determinations of carrying capacity and manage fish releases from hatcheries to minimize the effects on the food web.

Artificial chemicals may compromise food webs The best data available said there are 45,000 metric tons of pesticides applied to agricultural lands in the Columbia basin, and much of it close to the river and its tributaries. There are some 160 wastewater treatment plants adding chemicals and hormones from personal care products, flame retardants and other products that end up in waste water. No one has yet studied the chemicals’ effects on the Columbia food web, but in other rivers they are known to particularly affect the smaller members at the low end of the food web. One recommendation: This is a complex issue that requires a focused effort and strong collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Geological Survey, local communities, industry and regional governments. Non-native and burgeoning native species create food webs never before seen Managers and citizens need to accept that the Columbia River is composed of hybrid communities – a mixture of native and invasive species– and plan accordingly. “The current system has food webs never before seen there,” Naiman said.

More than 325 nonnatives have been found in the waters, with walleye pike and bass among the voracious predators of young salmon. Then because the river is so altered, there are explosions of native species too, including terns, cormorants, sea lions and northern pike minnows. “The stark reality is that hybrid food webs will persist; nonnative species are widely established, and eradication will be difficult, if not impossible,” the authors write. One recommendation:  Consider releasing fewer hatchery fish and doing it throughout the year instead of over just a few months. In theory, staggered releases confuse predators so their numbers would decline, Naiman said. Among the paper’s overall conclusions: “Habitat and food web approaches are compatible, and if better integrated, they could improve restoration effectiveness,” the researchers write.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-11-hungry-salmon-problem-efforts.html#jCp

Article taken from http://phys.org/news/2012-11-hungry-salmon-problem-efforts.html

By Allen Thomas
Columbian Reporter, Outdoors

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

For decades, sport and commercial fishermen have fought in legislative halls, before state wildlife commissions and in countless other forums over the allocation of salmon and sturgeon in the Columbia River.

Come Dec. 7 at the Holiday Inn Portland Airport and Jan. 11-12 in Olympia, the goal of sportsmen to move the gillnetters off the lower Columbia River is expected to make a major leap toward reality.

The Washington and Oregon fish and wildlife commissions will be voting on proposals to make sports fishing the priority on the main stem lower Columbia and to gradually move gillnetting primarily to off-channel locations.

Since September, a committee of three Washington and three Oregon commissioners has been working out the details of the biggest change in lower Columbia fisheries management in 80 years.

In simplest terms, off-channel areas such as Youngs Bay, Tongue Point, Blind Slough and Deep River will be stocked with additional salmon and gillnetting limited to those spots.

“It will be the end of the commercial fishery on the Columbia River,” said Jim Wells, head of Salmon For All, an Astoria based commercial fishing group.

Sportsmen will get larger allocations of salmon in main Columbia. In fact, by 2017, sportsmen will get 100 percent of the summer chinook.

“People have done their very best to redesign these fisheries to be more productive and reasonable long-term,” said Jim Martin, conservation director of Pure Fishing, a group of fishing tackle makers. “This is a good example of getting ready for the future.”

The new plan is complicated, loaded with details, depends on unsure financing and carries a great deal of uncertainty.

It involves developing alternative methods — beach seines and purse seines — for use in commercial fisheries at times and locations in the lower Columbia. Yet in Oregon, the seines currently are illegal for commercial use and will require authorizing legislation.

The plan has a 2013-16 “transition” phase, then a 2017-and-beyond final phase.

Also under consideration is a five-fish limit on spring chinook in the Columbia, required use of barbless hooks, rubber landing nets for sportsmen and a sport-fishing closure zone in a popular portion of Buoy 10.

All this jump-started when sport-fishing and conservation interests got Measure 81 on the November ballot in Oregon. The measure would have outlawed gillnets and tangle nets in Oregon waters — and much of the lower Columbia is on the Oregon side of the boundary.

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber then advanced a compromise proposal to continue use of gillnets, but only in the off-channel areas, plus prioritizing sport fishing.

Sport interests agreed to abandon Measure 81 in favor of the Kitzhaber plan, although the issue still garnered 34 percent voter support despite a campaign against it and no campaign in favor.

Accompanying this story is a graphic comparing the status quo, the proposals for 2013-16 and those for 2017 and beyond. In addition, here are some of the discussion topics — species by species:

Spring chinook — The plan calls for releasing 1 million additional spring chinook smolts in the off-channel areas. That would be 750,000 on the Oregon side and 250,000 in Washington.

The commercials point out the off-channel areas are not particularly large and saturated with netters now. Gillnetter Chris Doumit referred to them as “side ditches.”

