THE SPORT FISHERY 199 



The controversy and confusion surrounding the statis- 

 tics on the sport catch has generated a great deal of skep- 

 ticism among sport fishermen. 



We find it hard to beheve that early last Feb- 

 ruary DFO could announce it had a problem 

 and the solution to that problem. Incredibly, 

 nine months later they cannot produce what 

 we could consider the minimum data needed 

 to identify the scope of the problem and pos- 

 sible solutions.'' 



This skepticism has created a climate in which the 

 Department has difficulty obtaining the support and 

 cooperation essential for effective regulation. Yet man- 

 agement of the sport fishery, in contrast to the commer- 

 cial fishery, depends heavily on voluntary information. 

 Therefore, we must have a data collection system that 

 meets not only the technical requirements of the Depart- 

 ment, but also generates the confidence of sport fi.sher- 

 men in the information and in the regulations it supports. 



One of the things you have to build into your 

 data system is the confidence of the people 

 who are going to be affected by it.''' 



To this end, I recommend an immediate commitment 

 to a comprehensive sportfishing information program to 

 support sportfishing management and policy develop- 

 ment: 



12. The Department should immediately begin to develop 

 a compreliensive data and information system for the 

 sport fishery. 



The Department recognizes its present data deficiency, 

 and in its brief to this Commission expressed the hope 

 that the Tidal Diary Program could be combined with 

 the Creel Survey in a "comprehensive sport catch data 

 system."^' But the information must be collected and 

 compiled consistently from year to year so that problems 

 can be identified and corrected, and so that users of the 

 information can have confidence in it. 



The State of Washington's tidal water sport fishery is 

 strikingly similar to British Columbia's in terms of size, 

 structure, supporting species of fish and recent trends in 

 fishing. And the State Department of Fisheries has devel- 

 oped a sportfishing information system using punchcards 

 and creel surveys that illustrates the intent of the above 

 recommendation as well as the value of sound data. The 

 current annual cost is about $500 thousand (Canadian) 

 and 14 person years. A consistent information program 

 operating for more than a decade has apparently gener- 

 ated a good deal of confidence in the data and the man- 

 agement prescriptions that follow from them. As a result, 

 Washington's fishery managers have recently introduced 

 a host of new regulations and restrictions on sport fisher- 

 men in an attempt to protect declining stocks of chinook 



and coho salmon. This has been done without the vexa- 

 tious disputes about statistics that dissipate so much 

 energy and goodwill in Canada. 



My review of the State of Washington's experience and 

 other information leads to further conclusions about the 

 needed data collection program; 



13. A central component of the information system should 

 be an intensive and continuous creel survey. 



The creel census involving intensive angler enumera- 

 tion and interviews at marinas, boat ramps and other 

 landing points, coupled with boat counts from overflight 

 surveys should include the whole coast as well as salmon 

 taken in freshwater streams and rivers. Sport catch and 

 effort estimates should be made on a month and statisti- 

 cal area basis. 



Supplementary information should be obtained from 

 surveys of licence holders, returns of punchcards or sam- 

 ples such as those obtained through the Tidal Diary Pro- 

 gram. 



Quick and continuous compilation and analysis of data 

 collected during the fishing season is needed to effectively 

 integrate the sport fishery with the in-season management 

 system 1 proposed in Chapter 4. This will be particularly 

 important for monitoring catches in relation to the 

 sportfishing catch targets I have propo<>ed. Thus, I 

 recommend — 



14. The Department should develop a rapid data process- 

 ing system designed to integrate sportfishing informa- 

 tion into general salmon management planning. 



The objectives of fishing policy can be met only when 

 we understand the values generated by fishing and how 

 the sport fishery responds to such things as fish abim- 

 dance and regulator>' controls. Such information is 

 scarce, and this is a serious impediment to a systematic 

 approach to the allocation of catches. I therefore recom- 

 mend that — 



15. The Department should sponsor research on the value 

 of sportfishing opportimities on the Pacific coast and 

 what effect regulations have on those values. 



This sfx)rtfishing information program should be 

 started without delay. It will take time to develop the 

 system, to compile sufficient, consistent information to 

 support useful analysis, and to generate the confidence of 

 the sportfishing community. But once in place, it will 

 soon provide the information needed to guide the devel- 

 opment of a more sophisticated and beneficial 

 sportfishing policy than I am able to propose now. 



