Commercial Fishing for Salmon Explained. The Past. The Present. The Future.

Salmon is the common name for several species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. Other fish in the same family include trout, char, grayling, and whitefish. Salmon are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus Salmo) and Pacific Ocean (genus Oncorhynchus). Many species of salmon have been introduced into non-native environments such as the Great Lakes of North America and Patagonia in South America. Salmon are intensively farmed in many parts of the world.
Typically, salmon are anadromous: they hatch in fresh water, migrate to the ocean, then return to fresh water to reproduce. However, populations of several species are restricted to fresh water throughout their lives. Folklore has it that the fish return to the exact spot where they hatched to spawn. Tracking studies have shown this to be mostly true. A portion of a returning salmon run may stray and spawn in different freshwater systems; the percent of straying depends on the species of salmon. Homing behavior has been shown to depend on olfactory memory.
Canada's fishing industry is a key contributor to the success of the Canadian economy. In 2016, Canada's fishing industry exported $6.6 billion in fish and seafood products and employed approximately 72,000 people in the industry. Aquaculture, which is the farming of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants in fresh or salt water, is the fastest growing food production activity in the world and a growing sector in Canada. In 2015, aquaculture generated over $1 billion in GDP and close to $3 billion in total economic activity. The Department Of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) oversees the management of Canada's aquatic resources and works with fishermen across the country to ensure the sustainability of Canada's oceans and in-land fisheries.
TROLLING
Trollers use hooks and lines with different lures to catch the various salmon species. The lines are spread out on long poles that extend over the side of the boats. The type of lure, the way they are arranged, boat speed, water depth, and the use of on-board electronic systems and most importantly a fishermen’s experience are used to locate and identify salmon, enable trollers to target only the desired species. Caught fish are reeled in one-by-one, often dressed (gills and entrails removed) on-board and iced or quick frozen. Some trollers are equipped to produce top quality FAS (frozen-at-sea) salmon to meet market demand year round.
Trollers harvest all five species of wild BC salmon and account for about 25% of the total commercial harvest.
SEINING
Seine boats use large nets to encircle the fish before closing the bottom of the net (pursing) and then gently scooping the fish out with a smaller dip net (brailing). Non-target species can be identified and released unharmed when brailed.
Seiners catch mainly sockeye, pink and chum salmon and they account for about 50% of the total commercial harvest.
GILLNETTING
Gillnets are attached to small boats, situated mainly at the mouth of, or in BC’s rivers, and are continually tended. In this method, the salmon swim towards the nets and become trapped by their gills. The nets, regulated by length, depth and mesh size, are set close to the shore and hauled frequently to collect the salmon. The mesh size and the way the nets are suspended allow the fishermen to selectively harvest any species or size of salmon.
While gillnetters harvest all species of wild BC salmon, they mainly catch sockeye and chum salmon in coastal rivers and account for about 25% of the total commercial harvest.
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[@brproductions9609]

This is so backwards, putting the blame on sport fisherman when the commercial guys are the real ones doing the damage. Absolutely ridiculous

[@curtisstickler9667]

It’s not the sport guys it’s the unchecked charter guys they catch and keep everything they catch, they see a sport guy fishing somewhere and go fish right on top of them and then if they catch fish they will fish the spots until there isn’t any fish to catch and they tell every other charter boat. Why isn’t the charter fleet on a quota system like the other commercial guys? I hate the charter fleet here in Juneau Alaska, they have ruined the fishery for halibut and rock fish fishing with in sixty mile of this place and have decimated it to the locals with smaller boats. The charter fleet needs to be put into the same group as the commercial long line guys.

[@freemanfishing350]

This is a phenomenal explanation of some of the very real problems our fisheries face from fishing for profit (commercial and guides) and even recreational angling. I am and always will be a lifelong fisherman but this video motivates me to work towards minimizing my impact on these beautiful fisheries I have been lucky enough to be born in the middle of. Thankyou, Captain Quinn.

[@Coastalfishes]

Trying to deny that they are one of the main reasons of the decline. Actually trying to shift the blame on sport fisherman.... shut up!!

[@AS-cv4qz]

Commercial fishing kills everything, sport fishing is just a drop in a bucket

[@SimplyyLive]

Yes you are right

[@SledorFish]

"The rules are shit and we need to be more conscientious than the rules". He hit the nail on the head with that statement! Take only what you need and not what you can. Maybe some day we will let go of our egos/greed and save our wild salmon and steelhead. How many Atlantic salmon rivers in Europe and North America are now void of salmon? That is our future...

[@baileybyam]

I live in Washington state and my 13 yearold son and i love to salmon fish and we watch the runs getting worse and worse and our local tribes on some rivers are demolishing our runs its very sad

[@riparianlife97701]

I introduced Aluminum docks with grated decking to the Northwest. Now other companies are doing it. It's done a lot to help salmon.

