BURST
A record-low Interior Fraser steelhead return is a conservation crisis that must be addressed before the species of trout is wiped out, the B.C. Wildlife Federation said Thursday.
“Steelhead are heading to extinction faster than all the other fish, and so if we can’t take care of them, we’re not going to be able to take care of other threatened or endangered populations,” said Jesse Zeman, executive director of the B.C. Wildlife Federation on Wednesday.
Zero steelhead have been captured this year in test fisheries that produce the data used to forecast the abundance of spawners in the spring, according to a status update from the B.C. Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Ministry.
The update also said the spawning population forecast for the Thompson watershed is less than 19 steelhead, likely putting the species at an extreme conservation concern. The forecast for the Chilcotin watershed is less than nine steelhead.
That’s in stark comparison with the more than 3,000 steelhead regularly counted in both rivers four decades ago.
The federation called the findings “unprecedented, though not completely unexpected.” The conservation group has been ringing alarm bells on critically low returns of Interior steelhead for a decade, blaming a federal government decision not to list them as endangered as part of the problem.
“We’ve said for years that the provincial and federal governments are managing these fish to zero, and here we are, at zero,” said Zeman.
The Fisheries Department couldn’t respond by deadline but said it will provide a statement Thursday.
In 2019, federal officials declined to list the Thompson and Chilcotin river steelhead under the Species at Risk Act, because of the adverse impacts of closures on First Nations and commercial fisheries, despite an emergency recommendation of a scientific group that advises government on endangered wildlife.
An endangered listing would have made it illegal to “kill, harm, harass, capture of take an individual” of a species, requiring more comprehensive closures to avoid any bycatch of steelhead in commercial or recreational fisheries.
“These are some of the most amazing fish on the planet. Back when there were thousands of them, people used to come from all over the world to go fishing for Thompson steelhead because … they were so strong, so well-known,” said Zeman.
“We have members who still go to Spence’s Bridge to camp in November, just to remember what steelhead fishing was like. That’s how iconic these fish are.”
Zeman said an abundance of seals and sea lions is one of the main drivers of decline in steelhead in the ocean. The federation advocates for the DFO to take action to control the population and a switch to selective fishing techniques.
The DFO has taken steps to protect steelhead, which include rolling closures for fisheries on the Fraser River but conservation groups argue it doesn’t go far enough.
Several groups, including First Nations, have pushed the government to revive commercial seal hunting in B.C., saying it would help curb the seal population. But an increase in the seal population has also helped Bigg’s orcas to thrive since the government stopped culling harbour seals and sea lions in the 1970s.
However, the federation isn’t asking for a cull but rather a management strategy that allows for the licensed hunting of seals.
“The plan would have to be developed in terms of what are the goals and objectives for salmon populations and for steelhead populations, and how do we manage for sustainable pinniped population?”
Steelhead also face risks of being caught as bycatch in mixed-stock gillnet fisheries, which are still being allowed, Zeman added. He would rather see selective fishing methods, such as fish wheels and fish traps, instead of net fisheries on steelhead migration routes.
With files from Derrick Penner