Fishy+Questions..I+wonder...



I wonder about the quality of drinking water in our area (Charis)

//Great question Charis...basically, in our area, the high rainfall and filtration through forests and unpolluted habitats give us excellent quality drinking water. We get our water from the Capilano, Seymour, and Coquitlam reservoirs. These are up in the mountains and receive water from glaciers, snowmelt, and rain. Our water is tested regularly for quality. At times, we have a boil water warning, but this is a precaution and almost always the water is still very safe.// //Other than that, we have excellent quality water. During warm summers, our province's Okanagan region has occasionally had water-born diseases, but this is rare.//

What can be fished? (Morris)

//In terms of salmonids, you can fish for all species in the Lower Mainland (i.e. from Vancouver to Hope, North to Whistler). You can keep a range of fish to eat. In our area, you can only keep coho, cutthroat, and steelhead that were born in a hatchery and have their adipose fin clipped. These fish are considered "wild" because they are released to live a natural life in the habitat their parents were from. This is why we can only released our fry into the Lower Fraser, north side. That is where they are naturally from. We have can retain wild, river born chinook, sockeye, pink, and chum depending on openings and abundance. For example, the Howe Sound rivers (Squamish, Mamquam, Cheakamus) had an very strong pink return last year and sports fishers were allowed to take home four pink salmon each day.//

What is the difference between taking care of something and leaving it alone (Samantha Tse)

//This is a really interesting question. Thirty years or more ago, we thought we could fix everything by just raising more fry and releasing them anywhere habitat was damaged. Fish hatcheries were built and fry were released everywhere.// //There were even people who thought you could have salmon without rivers, this led to people building lots of dams for hydro power, particularly on the Columbia in the U.S. which has more than sevens dams and huge lakes behind the massive dams. Now, we know are learning that wild fish are by far the best survivors. Hatcheries do help but only if we released a limited number of fry and those fry are from the same habitat as where they are released. Improving habitat is always better but not always possible. For example, we can no longer move thousands of home, businesses, roads, and a highway in order to repair the habitat around the Brunette.// //You can just plant salmon like seeds and expect them to return. If wild salmon are allowed to return home in strong enough numbers, to quality river habitat (clean and cool with lots of food) they will continue to do well and produce enough for us to harvest a portion of the population. When we damage habitat or not let enough spawn...the extinction starts. With modernization and industry it is not enough to just leave them alone. We have already damaged many rivers to large degree, sometimes without knowing, sometimes without caring. Salmon need friends and their homes need friends.//

What are the responsibilities of sports fishers (Kelly) //Funny you should ask Kelly. Not only fisherpeople should be interested in saving wild salmon but everyone. They are a "keystone species" which means without them, the Pacific ecosystem will collapse. The coastal environment will permanently change along with our ability to produce high quality salmon as food. In addition, our province will lose hundreds of millions of dollars in earnings that will get from wild salmon. Fishers are important people for saving salmon because we are out on the rivers and oceans regularly and can tell when something is wrong. Many fisherpeople are also active in protecting salmon and salmon habitat. Many volunteer their time to work salmon projects.//

Do Salmon die from being a caught//?// (Jacky) //Yes, some do. However, the vast majority are just fine. Here are the precautions to take. First, your hand should be wet when you handle a fish, this keeps the protective layer of slime intact. Second, support the body and try to keep fish mostly in the water. Third, if you are holding a fish out of water, hold your breath. When you need to breath, it means the fish does to...let it go. Studies done on the Nicola River near Merrit with chinook salmon show that around 99% of salmon live just fine when they are carefully released. The don'ts are: let the fish flop on rocks, drop the fish, touch the fish's gills, squeeze the fish, and keep the fish out of water. A new style is to release the fish in deeper water (see picture below). However, if the fish is coming over for dinner. Quickly kill the fish and keep it cool, clean, and then enjoy a salmon dinner.//



home