2021 North of Falcon

[RB]

Hearing rumblings on Facebook that the new data says Canada is over harvesting our puget sound/coast fish and could be used as the deciding factor for setting the seasons. i have a hard time believing that Canada over harvested in 2020 during a pandemic. Everyone on here knows at least a couple buddies, or more, that go to Canada every year and last year the border was closed, so is it over harvest by Canada commercial?

Thoughts from those in the know??

Thanks

[Skyvalhunter]

One has to think about the harvest being done by Canadians then. When we shut down our seasons early because of the lack of fish coming thru and Canada doesn't do their part then theres a problem which is the case I am being told. Lets face it for the majority salmon that travel to the Puget Sound area come from up north. So if they don't do their part on conservation then what gets to the PS region becomes less and less. Regardless of a pandemic or not.

[Bullkllr]

There's a huge commercial troll fleet in BC that has intercepted lower US fish forever. And Canadian citizens sport fish on them as well. Our Alaskan neighbors return the favor by catching fish originating from BC. Canada also intercepts Alaskan fish. Fishers in Washington catch fish going back to Southern BC. While sport harvest has always been part of it, the bigger impacts have been commercial-oriented (and supported by deep-pocket interests). Only adds to the complicated state of our fisheries management.

[BigGoonTuna]

Like it’s been said, Alaska hammers BC’s fish(and ours), and BC takes a bunch of ours. Strangely enough a lot of the fish returning to Oregon head south after migrating out of the rivers so they don’t get caught up in that mess.

I don’t think we’ll see any positive outcome from NOF until WA grows a pair and applies for its own NOAA take permit, rather than piggybacking on the one the tribes have. They hold all the cards right now and they know it. If they don’t like the state’s proposals they can threaten to walk out of negotiations and we don’t fish.

[Skillet]

All of the above is basically correct as far as I understand it. The Pacific Salmon Treaty governs most of the chinook harvest between the US and Canada, and NOF takes what that model spits out and divides Washington/Northern Oregon's share up.

I had a decent king season in AK last year, but the fish were concentrated in a few areas and not spread all over.  Is surprised at how poorly some traditional king spots did.  There was virtually no kings caught south of Chatham Strait in August, extremely odd. Coho was also a borderline disaster AK and BC coast-wide relative to other years.  A result of these things was a shift in their fishing effort in BC from the northern and inside areas (dixon entrance down to Cape Caution) to of Vancouver Island.

[Stein]

Same here Skillet, they crushed them in the straits and then it was so-so at best in the Sound for a day or two and then it shut off.  Plenty of fish but no biters, the season ran the full duration, can't remember that happing before.  One rumor was they fish were plugged with bait and off the bit when they got here.

I don't think a bunch of over harvesting was going on, many sport shut down and with restaurants closed, not sure where all the extra fish would have gone.  To some degree, I think it's always pointing a finger at the other guy although BC does have much more liberal seasons across the board pretty much.  They probably don't have the armada we do down here though.