It is actually the BEST place to manage a specific salmon stock at, much better than in the salt where all stocks (healthy and unhealthy) mingle.

OncyT- I have not checked the catch records of our canadian friends, yet, eh, but I would imagine their fisheries are regulated by specific temporal and geographic openings, based on years of past data, eh, rather than in-season catch rates. ???

P.s. Good to hear from you OncyT!

I know there was concern about catching Thompson coho mingled in with the "record" sockeye run. I did hear there was a record catch of sockeye in the Johnston Strait area and suspect there was substantial bycatch. I haven't read anything about other salmon species returning down the inside of Vancouver Island in any numbers but If the "bubble" of warm water is causing the sockeye to substantially change their migration route, I have to conclude the "bubble" is not good for the migration of other salmon runs. The warm water brings in predator species that are not normally in these northern waters. I remember el nino years where there were massive schools of mackerel off Neah Bay that were suspected of consuming large numbers of out migrating small salmon for example.

Mackerel were in large numbers as far north as Nootka Sound in 1997 where they were entertaining to catch with trout gear off the resort's floating dock. But they were hell on outbound smolts to include virtually all released from Barkley Sound hatcheries: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/jun/23/mackerel-wreaking-havoc-with-salmon/.

The article also references an El Nino of 1992/1993 with a similar mackerel invasion.

As far as this year I have to believe if there was to have been such an invasion it would have already occurred and in any case outbound smolt have already dispersed.