Fishing hopes high for big salmon runs
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Updated: July 06, 2009 3:47 PM
Fishermen of all stripes are gearing up for what’s predicted to be a big run of Fraser River salmon this summer.
If the forecasts are accurate, as many as 10.6 million sockeye will head upriver – enough to provide ample fishing for commercial, sport and aboriginal sectors.
“It’s shaping up to be a good year,” said Pacific Salmon Commission chief biologist Mike Lapointe.
A run of 10 million sockeye is still not a strong run by historic standards, but it would turn the page on two dismal years in which the commercial fleet has been sidelined and only aboriginal food fishing has been allowed.
“Obviously expectations are pretty high relative to where we’ve been the last few years,” Lapointe said.
Last year saw just 1.7 million Fraser sockeye return and 2007 was even worse, with 1.5 million sockeye making it back.
Another bright spot is that the less lucrative pink salmon – which run every other year – will be back in force this summer.
“We’re expecting 17 million pinks,” Lapointe said.
Biologists like Lapointe are still cautious because recent years have seen healthy pre-season forecasts turn into a disappointing reality when the fish actually return.
Much will depend on how well Fraser salmon survived in the open Pacific, where warmer ocean temperatures have sometimes conspired to leave them struggling to find scarce depleted food sources and dodging predator fish that normally haunt more tropical waters.
The first sockeye to arrive are the early Stuart run, which spawn in Stuart Lake, northwest of Prince George, and are expected to deliver 165,000 sockeye.
Early summer run sockeye are projected to yield another 739,000 before the main summer run delivers an expected 8.7 million
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