THE SPORT nSHERY 189 



sport fishermen, based on the Creel Survey estimates and 

 commercial landings. This suggests that sportfishing 

 accounts for 68 percent and 50 percent of the total coho 

 and Chinook catch in this area. These proportions are 

 lower than the estimates that appeared in my Preliminary 

 Report, but they nevertheless show that the sjx)rt fishery 

 puts heavy demands on coho and chinook salmon, espe- 

 cially on the particular stocks that appear to be suffering 

 most from excessive fishing pressure (see Chapter 2). 



If we assume that the catch in the Strait of Georgia is 

 90 percent of the total salmon sport catch, and that 

 catches elsewhere are in the same sp^ecies proportions, 

 then coastwide sportfishing appears to account for 21 

 percent of the total chmook catch and 15 percent of 

 coho. Taking all species of salmon together, sportsmen 

 account for about 4 percent of the total harvest. 



These estimates of sportfishing effort and catch are the 

 best available, and they are more reliable than any previ- 

 ously available. But they hardly provide a solid statistical 

 base on which to build sportfishing policy: they relate to 

 only one year; they diverge from other estimates (insofar 

 as they can be extrapolated over inconsistent penods and 

 areas covered): and they are incomplete. Later in this 

 chapter I return to the implications of this mformation 

 deficiency for sport fishery management and policy 

 development. 



Fishing Success 



Sport fishermen do not, on average, catch very many 

 fish. If there were 320 thousand fishermen last year 

 (which, I suggest above, is a conservative figure), and 

 they caught altogether 1 million salmon, their average 

 catch would be less than four fish. The fairly accurate 

 Creel Survey estimates in Table 15-2 suggest that in the 

 Strait of Georgia, at least, sportsmen caught on average 

 one-half a salmon per angler day. 



However, the effort and catch is distributed very 

 unevenly among sport fishermen. Almost two-thirds of all 

 sport fishermen fish five days or less, and only fifteen 

 percent fish more than ten days.'' Ten percent of the 

 fishermen catch more than half of the total catch, while 

 nearly 40 percent catch no salmon at all.^ 



Economic Impacts 



Sportfishing has grown to the point where it now gen- 

 erates substantial economic activity based on boats and 

 gear, moorage and other services, and tourist accommo- 

 dation and guiding. About half of the resident sport 

 fishermen fish from their own boats,*" and the capital 

 value of the sportfishing fleet is now about the same as 

 the value of the commercial fleet. One study indicated 

 108 thousand boats were used in 1979 for sportfishing in 

 the Strait of Georgia alone, and these had a capital value 

 of more than $600 million;' a more recent estimate is 



roughly consistent, indicating a coastwide angler-owned 

 pleasure boat fleet in 1980 worth $837 million.* Fishing is 

 not the only motive for acquiring boats, of course, but it 

 is apparently the dominant one,'^ with about 60 percent of 

 all pleasure boats being used in sportfishing.'" 



Spending related to saltwater sportfishing on the 

 Pacific coast now approaches $100 million annually." A 

 high proportion of these expenditures are on local goods 

 and services; many of the boats, tackle and other supplies 

 are manufactured locally and virtually all accommoda- 

 tion, food, boat services and so on are supplied locally. 



The sportfishing tackle and equipment manufacturing 

 industry has developed along the lines of a cottage indus- 

 try, especially in the Victoria region. These local manu- 

 facturers have demonstrated remarkable entrepreneurial 

 skill and innovation. They now supply most of the local 

 market with lures and tackle and have expanded into 

 foreign markets as well. Their total sales have increased 

 to several million dollars annually.'^ 



DEVELOPMENTS IN SPORTnSHING 

 REGL^LATnON 



Sportfishing in tidal waters has been subjected to 

 increasingly stnngent regulation during the past three 

 decades. A daily bag limit of ten salmon was introduced 

 in 1951; this was reduced to eight in 1959 and four in 

 1963. The minimum size required for keeping salmon was 

 increased from eight inches in 1951 to twelve inches in 

 1965 and to eighteen inches for chinook in 1981. Addi- 

 tional restrictions have been put on gear and areas in 

 which sportfishing is permitted. 



In 1981, major new restrictions on sportfishing were 

 imposed. Most important was the tidal water sportfishing 

 licence, ending more than a decade of discussions, pro- 

 posals and debate about licensing. The purpose of licens- 

 ing is twofold: to provide information about sportfishing 

 for resource managers and to raise revenue from the 

 sport fishery for resource enhancement. 



Other regulations introduced last year, designed to 

 reduce the fishing pressure on certain stocks, and 

 specifically to increase chinook salmon escapements in 

 the Strait of Georgia and the Fraser River, have been 

 heavily debated. Equally controversial was the way in 

 which they were introduced. In the context of its urgent 

 concern for conserving the declining chinook salmon, the 

 Department announced on February 11th, reduced bag 

 limits for chinook salmon everywhere on the coast, a win- 

 ter closure on sportfishing for this species, continued clo- 

 sure of the Fraser River to chinook sportfishing and a 

 ban on the use of downriggers. 



Sport fishermen and those with commercial 

 sportfishing interests strenuously opposed these changes 



