Fisheries

Overview - What is Happening?

Photo credit: Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Many commercially fished species on the coast of B.C. are doing well:

• About half of B.C.’s managed salmon stocks were stable, increasing, or well above target abundance in 2004.

• Other important commercial species (Pacific halibut, Pacific ocean perch, Pacific hake, Dungeness crab, herring), appear to be sufficiently abundant to sustain current harvest levels.

• Recent fishery regulations have had a positive effect in reducing illegal and discarded catch in the salmon and groundfish fisheries.

There are also areas of concern:

• About 14% of B.C. and Yukon salmon populations are extinct or at high risk of extinction.

• All assessed stocks of steelhead trout in the Lower Mainland were classified as being of conservation concern in 2005.

• Many inshore rockfish species are at low levels of abundance. In 2005, 89 areas were closed to fishing to protect inshore rockfish.

It is vital to have healthy fish stocks and functioning marine ecosystems because:

• Many communities on the B.C. coast depend economically on commercial fishing and fish processing. Recreational fishing generates revenues for local communities and provides enjoyment.

• Coastal First Nations people have harvested seafood from B.C.’s waters for many thousands of years and attach great cultural significance to the marine environment and its resources.

• Marine mammals, seabirds, bald eagles, bears, and many other species depend on marine fish and invertebrates for food.

The decline or low abundance of species caught in B.C.’s coastal waters may date back to impacts during the 1990s from overfishing, unfavourable ocean conditions, or both. However, marine ecosystems are complex and hard to observe, making it difficult to determine why changes have occurred.

The abundance of many commercial species is affected by climatic events such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (a natural 50- to 60-year cycle of alternating warm and cool phases). The effects seen during the warm phase of the cycle may show the type of impacts that may be expected as the global climate changes.

For detailed information, including graph data, see In-Depth report [pdf].

Next: Proportion of Salmonid Populations Classed as Healthy, At Risk or Extinct>>