The Deep River off-channel area — the only off-channel site on the Washington side — has been getting 350,000 spring chinook smolts and adult returns of fewer than 100 fish, said Guy Norman, regional director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The plan is for a different location for the additional 250,000 spring chinook smolts, possibly Cathlamet Channel, Norman said. Cathlamet Channel is the portion of the Columbia between the Washington mainland and and Puget Island in Wahkiakum County.

The sport share of spring chinook increases from about 60 percent now to 70 percent in 2013-16 and 80 percent in 2017 and beyond. The 20 to 30 percent commercial share covers the straying of upper Columbia spring chinook into the off-channel areas.

Summer chinook — The current sharing is 50-50 downstream of Priest Rapids Dam.

The bulk of the summer chinook allocation already goes upstream of Priest Rapids Dam, where there is no non-Indian commercial fishing. That will not change.

Of the allocation downstream of Priest Rapids Dam, sportsmen will get 60 percent in 2013 and 2014, 70 percent in 2015 and 2016 and 100 percent beginning in 2017.

This change gives the gillnetters no shortage of angst. They are cut out of the new Chief Joseph Hatchery with a large increase in summer chinook releases coming on line soon in Eastern Washington.

Robert Sudar, a buyer in Longview, said that while the commercials did not catch a large number of summer chinook, those fish fetched $5 a pound and came at a time when there were not a lot of other salmon on the market.

“Once again our interest is so casually tossed aside,” Sudar said.

Summer chinook return far into north-central Washington. Washington commission member Gary Douvia of Kettle Falls said summer chinook are very important to inland anglers.

Thirty-nine percent of the $8.25 Columbia River salmon and steelhead fishing license surcharge fee in Washington originates in Eastern Washington.

“They are critical to the total package,” Douvia said.

To compensate the commercials, 750,000 bright fall chinook smolts will be added to the off-channel areas. Those fish, of Rogue River-origin, return in early August.

Wells, also a commercial fisherman, said 750,000 smolts will return about 2,200 adults, which first have to negotiate through the maze of sport boats at Buoy 10 to make it back to the Youngs Bay off-channel spot at Astoria.

He asked for a no-sport-fishing zone from Hammond to Desdemona Sands to the Astoria Bridge to allow those adult chinook to make it back to Youngs Bay.

Fall chinook — The commercials are expected to make a big share of their income in the future catching fall chinook salmon, particularly the brights heading for Eastern Washington.

The goal is to have this big harvest come from the Columbia River using beach seines and purse seines. The lion’s share of this harvest will come between the mouth of the Lewis River and Bonneville Dam.

Upstream of the Lewis, there are relatively few wild tule fall chinook, which are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act and limit harvest of other fall chinook.

However, many commercial fishermen do not like fishing in this stretch of the river.

The bi-state committee of Washington and Oregon commission members danced around the question if whether large-mesh gillnets still could be used upstream of the Lewis River after 2016.

Seines might not work as well in this stretch of the Columbia and gillnets might be needed to achieve a level of harvest sufficient to keep the commercials in business.

The goal is no gillnets, but a lot of ambiguous and fuzzy language surrounds this topic.

Coho — Gillnets would be allowed through 2016 for coho in the main stem. Beginning in 2017, tangle nets or other selective gear would be allowed in main Columbia.

A tangle-net fishery for late-stock coho in October is another spot where the commercials are expected to gain to compensate for losses in spring and summer chinook.

The plan also calls for an additional 1.9 million coho released in the off-channel areas, where they can be a gillnetted upon return as adults.

Coho do not bite sport gear well once they leave the estuary. There would be no change in the existing allocation.

Sockeye — Through 2016, the split would be 70 percent sport and 30 percent commercial. The allocation would shift beginning in 2017 to 80 percent sport.

Sockeye runs are expected to grow as habitat improvements in Canada continue. Yet sockeye headed for Idaho are on the endangered species list and the return timing of sockeye overlaps with spring and summer chinook.

The three factors combine to make sockeye management challenging.

Sturgeon — The 80 percent sport-20 percent commercial allocation will continue, but it may be mostly moot.

The lower Columbia sturgeon population is in decline and no retention of sturgeon in either the sport or commercial fishery looks likely beginning in 2013.

Other issues

There are several peripheral issues that appear likely as part of the fisheries reform.

• Barbless hooks are anticipated in all Columbia and tributary fisheries for salmon and steelhead.

• Rubber landing nets probably will become the rule in all Columbia River salmon, steelhead and sturgeon fisheries. This would be phased-in to give suppliers time to ramp up.

• There was talk of requiring fishing guides to have recovery boxes on their boats. Later, the bi-state committee chose a path that requires a recovery box if a wild fish is taken out of the water for release.

• The committee agreed in principle to a five-fish seasonal limit on spring chinook caught in the Columbia through June 15.

• The bi-state committee also agreed on the concept of sport-fishing closure zones adjacent to existing and new off-channel areas.