[@avidanglerorobsession6127]

How dose aluminum docks with grated decking help salmon Im not saying they don't I just don't know

[@riparianlife97701]

@@avidanglerorobsession6127 Fish, especially fry, go under docks for shelter. They don't have irises in their eyes, so when the sun gets bright, they get stuck. Know how you drive out of a parking garage on a sunny day, and you can't see for a few seconds? It's 20 minutes for them. They try to venture out, but are blinded, so they go back under. Birds, seals and predatory fish can loiter on the edge, and pick them off easily.

[@riparianlife97701]

@@avidanglerorobsession6127 Other fish swimming in open water on a sunny day encounter docks that completely shade the water, and see them as an impassable barrier. There, they collect in large numbers, and become easy prey. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3-kc5eEjLV0rZY

[@puprilla]

I fish alot caught over 50 trout this summer and only kept one 3lb 19incher

[@havnt3782]

The counts after killnetters hit the columbia are shattered for days.

[@xxxscootkidxxx]

Exactly

[@mrfish7357]

Do they have quotas?

[@chrisburgess6964]

Commercial fishing has to go period. At least with these nets.

[@SimplyyLive]

Exactly

[@SimplyyLive]

The nets also could break and then lots of will die and it will pollute really badly

[@SimplyyLive]

They should just catch like 1 or 2 a day just for dinner....

[@fishhubbd]

Nice content!!!!

[@ianhorning3931]

Thanks for putting out videos like these. Conversations with all aspects of fish management and usage are vital to help push towards a better outcome for the future of our fisheries. Here's the big thing. At some point, harvest of salmon is going to be incredibly cut down if trends keep going as they are right now. Across the board, Chinook, Coho and Chum (in particular) number are dropping almost everywhere. Same with Steelhead and Pinks. Sockeye seem to be the best managed, but if you take away the Bristol Bay fishery, you'll see a lot of downwards trends. Fisheries will continue to be cut back and hamstrung, BOTH commercial and recreational. This WILL hit sport and recreational anglers the hardest, because you bet your ass the cash and job generating commercial fishermen will get priority strictly from an economic standpoint, and rec. fishermen will have zero opportunity. In Washington State, they often close rivers to ALL fishing if certain salmon stocks aren't at healthy predicted numbers. We can't even fish for trout in rivers if salmon stocks are down. It's a bad omen for the future. We all want there to be an abundance of fish. For us, and for nature's sake. That should unite us more than divide us. Lots of anti-commercial fishery comments here. And it would seem the commercial guys have some spite for rec. fisheries too. It's disheartening that after years of science, data collection and monitoring, no balance has been found to manage fisheries from a commercial standpoint that doesn't lead to overexploitation. It's been very, very disheartening to see how much worse things have gotten... and only since ten years ago. I probably shouldn't be surprised.

[@SSSVETTE]

This is our warning. We as Fishermen have to come together.

[@mrfish7357]

And what come together and take my freedoms away from me if I want to catch a fish

[@SSSVETTE]

Fish on man. No need to agree with me dude. You do you.

[@timh5395]

Well, damn. If I’ve killed %10 of the fish I’ve released in my lifetime that’s an awful feeling.

[@mrfish7357]

Law should be no catch and release. Catch your limit and you're done. If daily bag limit is two fish you should only be able to catch & release 2 fish.

[@Coastalfishes]

It's a lie. Bad statistic

[@havnt3782]

No charter boat ever does what that killnetter claims. Why would you? They want limits as fast as possible so their work day is shorter. The CLOSEST you can get to truth is that it is legal for angling gear to be deployed by everyone until the quota is reached but come on. Imagine being on the charter with 11 other people all waiting on some dunce that swings for the fences setting every hook when he was explicitly told not to. Charters aren't a problem, commercial is. Why should people no where near the river expect wild salmon? The price is too low most of these fish get thrown out at grocery stores. A killnetter talking about mortality rates is absolutely hilarious. Give me a break.... Excellent video though, thanks for that really old neat footage.

[@ianhorning3931]

If you're using artificial lures/flies and barbless hooks the data shows mortality is between 1-3%. Essentially if you use non-invasive methods of hooking fish, such as smaller, less harmful (or appropriate sized) hooks and lures that the fish won't swallow, and handle the fish properly before releasing, mortality rate is very low. If fish are hooked in the tongue or gills, mortality rate escalates. However with proper tackle this isn't common. If they're drug up on the rocks, netted and flop around in the bottom of a boat for a minute before being released, or are held out of the water for long photo-ops, mortality rate increases. 10% more represents an inflated worst-case scenario of harmful tackle and really bad fish handling, which a majority of anglers, and certainly most Canadian Charters, avoid.

[@freemanfishing350]

@@ianhorning3931 That 10% statistic might be specifically referring to big boats, downriggers heavy gear. The standard ocean trolling guides and just recreational guys do for salmon. Its a hell of a lot different to hook a 10lb Chinook in a river, fight it for 4 or 5 minutes, land it, keep it in the water and release it, than it is to pull a 10lber out of 250 feet of water cranking him up attached to a flasher and a big gear'y setup.

