Sockeye fishermen call for longer season

Southwestern B.C. commercial fishermen were out on the water in full force Monday on what looks like the last full day of the 2010 sockeye fishery despite calls to keep nets in the water.

This last opening on the sockeye run ends at 7 a.m. PT Tuesday.

But because the run totals an estimated 34 million fish — the biggest since 1913 — some fishermen say there should be more opportunity to reap this year's huge harvest.

"While there's general agreement this is a banner year for sockeye, there's a suggestion on how to make it even better — let the fishermen catch more fish," said Steve Johansen, co-owner of fishing company Organic Ocean, of Vancouver.

Authorities said they are ending the sockeye opening because the run of coho salmon has begun.

The run is expected to be only in the tens of thousands of fish, and there's too much risk of sockeye fishermen catching coho by mistake.

That's a risk worth running, according to Conservative MP John Cummins.

Coho protected

"There's still fish coming into the river," Cummins told CBC News Monday. "Folks who are fishing in Johnstone Strait just a few days ago said there's a lot of fish still to come. And I think the commercial fleet should have the opportunity to fish for a few more days."

Johnstone Strait is between the mainland and northern Vancouver Island and is one of the two routes by which sockeye return from the Pacific Ocean on their way to the Fraser River.

Some other experts agree with the decision made by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to end the sockeye run.

"I think by scaling back on it now, it's simply a way of allowing some other species that are struggling, such as coho, to get through and survive," said Mark Angelo of the B.C. Institute of Technology in Burnaby.

Cummins said regulations are already in place to protect any coho that sockeye fishermen happen to catch.

By law, coho must be placed in holding tanks, revived and returned to the water.

Cummins also said he believed that the number of sockeye still returning from the ocean will prompt federal authorities to allow more fishing of the highly prized species before the end of this week.

The Pacific Salmon Commission is expected to meet again Tuesday to update the latest sockeye count.