• Two Oregon-only issues also are on the table. It is suggested Oregon initiate a Columbia River sport-fishing surcharge license, as is done in Washington. Limiting the number of fishing guides in Oregon also was suggested.

Washington has limitations on guides downstream of Longview. Oregon’s guide program is managed by the Oregon Marine Board, not the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Article can be seen at http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/nov/28/new-era-looms-lower-columbia-salmon-fisheries/

Fish grown in closed containment systems offer big environmental advantages, proponents say

By Randy Shore, Vancouver Sun November 17, 2012

Twenty-three thousand Atlantic salmon smolts will arrive at the ‘Namgis First Nation’s salmon farm in January, just a fraction of the millions of similar fish that grow to maturity each year in B.C.

What’s different about these fish is that they will never swim in the ocean, never come in contact with wild salmon and never be treated for sea lice.

‘Namgis Closed Containment Salmon Farm is the first commercial-scale, land-based fish farm for Atlantic salmon in North America. It’s part of a global trend of large closed-containment farms also being pursued in Denmark and in Chile.

The ‘Namgis smolts will grow to maturity in just 12 to 15 months in a facility nearing completion not far from Port McNeill on Vancouver Island. The ‘Namgis farm uses five 500-cubic-metre tanks capable of producing a total 500 tonnes of fish each year.

The system is the first of five identical modules to be built on the site, when the designs and systems are proven, for total capacity of 2,500 tonnes a year, about the same as a net-pen salmon farm.

Despite the extra costs associated with land-based salmon farming, the product needn’t cost much more than net-pen Atlantic salmon. The carefully controlled environment in an advanced closed-containment system allows the fish grow to maturity twice as fast, in a smaller space with less feed than net-pen salmon.

Concerns about the spread of disease and sea lice between wild and farmed salmon make a commercially viable land-based Atlantic salmon farm something of an environmental Holy Grail.

And that search has intensified since the report of the Cohen Commission found that net-pen salmon farms can and do hurt the health of B.C.’s wild sockeye salmon stocks. The report urges an immediate freeze on new net-pen farms along sockeye migration routes.

The ‘Namgis project is intended to be a hothouse for innovation with the goal of advancing closed-containment technology for Atlantic salmon to commercial viability as quickly as possible. For that purpose, ‘Namgis has attracted $8.5 million from philanthropic, conservation and government sources, coordinated by the conservation foundation Tides Canada.

“We put together this innovation fund to explore land-based aquaculture as an alternative to open net aquaculture, primarily as a way to better protect the marine environment and wild salmon,” said Catherine Emrick, who co-ordinates the fund at Tides Canada.

The ‘Namgis First Nation spent years challenging the provincial and federal government in court over the “mismanagement” of the net-pen salmon industry near their traditional territories, according to Chief Bill Cranmer.

“We had seen the effects on our sockeye salmon returns on the Nimpkish River and the effect of the sea lice on the chum,” said Cranmer. “Eric Hobson at Save Our Salmon told us we could use litigation, but we should also provide an alternative.”

From that seed planted six years ago, a partnership has grown including Tides Canada Salmon Aquaculture Innovation Fund ($3.7 million), Sustainable Development and Technology Canada ($2.65 million), Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program, ($800,000), Aboriginal Affairs Canada ($257,000), Coast Sustainability Trust ($113,000) and the ‘Namgis First Nation ($1 million.)

To survive and thrive, land-based systems have to compete on both price and quality with net-pen Atlantic salmon, while using an infrastructure that requires significantly more money to build and to run.

Closed-containment systems are already used in B.C. to grow Atlantic salmon to 100-gram one-year-old smolts, which are then transferred to mature in ocean-based net pens.

But using land-based systems that grow salmon to maturity have a number of advantages over net-pen farming, according to aquaculture systems researcher Steve Summerfelt of the Freshwater Institute in West Virginia.

The advantages can be summed up in a single word: Control.

. Control of light and temperature allows growth rates that are double those of ocean-raised Atlantic salmon.

. Control of effluent and solid waste protects B.C.’s marine environment and the nutrients recovered can be sold as fertilizer.

. Control of the growing environment protects farmed fish from predation, bad weather and disease, eliminating the need for pesticides and antibiotics.

Along with additional control, land-based systems come with additional costs. ‘Namgis will cost nearly $30 million when it is completed, compared with a Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) estimate of $5 million to install and stock a net-pen operation.

Pumping, heating, cooling and lighting all require energy, which adds about 30 per cent to the costs of running and-based systems over ocean-based farms.

The project will marry an array of technologies, such as variable speed pumps, high-density rearing environments and biofilters, and employ creative new uses for proven systems such as geothermal heating and cooling and heat exchangers that draw energy from groundwater to maintain optimal temperatures in the tanks, according to operations manager Cathal Dinneen.

