Sustut Weir Steelhead Index 19862001

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Wild Steelhead Stock S


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BC 2004
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British Columbia in Perspective

• 1200 km (720 mi) south to north
• 500-1000 km (300 600 mi) wide
• 950,000 sq km (367,000 sq mi)
• 75 mountains 60 forested
• 10 farmland and lakes lt2 rivers
• 7000 km (4200 mi) of coastline

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Population Details

• 4.0Million total
• 60 Vancouver
• 16 Vancouver Island
• 24 elsewhere but only 4 in northern half
• lt4 Aboriginal

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B C (Wild) Steelhead Facts

• About 580 steelhead rivers (3rd order or
  larger)
• About 630 stocks (85 WSH, 12 ISSH, 3 CSSH)
• About 1/3 of rivers along remote mid N coast
  (seldom, if ever, fished)
• About 1/4 of rivers on Vancouver Island

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Guesstimates of Abundance
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Abundance (contd)
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Hatcheries in Perspective
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Number of Streams Stocked with Steelhead
Juveniles Originating From Wild Brood Stock

(Ffry, Ssmolt)

• Time Island Mainland
  Thompson Cariboo Skeena All
  Period F S
  F S F S F S
  F S F S
• lt 1975 1 3 2 2
  0 0 0 0 0
  0 3 5
• 197584 11 15 14 8
  1 1 2 0 4 1
  32 25
• 198594 19 17 18 19
  1 1 3 0 8 1
  49 38
• 199501 11 10 6 14
  1 0 0 0 0 1
  18 25
• 2002 9 9 0? 8
  0 0 0 0 0
  1 9 18

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Steelhead Releases 1975 - 2001

• Period Av Fry Av Smolts
• 1975-79 .07M .07M
• 1980-84 1.03M .60M
• 1985-89 1.59M .91M
• 1990-94 .73M .82M
• 1995-99 .26M .63M
• 2000-01 .09M .38M

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Stock Assessment Methods

• Total Counts
• Weirs/resistivity counters (Keogh, Deadman,
  Sustut, Kitwanga)

• Indices of Abundance
• Gillnet test fisheries (Fraser, Skeena)
• Fishwheels (Nass)
• Snorkel observations (some total counts)
• Aerial Counts (Chilko)
• Juvenile sampling

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Nass River Watershed
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Fishwheel Locations
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Nass River Fishwheels

• 6 wheels operated annually
• Mainly for stock assessment
• Late May to late September
• Now operated as the sole in-season salmon
  indicator for the Nass

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Nass Steelhead Escapement (1994-2003)
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Tyee Test Fishery Location
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Tyee Test Fishing Site
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Skeena Test Fishery Index 1956-2003
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Tyee Test Fishery 2003
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Upper Sustut River Watershed
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Upper Sustut River Weir
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Sustut Weir Counts
Estimated K 1100
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Albion Test Fishery
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Trends in Chilko
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Deadman Creek Resistivity Counter
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Trends in Deadman
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Trends in Bonaparte
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Trends in Nicola
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Central Coast Index Bella Coola
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Lower Fraser CSSH Index
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WILD STEELHEAD RETURNS TO THE KEOGH RIVER 1976
to 2003
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Keogh River Steelhead Smolt counts, 1977 to 2003

• The capacity for smolts dropped from 7,000
  (gt10,000 with nutrient addition) to lt2000
• recent increases in smolts can be attributed to
  WRP

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Smolt-to-adult survival trends
SAS has dropped from average of 15 to lt4 Like
wild coho, SAS increased in 97 and 98, but
recently declined based on returns thus far of
2001 smolts
2001 estimate based on partial returns.
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Steelhead smolt yield and adult returns at the
Keogh River, B.C.
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Englishman River WSH Snorkel Counts 1982-2003
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West Coast Van Isle WSH Index
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Mainland Coast WSH Index
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In Summary

• The red zone is not diminishing in size or
  severity
• All the kings horses and all the kings men are
  not putting Humpty together again
• Mother nature is a b_ _ _ _!
• Fish culture in all its forms is not reversing
  anything
• We arent fixing the broken habitat and
  diminished productivity on anywhere near a scale
  that will make a difference
• Those who degraded the habitat are not held
  accountable
• Fisheries managers are becoming as rare as
  steelhead

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(Hopefully not) The End