[abbyfireguy]

While fishing yesterday on the Vedder, I ran into an old friend and guide . He mentioned that Fisheries staff are announcing a total Fraser River closure for salmon this season within weeks.
After I finished choking on my coffee I asked him if he was serious or on crack issed:...
Neither he said, with not a slight grin or blink....
Have any of you heard such rumblings????
Seemed harsh,this early .....

 

[professori]

I'd say believe it when you see it. I doubt fisheries would announce anything without having any statistical evidence to base the decision on. Return sizes are less than an estimate at this time of the year. Rumours are easy to start, especially following a less than stellar salmon season. Why feed it??

 

[Crazy Drifter]

God let's hope not the crazed masses will be frothing at the mouth come the fall when the fish start hitting the local flows. Cant imagine all the extra pressure the dino's would face from everyone focusing on them will do them any good.
Lets keep our fingers crossed it's just a rumor
Crazy D

 

[anthony]

I have been told it will be open in August for salmon fishing, So pour sturgeon are gonna be pounded on untill you can fish for salmon

 

[Mike D.]

NO WAY! I was just talking to some guides I know and they say that they heard from fisheries that the river will either open as usual on May 1st or open at the end of june ( which they won't decide upon until at least may) as the early run stocks are starting to suffer (may- early june).

On a side note just because no one was landing substantial numbers of springs last year until August doesn't mean that the springs were not there....just look at what conditions were like, high water right to the beginning of august, meant that the springs were spread throughout ever nick and cranny of the river, including back channels (not saying I caught any in them ) So yes the flossers even had a hard time aswell! So I think who ever is spreading the rumor of the river being shut down, and comparing numbers from 2007 is bogus, yes we know the sockeye numbers were the shit, but spring numbers were average, were they not?.....but 2007 was one of the wackiest years for fishing in the last 10 years, besides the super late return of sockeye in 2005...

My 2 cents, and don't even bother slamming it, as its in the rights of freedoms in the Canada act that we have the right to a voice and or opinion!

Mike <"))))><

 

[Centerpin]

Hey Guys

I heard from one of the tackle shops that, the word they word they are getting is they don't plan on opening the Fraser for salmon fishing until August.

Centerpin

 

[Bent Rod]

The truth is early returning Chinooks stocks are very low, this is not based on how many get snagged by flossers, this is based on redds counts, WHAT REALLY matters .
So with this in mind it is RUMORED that there will be no May 1st opener, which really will not affect actually angling anyhow.
Hopefully DFO will also restrict ocean commercial fishing and the many commercial lodges that are seriously WHACKING on returning fish numbers.
To restrict in river fisheries without doing the same in the ocean is useless, it will do nothing for the fish stocks.
Lets hope alarm bells sound and we can allow these early stocks to rebound.

An August opening is what I would expect, hopefully we can all obey DFO requests for "selective" fishing or we will be "NOT FISHING SALMON" on the Fraser at all this summer/fall.

Those who are wishing for the "sockeye harvest", start booking yout trip to the Skeena or Alaska, cause the ship has sailed on Fraser stocks, a fact some just can't deal with.

 

[rln]

there is negotiations going on right now about what to do with chinook fishing closures to protect early run fish. One of the proposals has the Fraser closed to all salmon fishing until June 15 maybe longer if deemed necessary. There are also proposals that include closing saltwater chinook fisheries on the lower part of Van.Isle starting March 1 and lasting until June 15. Early run fish are in trouble and DFO is trying to figure out what to do to try and increase the number of spawners. They do realize that by closing the sport fishery they would be only changing the place in which the fish are harvested unless first nations come on board. All anglers should be ready for a very poor chinnok fishery if all the gloom and doom is true.

 

[rln]

Those who are wishing for the "sockeye harvest", start booking your trip to the Skeena or Alaska, cause the ship has sailed on Fraser stocks, a fact some just can't deal with.

don't be too quick on this, There is a small chance of a 1 week flossery this year with the volume of summer sockeye expected. After the test fishing and First nations fsc fish are caught, there is a small tac left over that could allow a short time sports flossery to happen in the Fraser. It will be a political decision on this happening.

 

[fishortho]

If the river is closed, to allow spawners to head up the river, I think that is good. However, when there are no fish to go up the river, what is the point? Judging by what I have read, we are heading towards disaster of the first order. No fish, no guiding, no flossing, no snagging,.............what will be be left to talk about on the forums?
On another note, should this happen, there is going to be some good deals on boats!! ........Ortho 8)

 

[coho_killer]

If the river is closed, to allow spawners to head up the river, I think that is good. However, when there are no fish to go up the river, what is the point? Judging by what I have read, we are heading towards disaster of the first order. No fish, no guiding, no flossing, no snagging,.............what will be be left to talk about on the forums?
On another note, should this happen, there is going to be some good deals on boats!! ........Ortho 8)

If this were to happen a total closure on the fraser does anyone thing the natives will comply with this as well? I hope so!

