Citation | Silvestri, S. 2005. Stock assessment of winter steelhead trout in Goldstream, Sooke, Trent and Tsable Rivers, 2004. Prepared for BC Conservation Foundation. |
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Organization | BC Conservation Foundation |
URL | http://a100.gov.bc.ca/appsdata/acat/documents/r5850/StockAssessmentReportFinal-NonPrintingCopy_1143403749784_bb98440f95634e108ba9ff1269fd7f72.pdf |
Abstract/Description or Keywords | In 2002, the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF), in conjunction with the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection (MWLAP; renamed Ministry of Environment in May 2005), released the Greater Georgia Basin Steelhead Recovery Plan (GGBSRP; Lill 2002). The primary objective of the Plan is to stabilize and restore wild steelhead stocks and habitats on the east coast of Vancouver Island (ECVI), adjacent mainland inlets, and lower Fraser River, to healthy selfsustaining levels. A secondary objective of the GGBSRP is to maintain and restore angling opportunities, which benefit both local communities and the provincial economy. On April 21, 2004, MWLAP released the draft Steelhead Stream Classification-Policy and Procedure (Appendix A). The policy states that hatchery fish can provide angling benefits, however the risks imposed to wild steelhead need to be managed in order to maintain wild steelhead stocks. Thus a stream’s classification will default to wild unless specifically designated hatchery-augmented. Additionally, streams that are classified wild will be managed to maintain and protect indigenous stocks while providing an appropriate diversity of angling opportunities. Hatchery-augmented streams will be managed to maintain or develop new angling opportunities while managing the risks to wild steelhead. In systems where a population of steelhead has never existed, been extirpated, or is considered non-viable, hatchery augmentation using a nearby donor stock may be considered, for the purpose of creating a steelhead retention fishery. Following guidelines in the draft policy document and in support of the secondary objective of the GGBSRP, MWLAP fisheries staff proposed that several possible retention fisheries be examined on Vancouver Island. As a first step in the process, the BC Conservation Foundation (BCCF) was contracted to assess existing wild steelhead stocks in four candidate watersheds: Goldstream, Sooke, Trent and Tsable (Figure 1). This report describes the 2004 investigations and compares the results to provincially identified target levels of abundance. |
Information Type | report |
Regional Watershed | Vancouver Island South, Vancouver Island North |
Sub-watershed if known | Sooke, Trent, Tsable, Goldstream |
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Project status | complete |
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