[@fish_4life262]

As an avid fisherman I would gladly give up fishing for for salmon/steelhead for 5 years if everyone else quit raping the resource. Unfortunately, this will never happen because the Russian/Asian fishing fleets will still come into our waters and take advantage of our abundant natural resource that is becoming scarcer by the day. Commercial, tribal, sports, charter, etc all fishing needs to cease in order for our resource to replenish. How can anyone expect a different result when nothing has changed? Every fish taken from the ocean or rivers reduces the number of offspring and provides less nutrients back into the soil and river system.

[@egolawncare]

things tend not to open back up once closed.

[@mrfish7357]

Just because you would give it up don't put that upon the rest of us

[@laurieanne3763]

As long as you can have happy days, please don't stop fishing.

[@riparianlife97701]

Watch the film Dam Nation. It's a fantastic look at salmon.

[@edwardenglish1519]

Like energy, there is No One Size Fit's All. I have seen first nations pile fish up caught in a drift net on the river to rot on the shore because they can't eat them. I have seen poor fish handling practices by sport fishermen that resulted in dead fish floating down river. The solution needs to hit every aspect of salmon fisheries.

[@xx1590]

There is one root cause for the demand and that is the ever-increasing human population growth. Cut the number of Commercial licenses by one-half and include guides in those numbers. Reduce sport licenses by the same number or place a 6 fish annual limit on sport fishing. I can only imagine the wail and cry the will be heard if it is proposed but when something is broken the realistic fix can be painful. Resisting increases as fish populations return would be a real challenge.

[@baileybyam]

Take away some dams and levies on rivers to open up the old spawning grounds would help too

[@puprilla]

100%

[@shawnmoore9714]

10%, if everything is done correctly , maybe .But, that's not what I've observed when fishing on the river or on a boat most of the time.

[@SimplyyLive]

This is so disgusting so much fisherman want to stop fishing because of these people that just destroy the population.

[@SimplyyLive]

Just take the fish you need, not the fish you just want

[@nicksearles3996]

Yes is the sports fisherman, definitely not the gill netters that are destroying the runs...

[@_1COR15.1-4]

Wonders why there’s no more salmon, yet been gill netting the breeding fish for decades 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@tommurphy6972]

All need to giving up a little!!! We cant expect one group to give up all!!

[@chunleekwa7048]

Hey Captain. If you get to marry your brother who would be the husband?

[@kalebgerace]

I fish some rivers with 4 fish limits. I'd be perfectly okay with 25% less if every last commercial vessel got hit with a 25% limit reduction too. Places like the lower columbia though that are 1 fish limits not much to give up. I'd say reduce limits 49% all around and round up to the nearest whole fish XD

[@larsvegas1505]

Well commercial fisherman will always blame the sportsfisherman.. and vice versa.. but when a single commercial boat catches 100.000 fish in a day that takes a lot of sportsfisherman to equal..Where i live we dont have the salmon anymore but every 500 yards there are 200 yards of net placed permanently.. and the commercial guys keep whining about sportfisherman having a big inpact.. when in fact they ruined their own fishery byintensifying for years to keep up the catch rate untill stocks fell down.. and now a lot of them have to stop.. but not before they get a big check from the government.. Also in the us they should stop farming/releasing fish with wrong genetics in rivers.. its ruining the rivers for wild fish and weakening the population..

[@kalebgerace]

@@larsvegas1505 I mean honestly the reason for hatcheries it to prop up the industry because commercial and tribal have destroyed wild stocks to the point where without them the entire sport fihery would collapse....Hatchery stock as it is isn't awful, no the genetics dont have the same variation, but ocean and upriver survival rates are similar. They do however need to employ a more selective breeding approach and breeding in wild broodstock would help introduce some fresh genetics and prevent too much inbreeding. Inbereeding is kind of the nature of the beast tho when wild stocks are depleted to 2% of historic..

[@kalebgerace]

@@larsvegas1505 Honestly its just about the money. If no one can catch a salmon recreationally it would be hard saying the gillnetters or trawlers should be able to commercially. It would be even harder charging taxpayers hundreds of millions for salmon restoration efforts. Yeah i mean its a job, but its not like they want to stop and unempleyed, as long as there are ANY fish they still have a job and by god they will fish until they are extinct

[@riverrat1149]

Either you love the fish or you love the dollar sign. The rules are shit because they are all about the almighty dollar. I have lived both worlds love and dollars. Unfortunaly dollars for the win.

[@dsfishco.4725]

!!!!!!!!Take out the dams! Take out the nets and put more restrictions on salmon fishing!!!!!!

[@geoffjordan1847]

fish farms need to go!

[@macshatchetman13]

Did you watch the video? It had nothing to do with fish farms. As a matter of fact, in regards to this video's subject, one could argue that fish farms provide an alternative source of seafood to this overworked fishery.

[@andrewrichens5733]

Commercial fishings absolutely destroyed the chinook run up the kenai, it’s so disappointing

[@mrfish7357]

Isn't the Kenai River full of guided sport boats I don't know of any commercial fisherman up there

[@andrewrichens5733]

@@mrfish7357 there’s sport boats but their haul is nothing compared to the commercial guys that get all the fish in the Cook Inlet before the salmon make it to the kenai

[@danm1319]

Guck gill netters

[@chrisbrug7924]

Global warming....🤣🤣🤣🤣👍👍