t* RIMAKlM \\n ISIOKMMION 



Creel surveys, and mloriuatioii uhlaincd Irom licence 

 .s;ilcs and piinchcards provide means of obtaining statis- 

 tics on catches in ihc s[-K>rt lishery. I make recommeiula- 

 tions on these matters in Chapter 15; and iii Chapter 14 1 

 pro[X>se means of imprtning information about catches 

 in the Indian fishery. 



Complete and accurate catch inlormalion is essential, 

 not only tor fisheries management, but also for adminis- 

 tering the royalties and quotas I propose in later chapters. 



To bring about the necessary improvements, 1 recom- 

 mend - 



2. Pic IV^partnicnt slioiild iinnHMtiately take steps to 

 improve the qiialit) and eornpletencss of statistical 

 infornution on i-atchcs by — 



i) Adopting iiMKlcni data-collection and processing 

 tccluiology. 



ii) Improving the mctlHxls of collecting and compil- 

 ing sti'tistics on conuiicrcial landings in c<M>pcra- 

 tion \>ith the government of British Columbia. 



iii) Improving techniques for compiling statistics on 

 sport and Indian catches. 



iv) FApanding voluntary logbook programs and 

 iastating compulsory programs vvliere more com- 

 prehensive information is required. 



Infomintion on the composition of catches Information 

 on the age, size and racial origin of catches is also needed 

 to guide managers. Samples of landings provide the 

 required data on age and size. 



Catches of herring and groundfish are sampled 

 routinely and apparently extremely well. Sampling of 

 sockeye catches began early in this century, and for some 

 years the catches of all salmon were sampled coastwide. 

 But in 1972. routine coastwide sampling was suspended, 

 breaking a chain of information needed to assess long- 

 term trends in production and stock composition.'^ This 

 sampling program should be reinstated as quickly as pos- 

 sible. 



To measure salmon production from particular 

 streams, it is also necessary to determine the racial origin 

 of salmon in mixed catches at sea. This is done by tag- 

 ging fish so they can be identified when caught; drawing 

 inferences from the timing of runs; and sampling catches 

 to identify the distinctive scales and parasites of fish of 

 different origins. Distinguishing among the stocks repre- 

 sented in catches is especially important where enhanced 

 stocks are caught mixed with wild stocks. In (Thapter 2 I 

 alluded to the urgency of data relating to the racial origin 

 of Chinook salmon catches. 



Parallel techniques are required to identify discrete 

 stocks of herring. This kind of information is essential for 



elleclne manageinenl and is pre.seiUly inadequate. I 

 therefore recorninend 



.^. Hie IVpartiiK-nt slionld strengthen its information on 

 the eoni|M>si(ioii of catches by — 



i) Reiiislaling the coastwide sampling program for 

 salmon ealelies. 



ii) Flxpanding its programs for determining the 

 racial eom|)osilion of salmon and herring catches. 



EscupenK'nt and spawnina dutu Management of 

 salmon and herring is mainly geared to ensuring ade- 

 quate escapements tor spawning. Thus, measuring the 

 abundance of spawners in the case of salmon, and of 

 spawn in the case of herring, is essential for assessing 

 success in regulating catches as well as analyzing the 

 basic biological relationships between spawning and 

 stock rejuvenation. 



The Department's field officers have been estimating 

 the abundance of salmon spawners for 50 years and, for a 

 few important rivers, additional means are used to obtain 

 more precise information. But most of the information 

 collected is .so unsystematic and inconsistent that it can- 

 not be used for scientific analysis." Moreover, those who 

 made the estimates have not recorded the methods they 

 used, and so inferences are risky. Even the more detailed 

 information collected in some cases is .statistically weak, 

 rarely subjected to rigorous analysis and almost never 

 published. In addition, much of the basic data are inac- 

 cessible: the Department's decentralization has left 

 records of escapements scattered throughout the region. 



For many years, fishery oflRcers have also been estimat- 

 ing herring spawn, on the basis of the number of miles of 

 spawn observed along the shoreline. But these estimates 

 suffer from the same kinds of inadequacies as those for 

 salmon. 



Improving information about escapements and spawn- 

 ing is essential. The obvious first step is to routinely docu- 

 ment salmon spawner enumerations and herring spawn 

 estimates so that the information can be assessed objec- 

 tively and some continuity attained. The second step is to 

 develop a central computerized data system to collate 

 and store information. I understand the Department has 

 begun to organize such a data system as well as a series of 

 stream catalogues summarizing historical escapement 

 data. The.se are constructive developments. (They will, 

 incidentally, provide valuable information for the aquatic 

 habitat inventory program I recommended in Chapter 3.) 

 The third step is to improve the techniques of enumerat- 

 ing spawning salmon and estimating herring spawn. I 

 therefore recommend — 



4. The Department should strengthen its programs of 

 collecting and collating information on salmon and 

 herring escapements and spawning by — 



