Fishery Notice

The purpose of this Notice is to provide an update on the status of Fraser 
River sockeye, pink and chinook returns and associated implications for 
recreational fishing opportunities in the Fraser River.

A reminder that Fraser River recreational fisheries in the Fraser River Tidal 
Waters (downstream of CPR bridge at Mission) and Fraser River Non-tidal waters 
(upstream of CPR bridge at Mission) currently remain closed to fishing for 
salmon. Please check the following web site for details on recreational fishing 
opportunities - http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/tidal-maree/a-s29-
eng.html

Returns of Fraser River sockeye have been below escapement targets resulting in 
no Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for Fraser sockeye in 2017. In this situation 
the total allowable mortalities (including release mortalities) are managed to 
an exploitation rate (also referred to as the Low Abundance Exploitation Rate 
or LAER) of 10% or less of the run size for each of Early Stuart, Early Summer 
and Summer run timing groups, and 20% or less for the Late run group, as set 
out in the Integrated Fisheries Management Plan (IFMP) for Southern BC Salmon.  

Conservation is the highest priority in fisheries management. After 
conservation, DFO provides priority access for First Nations food, social and 
ceremonial (FSC) harvest opportunities consistent with legal obligations.

The Department is managing Fraser sockeye impacts to maintain exploitation 
rates below the LAER and the LAER is not a target. As described in the IFMP, 
the objective of the LAER is to allow as many fish to pass to the spawning 
grounds as possible while allowing some incidental harvest and in some cases 
limited terminal harvest when there is little opportunity for First Nations 
food, social and ceremonial (FSC) harvest directed on other species. 

In 2017 access to Fraser sockeye has been severely restricted in both marine 
and freshwater areas due to the poor sockeye return. Fraser sockeye normally 
provide a very important opportunity for FSC fisheries for First Nations and 
FSC harvests are less than 10% of the full FSC allocations. FSC fisheries have 
been permitted for other species (chinook and pink) with measures in place to 
limit sockeye by-catch consistent with exploitation rate limits.  In addition, 
some small directed FSC harvests have occurred in terminal and fire impacted 
areas.  

In addition, conservation measures for spring and summer Fraser chinook have 
limited in-river FSC chinook harvests. Given conservation limits in place for 
sockeye, and poor FSC harvests of sockeye and chinook to date, recreational 
fisheries in above-noted areas have remained closed to provide opportunities 
for First Nations to access chinook for FSC purposes with the limited Fraser 
sockeye impacts available.  

To date, Fraser River pink salmon are also returning at the low end of the 
forecast range. The current in-season run size estimate is 4.8 million, which 
is below the escapement goal of 6 million. At this run size, a maximum 
exploitation rate of 15% is permitted which provides for test fishery catches, 
and a small U.S. share under the Pacific Salmon Treaty in addition to any other 
Canadian fisheries, including FSC harvests. At this time there have been no 
commercial fisheries directed on Fraser River pink salmon in Canada. As Fraser 
pink salmon migrate with Fraser River sockeye, fisheries directed on pink 
salmon are managed to minimize sockeye impacts during times of low sockeye 
return, and in accordance with available pink salmon TAC.  Accordingly, 
portions of the Fraser River have remained closed to fishing for pink salmon to 
avoid by-catch impacts on sockeye and to provide for pink salmon FSC 
allocations.

DFO will continue to monitor the species composition of salmon entering the 
Fraser River, in order to inform future fisheries management decisions, 
including for recreational fisheries. 

It has been a challenging year for First Nations as well as commercial and 
recreational fishers who normally fish Fraser River stocks. 

Due to conservation concerns, and reports of violations that may affect 
conservation outcomes, monitoring and enforcement efforts will have some 
increased focus on the marine approach areas and in the Fraser River.  

Conservation is everyone's responsibility. Please contact the O.R.R Line at 1-
800-465-4336 if you see a suspected violation.

Please continue to check fishery notices for any changes to the status of 
recreational fisheries. The following link also provides details on fishing 
opportunities: http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/tidal-maree/a-s29-eng.html


FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Contact Barbara Mueller, Resource Manager (Fraser River) - Delta (604)666-2370

Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN0897
Sent September 1, 2017 at 1531

Return to Main Menu

Visit Fisheries and Oceans Canada on the Web at http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Printed from the Pacific Region web site on July 2, 2024 at 0625