Report Cards for Three BC Recreational Fisheries

Resource: Report Cards for Three BC Recreational Fisheries

Authors / Publisher: David W. Roscoe and Christopher Pollon for Watershed Watch Salmon Society

Date: April 2010

PDF: Report Cards for Three BC Recreational Fisheries

Summary:

This report card is meant to “grade” the management of fisheries in British Columbia. The goal is to provide government, First Nations, the BC fishing industry and the general public with conservationist-oriented assessments of why and how the sustainability of salmon fisheries might be improved. The three case studies in this report card have been evaluated and graded based on the same assessment criteria used previous report cards (Strait of Georgia Roe Herring Fishery Report Card (2003) and the Nass River Salmon Fishery Report Card (2006), both published by the Sierra Club of Canada’s BC Chapter), with the same questions guiding the approach and conclusions:

  • Do current fishing practices place the species or populations at risk of depletion, collapse or extirpation?
  • Does fishing impede the rate of recovery of depleted populations?
  • To what extent does fishing impact non-targeted species and other ecosystem components?
  • Is there sufficient biological knowledge about the targeted species to warrant a fishery?
  • Is there adequate, up-to-date stock status information?
  • Does the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) have a handle on how much of each species is being caught in the fishery?
  • Is the fishery being managed in a precautionary way with the best available management and stock assessment methods?
  • Do fisheries management plans consider ecosystem effects?

 

Acknowledgements:

Watershed Watch Salmon Society would like to acknowledge the support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in the production of this report.

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