Fishery Notice

Mid Vancouver Island Chum Update (Areas 14 to 19)

AREA ESCAPEMENT AND UPDATES:

Area 14 

Escapement estimates to date are as follows:
Oyster River, October 18 - 1500 Chum
Little River, October 24 - 46 Chum
Wilfred Creek, October 6 - 8647 Chum
Rosewall Creek, October 23 - 3997 Chum
Englishman River, October 30 - 551 Chum
Puntledge River, October 23 - 30000 Chum - Target Escapement 60,000.
Big Qualicum River, October 30 - 28828 Chum - Target Escapement 85,000.
Little Qualicum River, October 16 - 205 Chum - Target Escapement 85,000.

Due to low pre-season forecast levels of abundance, in-river escapement targets would need to be almost achieved (70% of Puntledge, 75% of Little Qualicum and of Big Qualicum) before full-fleet commercial fishing opportunities would be considered.

The Area D gill net assessment fishery is planned to occur at the beginning of next week to collect in-season run size information for mid-Vancouver Island Chum, unless the escapement target to trigger full fleet opportunities is met by Nov 1.

Areas 15 and 16

Escapement estimates and observations to date are as follows:

Theodosia River, October 23 - 52012 Chum
Sliammon Creek, October 28 - 9083 Chum - Target Escapement 11,000.
Lang Creek, October 28 - 8459 Chum
Anderson Creek, October 22 - 982 Chum
Sechelt Creek, October 16 - 0 Chum
Myers Creek, October 23 - 289 Chum
Chapman Creek, October 18 - 60 Chum
Angus Creek, October 29 - 158 Chum
Okeover Creek, October 22 - 877 Chum
Snake Bay Creek, October 22 - 74 Chum
Burnett Creek, October 29 - 38 Chum
Carlson Creek, October 22 - 5 Chum
Chaster Creek, October 23 - 63 Chum
Wilson Creek, October 29 - 64 Chum
Roberts Creek, October 27 - 556 Chum
Hutchinson Creek, October 24 - 45 Chum
Ouillett Creek, October 24 - 31 Chum 
Brittain River, October 25 - 360 Chum
Deserted River, October 25 - 19363 Chum
Skwawka River, October 25 - 27371 Chum
Tzoonie River, October 25 - 6644 Chum
Vancouver River, October 25 - 588 Chum

The target escapement for the Jervis/Narrows aggregate (Skwakwa River, Tzoonie River, Brittain River, Deserted River and Vancouver River) is 85,000.

Commercial fishing opportunities are not expected in 2024 due to low pre-season forecast levels of abundance.

Areas 17, 18, and 19

Escapement estimates to date are as follows:

Nanaimo River, October 27 - 30639 Chum - Target Escapement 40,000.
Cowichan River, October 29 - 143613 Chum fence count - Target Escapement 160,000.
Goldstream River, October 30 - 3956 Chum - Target Escapement 15,000.
Sooke River, October 29 - 11271 Chum
Chase River, October 23 - 411 Chum

ARIS counters will be installed and operational on the Nanaimo and Cowichan Rivers and bi-weekly stream surveys will be conducted on the Goldstream River this upcoming season.

Demonstration fishery triggers in Areas 17-19 are a combination of the escapement estimate and run timing. At this time benchmarks have been reached in Areas 17 and 18 only.

The 24 hour toll-free phone-in line for fisheries notices is 1-866-431-3474.

The next Mid Vancouver Island Chum Update will be provided late next week.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Please contact Andrea Haas (Andrea.Haas@dfo-mpo.gc.ca), Madeline Wanless (Madeline.Wanless@dfo-mpo.gc.ca), Teagan Wardrop (Teagan.Wardrop@dfo-mpo.gc.ca).

Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN1167
Sent October 31, 2024 at 1600

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Printed from the Pacific Region web site on March 11, 2026 at 1616