The ‘Namgis were a natural partner for the project because they are the B.C. First Nation most affected by the collapse of wild salmon stocks, said Hobson, also a board member of the K’udas Partnership, the company formed to build and operate the project with the ‘Namgis.

“The ‘Namgis have occupied the land at the mouth of the Nimpkish River and the Broughton Archipelago for 5,000 years and it’s only in the last 20 that the salmon have been wiped out,” said Hobson. “There are 27 net-cage farm sites in the Broughton Archipelago, so they are very eager to prove that you can grow salmon on land.”

A 2010 DFO analysis of land-based and in-ocean closed containment systems found land-based aquaculture has potential to be profitable with available technology, even without charging a premium price in the market for a sustainable product.

“Even 3½ years ago we didn’t know if this would work,” said Hobson. “(Save Our Salmon) wanted to mitigate the impacts of net-pen farming and come up with a vision for the long term.”

Recent studies have found that more than three quarters of the world’s wild fish stocks are being fished to capacity or headed to extinction, while global demand for seafood is rising steadily, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

“We knew we needed to move these fish onto land and we needed to be able to clean the water, so we didn’t create another environmental problem on land,” Hobson said. “What we found out was that not only was the technology already there, but it was off the shelf.”

Cost projections based on the enhanced technology being used at ‘Namgis and the results of growth trials convinced SOS and Tides Canada that a true closed-containment system could finally produce a superior product at a price that is competitive with net-pen operations.

Recirculating aquaculture systems – land-based farming systems that the industry calls RAS – are being used to raise trout, catfish, yellow perch, Arctic char, eels and tilapia in North America, Chile and Europe. Sturgeon and coho are being raised in RAS systems in B.C.

But while Atlantic salmon have been grown to maturity in research facilities and boutique-sized projects, they have never been grown to harvest size in a commercial-sized RAS system.

Without the help of angel investors – governments and philanthropists – it might have been many years before anyone was willing to invest private funds in land-based Atlantic salmon farms.

“It has to be this way,” said Hobson. “It has never been tried before so there was little chance of attracting traditional investors.”

Tides Canada recruited expertise for the project from cutting edge researchers such as Freshwater’s Summerfelt to advise the K’udas project. Systems for water recirculation and waste capture developed by the Freshwater Institute are being employed in commercial RAS systems all over North America and will be incorporated into the ‘Namgis project.

The ‘Namgis project has also sought out the most experienced growers in the industry for guidance to complete the first of five production modules this winter.

K’udas board member Per Heggelund operates a RAS-based farm capable of annual production of 180 tonnes of coho, which he sells in Over-waitea stores under the Sweet-Spring brand. SweetSpring coho is regarded as the most sustainable farmed salmon on the market by Greenpeace.

“‘Namgis has learned a few things from us on the design side and about some of the pitfalls from our mistakes,” said Heggelund. “(SweetSpring) is operating the fifth generation of RAS technology and we are proving that out, growing fish to three kilos in 12 months.”

WASTE POTENTIAL

The path from environmental hazard to revenue stream

. Bell Aquaculture uses leftovers from processing – heads, tails, guts and gills – from its yellow perch farm in Indiana to make Fish Rich 2-2-2 Organic Fertilizer, a significant additional revenue stream.

. Waste water from recirculat-ing aquaculture systems is naturally rich in nitrogen and is used to grow aquaponic greenhouse vegetables, algae and even brine shrimp suitable for use as fish feed.

. Solid waste from aquaculture tanks is used to create nutrient-rich compost for farmers and gardeners.

rshore@vancouversun.com

Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Salmon+farming+comes+ashore/7564642/story.html#ixzz2CgA7Q4Xw

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Salmon+farming+comes+ashore/7564642/story.html

07 November 2012

Authors: Martin Krkošek, Crawford W. Revie, Patrick G. Gargan, Ove T. Skilbrei, Bengt Finstad and Christopher D. Todd

Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society B

DAILY MAIL (UK)

Salmon louse may affect up to 55% of population
Fears it could harm genetic variability of species already at risk

By Mark Prigg

PUBLISHED: 00:00 GMT, 7 November 2012 | UPDATED: 17:27 GMT, 7 November 2012

Nearly 40 per cent of Atlantic salmon is being killed by parasites, researchers believe.

A study found that 39 per cent of the fish are being lost to the parasitic salmon louse, which spreads from fish to fish and feeds on surface tissue.

The true mortality figure could even be as high as 55 per cent, reports journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Martin Krkosek, of New Zealand’s University of Otago, was part of a team which studied surveys of thousands of hatchery raised salmon young – or smolts – as they were released into rivers.

Half received parasiticide treatment and the other did not, and all were tagged on release.

