For the first time in half a century, commercial fishing vessels scooped salmon out of Howe Sound last week.
Starting Thursday (Aug. 22), the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) opened exploratory fisheries for the area, said Herb Redekopp, DFO's chief of conservation and protection for the Lower Fraser. The goal of the three-day event was to assess the strength of the pink salmon run travelling to the Squamish River.
"[Officials] felt like the runs were quite abundant," he said.
The examination marks an historic moment, Redekopp noted. The last time commercial boats dipped their nets into the sound's water was in 1962.
Throughout the trial, only two boats were allowed to fish at a time. They used seine nets, which encircle the fish and scoop them out of the sea. The equipment yields better survival rates for returned unwanted fish caught in the haul, Redekopp noted
DFO officials discussed the trial with recreational fishing and Squamish Nation representatives before going ahead with the experiment. Each vessel had an independent observer aboard to monitor the vessel's take and any unwanted catch.
"They are quite pleased at the number of pinks the boats have been able to catch," Redekopp said.
In the catch's aftermath, numbers will be crunched and DFO officials will determine the possibility of opening up future pink runs to the commercial industry. Redekopp anticipates the report will be complete later this week.
"I think this is a very unique opportunity," he said.
Squamish Streamkeepers member John Buchanan visited the fishing vessels on Friday (Aug. 23). The crew aboard the Istra was aware of Howe Sound's environmental improvements and the return of sea life in recent years, he said.
"They were pretty excited," Buchanan said.
One vessel had packed its hold with 25,000 pink salmon to the halfway mark, he said. At the time, an independent observer recorded one Coho salmon accidently snagged in the load, Buchanan said.
As long as it's done correctly, Buchanan said he's not against commercial fishing. But the co-chair of the Streamkeepers Society isn't so eager to sign on. The exploratory fishing came as a surprise to the group, Jack Cooley said.
This year's run is plugging streams, but it's still difficult not to worry about overfishing when one sees how many fish are hauled out of the sea, he said.
"They got a lot of fish out there," Cooley said of the vessels that set their nets near the mouth of the Squamish River.
