Gillnetters hauled in hundreds of sockeye salmon each, after being privy to the first 24-hour commercial salmon opening in four years on Monday.
“If you hauled in over 1,600 pieces you’re a real highliner,” said fisher Randy Fraser, who reported he caught about 1,200 fish and estimated the average was about 450 per boat.
Fisher Kit Taggart wouldn’t say exactly how many fish he caught, although he noted “it was a good opening for us” and “most guys are happy.
“Fishermen are liars, except you and me,” quipped Taggart.
He and Fraser noted many fishers ran into problems while setting nets in the middle of the night. Fraser said he ran over an abandoned line, causing him to lose out on precious time and potentially hundreds more fish.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans declared the brief open season on the fish as preparations loom for a large run of late summer salmon coming down the coast.
According to DFO spokesperson Jennifer Nener, the agency opened up the fishery for 24 hours because it’s believed the much more susceptible early summer run sockeye have all passed through the mouth of the Fraser River.
Fish stocks are managed in four groups: early Stuart, early summer, summer and late summer runs.
The first two runs have, for the most part, entered the river, with about 225,000 early Stuart sockeye and one million early summer sockeye estimated past Mission as of last Friday.
DFO is estimating about seven million summer run sockeye, with 1.8 million having already entered the river.
The majority of the salmon run is expected to come from the late summer run (offspring of the 30 million run in 2010). DFO has not estimated how many fish the late run consists of, although by all accounts, they’re coming in from north Vancouver Island through Johnstone Strait.
“It’s too early to have an in-season estimate. We’re just starting to see them come through in significant numbers,” said Nener.
She said despite low river levels and high temperatures, the fish passing through Mission are “in good shape for the most part.”
It’s hoped cooler nights and perhaps a rainy day will entice more fish to enter the river, as presently they may be circling in the Georgia Strait, waiting for better conditions.
“Adams River fish will swim back and forth until the water temperature is right for them. And right now the water is warm so they’ll wait for a rain and, boom, they go in,” said Gus Jacobson, a semi-retired fisher who sent his two boats out with his sons.
At Fishermen’s Wharf in Steveston, whole, gutted salmon were selling for $20 each fresh off the boat. After they’re filleted they average about five pounds of meat at $4 per pound. Supermarkets are selling filleted wild sockeye salmon at about $10 per pound.
Many fishers say the prices will go down as the late summer run comes in and more openings are expected.