Twelve months later, after a year in the North East Atlantic, the recovered fish were examined.

The researchers estimate that nearly 40 per cent of the salmon was dying because of the lice.

They found that although the parasiticide significantly increased their chance of survival, in all 39 per cent of the fish had been killed by the parasites.

Dr. Krkosek said that a further worry was that because salmon tended to return to their native rivers, it meant that the parasite could easily infect small populations of the fish.

He said: ‘The concern therefore is not only for a 39 per cent loss in salmon abundance but also for the loss of genetic variability and its associated potential for adaptation to other environmental changes.

‘Our results supply manipulative field evidence at a large spatial scale that parasitism may be a significant limiting factor for marine fish, fisheries and conservation.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2228864/Almost-half-Atlantic-salmon-killed-parasites.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

CBC News

Posted: Oct 31, 2012 12:59 PM PT

There is “no smoking gun” to explain the “steady and profound” decline of the Fraser River sockeye, according to the B.C. Supreme Court justice who led a two and half year inquiry into the collapse.

But in his final report released today in Vancouver, Justice Bruce Cohen lays out 75 recommendations, including the shutdown of dozens of fish farms on the sockeye migration route, if they’re found to be too risky.

In a hefty, three-volume report spanning more than a thousand pages, Cohen says that “the idea that a single event or stressor is responsible for the 1992-2009 declines in Fraser River sockeye is appealing but improbable.”

There is no smoking gun to explain the steady and profound decline of the Fraser River Sockeye, according to the B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen who led a two and half year inquiry into the collapse. (CBC)

Instead, Cohen says a string of cumulative factors likely played a role, such as contaminants in the Fraser River, development along its shores, and ocean conditions that may have contributed to long-term decline as well.

“Climate change and warming waters present perhaps the most daunting long-term threat to the Fraser River sockeye fishery,” Cohen wrote.

DFO conflict of interest

Cohen also identified a potential conflict in the job of the federal Fisheries Department, which both promotes and regulates B.C.’s fish farms.

“As long as DFO has a mandate to promote salmon farming, there is a risk that it will act in a manner that favours the interests of the salmon farming industry over the health of wild fish stocks.”

Salmon farms along the sockeye migration route in the Discovery Islands — amounting to dozens of farm sites — have the potential to introduce exotic diseases and to aggravate diseases endemic to the wild fish.

“Mitigation measure should not be delayed in the absence of scientific certainty.”

Cohen recommends a freeze on new open-net salmon farm production in the Discovery Islands until September 2020.

“If by that date DFO cannot confidently say the risk of serious harm to wild stocks is minimal, it should then prohibit all net-pen salmon farms from operating in the Discovery Islands.”

Cohen also took a jab at the Harper government, writing that he was troubled by the recent amendments to the environmental assessment process and the Fisheries Act, because experts he heard from emphasized the importance of protecting fish habitat.

He says it’s “regrettable” the Harper government put them through without the benefit of the final report from his commission.

Cohen appointed in 2009

The report comes after Cohen held several months of hearings, collected more than three million pages of documents and heard from 179 witnesses at the $25-million inquiry.

Cohen was appointed to lead the inquiry by Prime Minister Stephen Harper after only 1.4 million of the highly prized salmon returned to spawn in 2009. Approximately 10 million sockeye were expected to return to the river that year.

The huge shortfall forced the closure of the commercial, recreational and aboriginal sockeye fisheries on the river over the summer, and raised questions about the long-term survival of B.C.’s salmon stocks.

Although only a fraction of the fish that were forecast showed up in 2009, the 2010 run saw 35 million sockeye, the biggest run since 1913. About 4.5 million returned in 2011 and just 2.3 million in 2012.

The offspring of those few sockeye that made it back in 2009 are now out in the ocean and are due to form the run for the summer of 2013.

Article taken from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/10/31/bc-cohen-salmon-report-released.html

