Policy & Positions Manual
National Issues - Fisheries and Oceans
A Policy for Maintaining a Vibrant Sport Fishing Industry in British Columbia (2009)
The Chamber is concerned about the management of fishery resources throughout the province, with special regard to the management of species and stocks of concern to sport fishing and its associated tourism industry.
In regions like the Skeena, where sport fishing for steelhead and salmon are a multi-million dollar contributor to the provincial economy, (1) poor fishery management practices have contributed to the decline of many salmon stocks. Moreover, valuable sport species such as steelhead continue to be negatively impacted.
The steelhead sport fishery is a major economic contributor to many provincial regions, and the Province can further increase its value by protecting the Skeena steelhead run.
The Skeena sport fishery is world renowned with 70 percent of fishing lodge and guides’ customers returning annually.
Statement of Issue/Problem
There are a variety of problems province-wide for salmon and steelhead. A significant issue for Skeena steelhead is the continuing negative impact of the mixed stock fishery at the mouth of the Skeena River, where steelhead are caught incidentally by fisheries targeting sockeye and pink salmon. On average it sees from 1/3 to ½ of the returning steelhead in any given year killed unnecessarily as “by-catch”.
This by-catch not only negatively impacts the individual stocks of steelhead but also the associated sport fishery that has grown to depend on a consistent supply of those fish. Of special importance are early returning steelhead as they arrive the earliest and stay the longest, thus providing a major percentage of the fish “product” available to the sport fishing industry.
A leadership opportunity exists in this situation for the Chamber to advocate that the Province strongly support a truly sustainable sport fishing tourism industry. The Chamber would also urge the Provincial Government to not only protect these valuable resources, but to enact measures that would maximize the benefits derived from sport fish like the steelhead.
There are management options available to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans that would drastically improve the fishery situation in the Skeena region. In a paper titled Recreating Sustainable Sockeye Fisheries in the Skeena Watershed, Greg Taylor of the group “Skeena Wild” proposes shifting the majority of the sockeye catch from the marine environment to upriver sites. In upriver locations more selective fish capture methods are available for use. These selective fishing techniques allow fishers to focus on the enhanced Babine sockeye and release non-target stocks and species with higher survival rates. This move to selective fishing would benefit Skeena summer run steelhead and local businesses dependant on those fish.
And lastly, on a cautionary note, we see fisheries and fish stocks rapidly declining in the southern to mid-portions of the province. If we want to retain fish stocks and the tourism values associated with them, we need to act sooner rather than later. The status quo is only leading to an inevitable decline of wild salmon and steelhead stocks.
THE CHAMBER RECOMMENDS
That the Federal and Provincial Governments:
- acknowledge the importance of the sport fishing tourism industry in fisheries management throughout BC; and
- support a Province-wide Steelhead Recovery Plan.
Reference Information
Aggregate expenditures in BC attributable to Skeena salmon and steelhead fishing is $52.8 million. Source: Economic Dimensions of Skeena Watershed Salmonid Fisheries.
Total direct economic impacts attributable to sport fishing for salmon and steelhead in the Skeena region is $30.5 million. Source: Economic Dimensions of Skeena Watershed Salmonid Fisheries.
Freshwater Fishing generated $400 million in annual expenditures in the year 200. Source: Freshwater Angling in BC – An Economic Profile. G. Gislason & Associates.
Sport Fishing gross domestic product of $288 million with sector revenue of $865 million in 2005. ($398 from freshwater, $467 from saltwater) Source: BC Government.
Sport Fishing industry in BC: 7,700 directly employed in 2005
In 2008 Selective fishers caught 29% of the total harvest of sockeye while employing 45% of the total number of people involved in catching Skeena Sockeye.
