New Pacific salmon research is encouraging anglers to rethink the way they practise catch-and-release

RETHINKING FISHING

While the catch-and-release best practices Hinch and his team developed may have some applicability for other fish species, it’s the depth and thoroughness of the study’s results that stand out for fisheries biologist Steven Cooke, supervisor of the prestigious Freshwater Fisheries Conservation Lab at Carleton University.

“This is the first time, which is remarkable, that we have comprehensive information for catch-and-release mortality for Pacific salmon,” observes Cooke, whose work concentrates on conservation and the sustainable use of freshwater fisheries. “And it’s not one study or one thing. Now we have a collection of things that anglers can do to make a difference in fish survival.”

The findings aside, Cooke says the rigorous methods themselves that Hinch’s team employed provide a blueprint for similar research elsewhere. “I hope the results spur similar funding to do large-scale catch-and-release studies for other important recreational fish species,” he says.

Now we have a collection of things that anglers can do to make a difference in fish survival

According to Cooke, the applicability of Hinch’s research is probably its strongest attribute. Most of the scientists involved are also recreational anglers, and some have even worked as fishing guides. Plus, the SFI and charter captains provided guidance and direction for the individual studies, and helped with the research. And more than 1,500 recreational anglers informed the design of the studies by filling out post-capture surveys via the SFI’s FishingBC app.

“It can be hard for anglers to assume what scientists have done represents them and is relevant,” Cooke says. “Scott [Hinch] worked with anglers to design the science to answer questions that were important to them. It ensures the dollars are well spent, which increases the likelihood the results will be embraced. It’s how you do science in a good way these days.”

The recommendations and results of Hinch’s research are not surprising to the SFI’s Owen Bird. “This is, in essence, an exercise in science verification of common sense,” he says. “I would love to see anglers far and wide employ the recommendations.”

Fishing guides themselves are already practising most of the recommendations

Indeed, most anglers are hungry for this kind of ethical advice, Bird suggests, while also acknowledging some may push back on adjusting popular and long-standing tactics. He also allows there may be some reduction in angling efficiency. “Compared to not being able to fish, it’s not that much of a hardship,” he counters. He also notes that some of the recommendations actually stand to improve catches, and add to the excitement of fishing.

Meanwhile, fishing guides themselves are already practising most of the recommendations, says Steve Veloso, owner of Comox, B.C.-based Island Pursuit Sport Fishing. His hope is Hinch’s research leads Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to implement more permissive fishing regulations and to mark more hatchery-raised fish (only a fraction of hatchery coho currently have their fins clipped).

As it stands, the strict size limits on chinook, and the hatchery-only stipulation for coho, mean Veloso’s fishing customers do a lot of catching and releasing, sometimes fighting 10 coho to land just one hatchery-clipped keeper. If at least 20 per cent of the released fish die, as Hinch’s data suggests, trying to conserve wild fish is actually killing more fish than keeping a limit.

“Right now, we are trying to catch a unicorn,” Veloso says. “I feel that if the rules were more lenient, we would catch our one or two fish and go home. A retention fishery would cause less statistical mortality.”

For now the burden is on anglers to voluntarily adopt the best practices

Currently, the DFO is reviewing the Hinch study’s recommendations and the supporting research, including at the executive level. Changing regulations is a lengthy and complex process, however, cautions Greg Hornby, DFO’s regional manager of recreational fisheries in B.C. “There may be some recommendations that are integrated into regulations, while others may be best addressed through public education and/or best practices in the future,” he says.

That may include clipping more hatchery-raised coho, Hornby says, but he doesn’t think there will be an elimination of minimum size limits, which are designed to help reduce the overall harvest and protect vulnerable stocks and juvenile fish.

For now, then, that leaves the burden on anglers to voluntarily adopt the best practices. They are easy changes to make. I will now swap in smaller hooks, for example, and use bigger lures and ditch the inline flasher. I’m also working on my fish identification, so I don’t unnecessarily net non-retention species. And when I catch a couple shakers, I’ll now move on instead of continuing to do the same thing expecting a different result. It’s just common sense.

But change is also uncomfortable. When my fishing time is limited, ditching proven techniques may feel risky. That said, there’s also huge value in now knowing when I let a fish go, it will likely survive to spawn—and help contribute to the ongoing health of the fishery.