Reporting on the trial of Don Staniford vs Mainstream, by Elena Edwards

The radio begins to crackle seconds after the Marlin arrives at the outskirts of the salmon fishing fleet about three miles from the coast of Stinson Beach.
“Fish and Game is here. Fish and Game on scene,” say the disembodied voices, as Lt. Andy Roberts and his crew from the state Department of Fish and Game smile at each other, happy to have a job to do.
It’s nearing the end of the first commercial salmon fishing season in three years. The ocean is crammed with trollers piloted by seasoned fisherman hoping to score a final catch, under the watchful eye of state officials making sure they do so legally. It’s been a “so-so” year, they all agree, but one that brings hope that salmon fishing in California has returned for good.
“It’s just nice to be fishing here again,” said Capt. Greg Ambiel, 43, as fish and game warden Ryan Thiem dug through Ambiel’s catch measuring the salmon’s size. Ambiel was among a dozen salmon boats on the unusually calm Pacific Ocean on Sept. 30. “Most of us guys have barely squeaked by.”
By the end of August, the most recent totals available, commercial fishermen in California had spent a combined 5,105 days fishing salmon since the season opened in May, catching more than 68,900 Chinook salmon along the state coast. While the commercial season ended Friday, recreational fishermen can continue catching salmon until the end of the month.
The 2-year-long hiatus, sparked by an alarmingly low salmon count
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in 2009, cost the state more than $255 million in economic activity and roughly 2,263 jobs. It also resulted in $170 million in aid from the federal government that was sent mostly to fishermen who were prevented from making a living due to the ban.
But this year, the gloom was behind the fishermen as they once again took to the ocean in search of the West Coast’s iconic fish.
Both fisherman and state officials said that while the 2011 catch was low compared to other full seasons, the price paid for salmon was on average higher, due to the two-year-long ban. Reports from the coast had fishermen selling salmon anywhere from $4 to $8 per pound, depending on the day it was caught.
Biologists from the Pacific Fishery Management Council had predicted that more than 739,000 salmon would be found off the coast this year, and more than 377,000 headed up the Sacramento River to spawn. The forecast was triple the number from last year and convinced biologists that the fishery could reopen to commercial and recreational anglers.
In 2009, a mere 39,000 Sacramento River fall Chinook salmon were thought to have returned to the Sacramento River Basin, an all-time low that prompted the closure of the commercial fishing season.
“It’s not uncommon to see sharp turnarounds both positive and negative, but we were surprised in 2009 when it got so low,” said Chuck Tracy, salmon staff officer for the Pacific Fishery Management Council, a group that works with the state to monitor fisheries.
The decision this year to open the commercial salmon season was welcome news to the hundreds of fishermen in California who had been forced to either dock their boats or try their luck at another, less profitable fishery.
“It means we can do the thing that punches our ticket,” said David Bitts, president of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. “Not only will we be able to make a living, we will be doing something that gets us all excited.”
That excitement could be seen on the ocean recently, when even a visit from state game wardens didn’t appear to dampen the spirits of many fishermen. Most welcomed the wardens with pleasant greetings and were happy to show off their catch and talk, again, about fishing salmon.
Wardens patrolled the salmon fleet on a small patrol dinghy launched from the Marlin. The wardens, Thiem and Ian Bearry, inspect the fishermen’s gear and measure the size of their catch — ensuring that “short” salmon, also known as jacks, are not kept on board.
Under regulations meant to ensure the salmon fishery would continue to grow, the Department of Fish and Game has regulated the size of fish that can be kept and how those fish could be caught.
For commercial fishermen, any Chinook salmon larger than 27 inches are fair game, while recreational fisherman can keep Chinook salmon larger than 24 inches. Coho salmon caught off the California coast must be thrown back.
In addition, all fishermen are banned from using barbed hooks.
The owner of the Sachiko of Sacramento saw firsthand how strict the wardens of fish and game are.
The boat’s captain, who refused to speak to a reporter, was cited for having a salmon that was ¼-inch short of the 27-inch limit. The maximum fine for such a violation is six months jail and a $1,000 fine, but Roberts said the maximum penalty is rarely used.
“The size regulation is there for a reason,” Roberts said. “He didn’t plant the salmon; he is just out there taking them. We have to set a limit and if it’s close we can’t let them go. If we did, where would it end?”
Fishermen interviewed Sept. 30 said that while this year’s catch was modest, they saw many smaller salmon that they hope will grow to regulation size by the 2012 fishing season.
“We’ll continue to starve this year but next year we’ll finally make some money,” Ambiel said.
Capt. Wilson Quick of the Sun Ra said he had caught dozens of “short” salmon, also know as jacks, that he was forced to release.
“There’s a lot of jacks and that’s a really good sign,” Quick said with a smile.
While Tracy could not say with certainty that the salmon have returned for good, he thinks the anecdotes he has heard from fisherman about this year’s catch reveal a promising trend.
“Things look reasonably good for the near term at least,” Tracy said. “They should be here for the long-term.”
Bitts, for one, hopes so.
“I would say that most of us are pretty eager for next year to see if the promise this year is fulfilled,” he said. “When we see a lot of short fish like we saw this year, it gives me a lot of hope that we haven’t screwed it up yet.”
By the numbers
$255 million
Amount of economic activity lost when Fish and Game officials suspended salmon fishing in 2009.
2,263
Number of jobs lost during that two-year period.
739,000
Estimated number of salmon experts expect to be swimming in off the California coast.
68,900
Number of fish hauled in by fishermen since the fishing season began in May.

By the numbers
$255 million
Amount of economic activity lost when Fish and Game officials suspended salmon fishing in 2009.
2,263
Approximate number of jobs lost during that two-year period.
739,000
Number of salmon experts expect to be swimming off state coast.
68,900
Number of fish hauled in since the fishing season began in May.

