SKEENA RIVER FISH TRAP FEASIBILITY STUDY

SKEENA RIVER FISH TRAP FEASIBILITY STUDY

mation:
eardslee
ish Conservancy Contact Information:
88-1167
wildfishconservancy.org Kurt Beardslee
Wild Fish Conservancy
erry (425) 788-1167
Fish Society kurt@wildfishconservancy.org
44-4218
nativefishsociety.org
Tom Derry
Native Fish Society
Botchford & Steve Morrow
o Clouds (503) 344-4218
46-9153 tom@nativefishsociety.org
clouds@gmail.org
Derek Botchford & Steve Morrow
rs: Coast to Clouds
(877) 846-9153
Fish Conservancy; http://wildfishconservancy.org/
coasttoclouds@gmail.org
e Fish Society; https://nativefishsociety.org/
Project Partners:
to Clouds; coasttoclouds@gmail.com
Nations and local commercial fishers
-Wild Fish Conservancy; http://wildfishconservancy.org/
ne: -Native Fish Society; https://nativefishsociety.org/
-1: 3/1/2019 – 5/31/2020 (permitting, engineering, construction, and study design).
-Coast to Clouds; coasttoclouds@gmail.com
-2: 6/1/2020 – 10/31/2020 (test fishing, research, and deconstruction).
-First Nations and local commercial fishers
Project Timeline:
-Phase-1:
1 3/1/2019 – 5/31/2020 (permitting, engineering, construction, and study design).
-Phase-2: 6/1/2020 – 10/31/2020 (test fishing, research, and deconstruction).

1
Background:
Conventional gillnets and seines utilized in mixed-stock commercial salmon fisheries
frequently result in bycatch mortality, impeding salmon and steelhead recovery and constraining
fishing opportunities in proximity to the Skeena River Watershed and elsewhere across the North
American West Coast (Gayeski et al. 2018). To address mixed-stock harvest problems and
bycatch issues in salmon fisheries, Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC) conducted a three-year study
in the Columbia River investigating the feasibility of a modified commercial fish trap for stock-
selective harvest and ecological monitoring in fluvial settings. Results demonstrated that the
experimental trap effectively targeted commercially viable quantities of hatchery-origin Chinook
(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and coho salmon (O. kisutch) while reducing bycatch mortality
rates relative to conventional commercial fishing gears. The post-release survival effect over a
400 km migration ranged from 0.944 (𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 = 0.046) for steelhead (O. mykiss) to 0.995 (𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆=
0.078) for wild Chinook salmon, supporting application of traps for stock-selective commercial
harvest and ecological monitoring in fluvial systems coastwide (Tuohy et al. 2019).
Objectives:
To reduce bycatch impacts to threatened steelhead and Chinook salmon stocks in
Canadian salmon fisheries, WFC and partners propose the development and implementation of
an in-river selective salmon fishery in the lower Skeena River from March 2019 through 2020.
Specifically, objectives are to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of a modified commercial
fish trap in capturing targeted salmon stocks and reducing bycatch mortality of threatened
steelhead and Chinook salmon stocks in a currently untested location. As in all prior alternative
gear evaluations, the performance of the experimental trap will be examined relative to
conventional commercial fishing techniques through a test fishing period in which catch-per-
unit-effort (CPUE), bycatch, immediate survival, and post-release survival of fish are monitored.
Similar to previous alternative gear tests, this study intends to achieve four major goals:
1) Engineer, construct, and refine deployment/operation of a modified commercial fish trap
within the lower Skeena River to determine the feasibility of the gear in a new location;
2) Evaluate the effectiveness of the harvest method for stock-selective capture of targeted
healthy salmon stocks relative to conventional gears. Estimate species-specific CPUE;
3) Monitor ecological impacts and determine the ability of traps to effectively release non-target
stocks through estimation of immediate and post-release survival of Chinook and steelhead;
4) Based upon the results of research, implement a selective salmon trap fishery in the lower
Skeena River and perform outreach to encourage transition from conventional fishing practices.
Employing a paired Cormack-Jolly-Seber methodology to estimate post-release survival, this
study will provide precise and unbiased estimates of catch composition and bycatch mortality for
a modified salmon trap in the Skeena River. Completion of this study will ensure that resource
management agencies and commercial fishing interests have the information necessary to
implement effective in-river selective fishing strategies for the reduction of bycatch impacts and
recovery of threatened salmon and steelhead in British Columbia.