Ministry of Environment
EcoCat:The Ecological Reports Catalogue
EcoCat Image
 

Report: Survey of Two Native Fisheries in the Skeena River System, 1991

Report Documents
 
Map Plotfiles
  • No files of this type available
 
Data Files
  • No files of this type available
 
Digital Map Files
  • No files of this type available
 
Image Document
  • No files of this type available
 
Video Files
  • No files of this type available
 
All Documents

  • No files available

Contact

  • If you have any questions on the information presented, or require additional report data or attachments, please contact the Report Contact

 
This report summarizes a survey of native fisheries in the skeena river system during the 1991 field season. For the report summary see the long description. The report is 48 pages long, and contains an area map and photographs.

Author:  M.C.Beere

Old Reference Number:  sk76

Date Published:  Dec 1991

Report ID:  1697

Audience:  Government and Public

Skeena River summer steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are harvested in commercial, Native and sport fisheries as they return from the Pacific Ocean to their spawning areas each summer/fall. Although standardized surveys are conducted to estimate fishing effort and catch in the commercial (hail data on file, Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Prince Rupert; sales slip data, British Columbia Commercial Catch Statistics, DFO, Pacific Region) and sport fisheries (eg. Billings 1989), little data pertaining to the Native fishery has been compiled. Unpublished data from the DFO and Ministry of Environment (MOE) files, and cursory surveys by Morrel et al. (1985), Lough (M.S. 1988), Tetreau et al. (M.S. 1990) and Beere (M.S. 1990) describe some elements of the fishery. Further study of the Native fishery and of steelhead catches in particular was conducted during 1991. The study involved two distinctly different areas and types of fisheries; part of the study focused on set and drift gillnetting on the mainstem Skeena, while the remainder was directed at the Moricetown Canyon gaff/jig/dipnet fishery on the Bulkley River. The objectives of the investigations were: 1. to provide information on the spatial and temporal distribution of fishing effort; 2. to document catch with special reference to steelhead. The Skeena River Native set gillnet fishery begins intermittently in late May or early June. Fishermen targeting on chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) work around the high water events of spring and the debris that accompanies these flows. By early July, the first sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) enter the Skeena, and gillnetting effort increases. Early run summer steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and kelts also enter the fishery at this time, followed by pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in late July and early August. Few chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) are caught in this fishery beginning mid July. Set gillnet effort usually decreases rapidly in mid September, weather conditions dependent, and few fishermen set nets into October. Drift gillnet fisheries begin in late April or early May near Kitwanga and Glen Vowell. Steelhead that have overwintered in the Skeena River mainstem are the primary target of these fisheries, followed by early run chinook salmon, et cetera, as described above. Drift fishermen, unlike set gillnet fishermen, will often continue fishing into October and November. These late fisheries are weather dependent. The Moricetown Canyon Native fishery begins with the arrival of chinook and sockeye salmon in early to mid July. Coho, pink salmon and steelhead catches commence in late July. Chum salmon catches are a rare occurrence during August and September. Fishing effort decreases rapidly in early September, and those fishermen remaining in the Canyon target on coho and steelhead.

Report Type
  Fish and Aquatic Habitat Information
 
Subject
  Fish Species - Steelhead - Oncorhynchus mykiss
  Region - Skeena
  Fish and Fish Habitat - Stock Assessment
  Watershed Groups - 400 - Skeena River
 


Warranty Disclaimer

This information is provided as a public service by the Government of British Columbia, Box 9411, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8W 9V1. This Web site and all of the information it contains are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, whether express or implied. All implied warranties, including, without limitation, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, are hereby expressly disclaimed. Limitation of Liabilities Under no circumstances will the Government of British Columbia be liable to any person or business entity for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, or other damages based on any use of this Web site or any other Web site to which this site is linked, including, without limitation, any lost profits, business interruption, or loss of programs or information, even if the Government of British Columbia has been specifically advised of the possibility of such damages.


 

COPYRIGHT | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY | ACCESSIBILITY