What we know is the ocean's changed, coho aren't surviving as well. In many cases for every 100 juvenile coho that leave BC waters only 2 return home from the ocean. Since we can't change ocean conditions, the only option is to change the way we harvest salmon to reduce the number of coho being killed in sport and commercial fisheries. The Fisheries Department has to find a way to insure as many coho as possible are able to spawn to produce the next generation. The coho is prized by the sport industry because it's a vigorous fighting fish.
People come here from all over the world for a chance to catch one.
The commercial fleet doesn't target coho specifically, it's after sockeye and pink salmon, but because many salmon species travel together in coastal waters coho inevitably get caught up in the nets by mistake. More selective harvesting methods are being tried, but for now the only way to stop the interception of coho is to restrict recreational fishing and the harvest of sockeye and pink salmon. Paul Sprout says the challenge for the Fisheries Department is to weight the importance of coho survival against the survival of coastal communities and sport fishing businesses. There is no doubt that actions designed to conserve fish populations that reduce the amount of fishing will have impact. So those things have to be factored in or at least outlined in a clear way.