West Coast anglers were left relatively unscathed after the federal government announced sweeping changes to chinook fishing regulations yesterday.
Federal Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said the measures are necessary to protect Fraser River stocks which have been in decline due to over-fishing, habitat destruction and climate change.
Anglers in Johnstone, Georgia and Juan de Fuca straits will not be able to retain any chinook caught until late July, then it increases to 1 fish per day until the end of August when it returns to 2 per day.
On the west coast, inshore anglers are unaffected as the chinook catch limit remains at 2, but offshore it’s non-retention until July 15th, once at-risk chinook stocks have passed through.
Commercial trollers will be more seriously affected, as they’ll remain tied to west coast docks until August 1st.
