If you would like to see what happens when wild fish are left to their own accord in these times of poor ocean survival ,look no further than Vacouver island.The steelhead of this once great fishing mecca are disappearing at an alarming rate ,in fact some wild genetics will be lost forever.WALP ,the govt ministry responsible for steelhead stocks ,has completely turned their backs on the steelhead ,no money for hatcheries ,no money for habitat work .In fact the only river holding it's own on the island is the Stamp ,and this river has a large hatchery facility.We have had the idea that hatchery fish are killing off the wild fish pushed down our throats ,yet the only rivers worth fishing around here have hatcheries on them.The Gold river ,the once great wild river of vancouver island ,is seeing diminishing returns ,this kind of thing is happening all over.Rivers that once had fish numbering in the thousands are lucky if they see a 100 fish ,this can be said of all the WILD fish rivers of the south coast.We also have the steelhead society ramming the Wild fish ,wild rivers song down our throats.Nice idea ,that these fish will do better if they are left alone ,but reality is showing us that the decline is happening so fast it may be too late to save many stocks .Our govt will allow massive destructive fish farming all along the smolt migration routes ,but then says that wild brood hatchery efforts are destructive and non productive.They will also allow gillnetting on the fraser river(for chum eggs) ,during the big push of wild summer runs such as the Thompson fish ,then close the fishery to sportsman ,the same sportsmen that fight to save these runs .
All you guys who feel that these wild brood hatchery programs are harming your wild fish ,just take a look at the disaster we are facing here in Canada ,once known as the hot bed of steelheading .80% of vancouver island rivers are now closed to steelhead fishing and the list is growing.The mainland is no different ,swim counts have a hard time finding ten steelhead in many streams ,but hey they might have been wild.
The natives are netting 24 -7 ,our govt has a policy of turning the other cheek regarding illegal net fisheries ,yet they are proposing a bait ban province wide on all streams .
I am envious of the fishing reports I see from south of the border ,at this point I would just like to have steelhead to chase,I could care less if they have an adipose fin.Why is it that people who are against hatcheries always point out the practices of hatcheries of 30 years ago and not the selective wild brood stocking programs of today.Be careful what you wish for ,the reality is not what you think it will be .The steelhead society of BC should have the logo wild rivers ,no fish ,nice legacy of a group who started out to protect the magnificent steelhead,this coming from a member.
Heres a 14 lb hatchery doe I caught yesterday ,fought like hell and I couldn't care less that she was raised to smolt stage in a hatchery .