ONLINE: To view a slideshow
of California Department of Fish and Game wardens conducting offshore patrols, go to
www.mercurynews.com/extra.

? DFG to Hold Final Public Meeting on Suction Dredge Permitting ProgramRepeat San Francisco Abalone Poacher Sentenced to Jail ?
California Ocean and Inland Salmon Seasons Set by Fish and Game Commission

APRIL 21, 2011 BY CA DFG NEWS
Media Contacts:
Scott Barrow, DFG Fisheries Branch, (916) 445-7600
Larry Hanson, DFG Northern Region, (530) 225-2866
Harry Morse,DFG Communications, (916) 322-8962
The Fish and Game Commission today adopted ocean salmon fishing regulations that allow for a season this year. Inland salmon season regulations were also adopted for the Central Valley, and Klamath and Trinity rivers. This represents a restoration of the traditional salmon fishery throughout California, the first since major closures were enacted in 2008 for both ocean and inland waters.
“It is excellent news that we can set ocean and inland salmon seasons that allow commercial and recreational fishing while still protecting stocks of salmon that need special considerations,” said John McCamman, Director of the Department of Fish and Game (DFG). “Anglers will again be able to enjoy salmon fishing, while individuals and communities that rely on income from this industry will hopefully begin to recover from the economic losses they’ve experienced over the past few years.”
The newly adopted ocean salmon sport fishing regulations conform to those adopted by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council. They are now available on DFG’s website at www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/oceansalmon.asp.
Please note, on all Central Valley rivers, the daily bag limit and possession limit is two Chinook salmon, and anglers on the Trinity and Klamath rivers must have Salmon Harvest Cards in their possession when fishing for salmon.
Details of the newly adopted inland salmon seasons and regulations for Central Valley rivers and the Klamath and Trinity rivers are as follows:
SACRAMENTO RIVER
Upper Sacramento Zone: Open Aug. 1 through Dec. 18 from the Deschutes Road Bridge near Anderson downstream to 500 feet upstream from Red Bluff Diversion Dam.
Middle Sacramento Zone: Open July 16 through Dec. 18 from 150 feet below the Lower Red Bluff (Sycamore) Boat Ramp to the Highway 113 Bridge near Knights Landing.
Lower Sacramento Zone: Open July 16 through Dec. 11 from the Highway 113 Bridge near Knights Landing downstream to the Carquinez Bridge.
FEATHER RIVER
Open July 16 through Dec. 11 from 1,000 feet below the Thermalito Afterbay Outfall downstream to the mouth of the Feather River.
AMERICAN RIVER
Nimbus Dam to Hazel Avenue Bridge will be open to salmon fishing from July 16 through Dec. 31.
Hazel Avenue Bridge to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) gauging station cable crossing near Nimbus Hatchery will be open to salmon fishing from July 16 through Sept. 14.
The USGS gauging station cable crossing near Nimbus Hatchery to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) power line crossing the southwest boundary of Ancil Hoffman Park will be open to salmon fishing from July 16 through Oct. 31.
The SMUD power line crossing at the southwest boundary of Ancil Hoffman Park to the Jibboom Street Bridge will be open to salmon fishing from July 16 through Dec. 31.
The Jibboom Street Bridge to the mouth will be open to salmon fishing from July 16 through Dec. 11.
KLAMATH RIVER
Open to fall-run Chinook salmon fishing from Aug. 15 through Dec. 31 with a daily bag limit of three Chinook salmon, of which no more than two may be more than 22 inches in length. The possession limit is nine Chinook salmon, of which no more than six may be more than 22 inches in length. The 2011 quota for the Klamath River basin is 7,900 fall-run salmon more than 22 inches in length. Once this quota has been met, no Chinook salmon greater than 22 inches in length may be retained (anglers may still retain a limit of Chinook salmon under 22 inches in length). A weekly DFG status report will be available by calling 1-800-564-6479.
Open to spring-run Chinook salmon fishing from Jan. 1 through Aug. 14 with a daily bag and possession limit of two salmon. The take of salmon is prohibited on the Klamath River from Iron Gate Dam downstream to Weitchpec from Jan. 1 through Aug. 14.
TRINITY RIVER
Open to fall-run Chinook salmon fishing from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31 with a daily bag limit of three Chinook salmon, of which no more than two may be more than 22 inches in length. The possession limit is nine Chinook salmon, of which no more than six may be over 22 inches. The 2011 quota for the Klamath River basin is 7,900 fall-run salmon more than 22 inches in length. Once this quota has been met, no Chinook salmon greater than 22 inches in length may be retained (anglers may still retain a limit of Chinook salmon under 22 inches in length). A weekly DFG status report will be available by calling 1-800-564-6479. The Trinity River main stem downstream of the Highway 299 bridge at Cedar Flat to the Denny Road bridge in Hawkins Bar is closed to all fishing Sept. 1 through Dec. 31.
Open to spring-run Chinook salmon fishing from Jan. 1 through Aug. 31. The daily bag and possession limit is two Chinook salmon. The take of salmon is prohibited from the confluence of the South Fork Trinity River downstream to the confluence of the Klamath River from Jan. 1 through Aug. 31.
All other regulations for bag and possession limits for trout, salmon and other species, as well as general information about restrictions on fishing methods and gear on the above rivers, are available on the DFG website at www.dfg.ca.gov/regulations.