CK

 

[marko]

If there were a complete closure I'm sure we'd see a 95% drop in activity. The rest would be
at night and out of sight....

Marko

 

[Bent Rod]

Just a little something for everyone to consider.

An illegal fisherman needs a place to sell his poached fish, don't be that place and encourage others to do the same.
If no one bought any illegal Salmon, than this kinda stuff would not be happening.

Then DFO could direct their attention to the 1 group who is organized and is more of a commercial poaching operation than a black market.

I think the LEGAL FN openings are a reality we will have to live with, so we better keep our own house clean.

 

[abbyfireguy]

If the government was really serious about closures, They'd pay the FN not to net . If its all about cash flow then compensate them and have a total closure..
Its not like anyone will starve to death without salmon on their table. To cure the problem everyone has to participate in the solution. If it hurts a bit over the short haul,oh well ,suck it up Alice..
If there was no fishing for salmon by anyone for any reason , it would make it very easy to police it.
Get over the rights crap and allow the stocks to replenish.There has been years of overfishing, bad climate, predation in the ocean feeding grounds,etc,etc. Drastic measures are called for if we expect to keep the stocks we have let alone increase their numbers..
Gives one a brain cramp trying to imagine how to halt the decline and reverse the trends.. :-\

 

[fishing4salmon]

The truth is early returning Chinooks stocks are very low, this is not based on how many get snagged by flossers, this is based on redds counts, WHAT REALLY matters .
So with this in mind it is RUMORED that there will be no May 1st opener, which really will not affect actually angling anyhow.
Hopefully DFO will also restrict ocean commercial fishing and the many commercial lodges that are seriously WHACKING on returning fish numbers.
To restrict in river fisheries without doing the same in the ocean is useless, it will do nothing for the fish stocks.
Lets hope alarm bells sound and we can allow these early stocks to rebound.

An August opening is what I would expect, hopefully we can all obey DFO requests for "selective" fishing or we will be "NOT FISHING SALMON" on the Fraser at all this summer/fall.

Those who are wishing for the "sockeye harvest", start booking yout trip to the Skeena or Alaska, cause the ship has sailed on Fraser stocks, a fact some just can't deal with.

2007 was my first years start salmon fishing, and I always heard people saying that the population of salmon is declining compare with the 60's. And I don't know what was it like back then. How crazy is the decline? Is it just in the lower main land? isn't the fish around the world declining too?

 

[Krypto-Limitkiller-Sanderson]

If the government was really serious about closures, They'd pay the FN not to net . If its all about cash flow then compensate them and have a total closure..

Its not like anyone will starve to death without salmon on their table.

Are you sure about that? I have spent a lot of time on a couple of reserves and can say its a FACT that salmon are a BIG portion of a lot of peoples diet. The older people ate an almost disproportionate amount of fish having it at least 3 times per week. Obviously not all the natives eat that much fish but to brush it off and say that its not needed is just plain wrong.

I was at a couple of weddings on the reserves. 400-500 people with 10 different kinds of salmon on the table, very little in the way of other meats. I think there was about 100 salmon used per wedding and I dont recall very much ending up in the garbage at the end. How many weddings are there in a year? How many special occasions are there in a year? How many fish are actually needed in a year? Obviously its almost impossable to put a solid number on it but its a lot of fish, and thats just down here in the Valley where economic oportunity is all over the place. I'd imagine that further up river where there are not so many options available to bring in some $$ that salmon would make up an even bigger part of someones diet.

 

[spring king]

I didn`t start fishing til the 70s, but back then when I went out fishing on the saltchuck at this time of year, I would expect to come home with at least one salmon, quite often I would come back with 5 or 6 (between two or three persons) in a few hours of fishing. It was like this well into the 90s. After back to back el Nino years, the salmon stocks colapsed.

 

[wagonmaster]

read the section DFO CHINOOK NOTICE in this area (its afew down the list) :naughty: :naughty: :naughty: fisherman

 

[Salmonator]

read the section DFO CHINOOK NOTICE in this area (its afew down the list) :naughty: :naughty: :naughty: fisherman

What are you talking about??? It would be nice if you were more specific. eace:

 

[reelangler]

At least we'll always have chum, nobody ever seems to want them. I've tried it, it's not the best but it's better than nothing, which is what we'll have if we keep treating our fisheries like this. Sorry if this offends anyone, but the first nations, and everyone for that matter, have to suck it up and not require sockeye or springs as the main part of their diet. There are other foods out there readily available for harvest and consumption, aswell as other species like chum and pink. Dress it up a little, it's not all that bad.

As for a salmon closure on the Fraser, please, go for it. I myself prefer a smaller system to fish in, so it does not effect me as much as others, but it is a good idea if we want to do something about stocks. I don't know the science behind any of this, but it can't be a bad thing.