This story can be seen at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/news/issues/salmon/

September 20, 2010

Sockeye salmon. (NOAA)

By Peter Ladner

The Fraser River sockeye are back!  It’s hard to comprehend such a windfall—30 million salmon, the biggest sockeye run since the estimated 39 million in 1913, totally unexpected, running contrary to all the dreary trends of collapsing and declining fish stocks in oceans around the world.

British Columbia’s wild salmon fishing industry, sputtering badly after years of tiny openings and boat buybacks, has scrambled to dust off every scrap of unused equipment and call back long-lost customers as it momentarily relives the glory days when thousands of people made reliable livelihoods catching, processing and selling fish.

It’s like a flashback to remind us what’s possible, how liquid assets will just swim up to our rivers and nets and feed us and our businesses if we just stop, ah, er, umm— actually I can’t say exactly what we have to stop or start. There’s the rub.

This is all a huge, wonderful mystery. It would be nice to say that we could crack it and change a few things and guarantee this happens every year. But as renowned University of British Columbia fishery researcher Daniel Pauly says, “It’s surprising that after a half-century of focused research we are apparently incapable of predicting anything.’

Last year, only about 1.7 million Fraser River sockeye came back at the end of that particular four-year-cycle, although 10.6 million were predicted. Reacting to public anger and shock, the federal government announced the Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River, which is finally getting its membership and mandate sorted out, to find out what happened. Earlier this year, one prediction from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans was “a 50 percent chance that 11.4 million will come back, with estimates ranging from 4.6 million to 29.8 million.” In other words, we don’t really have a clue. Fish farms, climate change, habitat destruction, drift net fishing, seals, over-fishing, warming temperatures, First Nations catches on the rivers have all been fingered as the cause of declining stocks.

Dr. Brian Riddell, CEO of the Pacific Salmon Foundation, thinks we should be monitoring Georgia Strait bio-systems for answers. “The only thing that could cause these swings is in the Strait of Georgia,” he says. “The first 6-8 weeks are critical, when the juveniles are going out to sea.” Sockeye spend the first year of their four-year life cycle in fresh water before heading out to the open ocean.

While we may not know what causes particular fisheries to collapse and return, the bigger, darker planetary picture is quite clear: We’re down to catching the last 10 percent of wild fish left on our planet. We know that 90 percent of the all the large fish and sea mammals that could feed us are gone, not just in some places, but all over the world.

That includes tuna, swordfish, sharks, marlin, cod, halibut, skate, and flounder. We also know that if present rates of overfishing continue, all the stocks we fish will have collapsed by the middle of this century — within 40 years. That hasn’t changed with one good run of Fraser River sockeye.

The one part of the fishing mystery we do control is how much we take for human use. “Overfishing is the biggest problem our oceans face,” says John Nightingale, president of the Vancouver Aquarium. “Quite simply, our marine species cannot reproduce fast enough to keep up with the hunt.”

Another reliable expectation is that if we stop fishing in a particular area, fish will multiply. The Vancouver Aquarium is demonstrating this with its reintroduction of black rockfish near Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver. They were fished to extinction in local waters in the 1990s. Today, transplanted baby black rockfish from the west coast of Vancouver Island have established what the Aquarium thinks is a breeding population. And at the south edge of downtown, herring roe have been spotted for the first time in decades — on the newly-created island by the Athlete’s Village site in False Creek.

The words “marine protected area” actually crossed Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s lips in late August, in reference to the Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area at the mouth of the Mackenzie River in the Beaufort Sea, home to one of the world’s largest summer populations of belugas. Unfortunately, a portion of this “conservation area” has been set aside for oil and gas drilling, but it’s a start.

Let’s look on this sockeye bonanza as a tantalizing reminder of what our wild salmon fishery could be again. The Cohen commission should keep inquiring. One good catch in a century doesn’t make an industry.

Peter Ladner is the founder of “Business in Vancouver” newspaper and a former Vancouver City Councillor. He is currently a Fellow at the Simon Fraser University Centre for Dialogue. He can be reached at pladner@biv.com.