How to Increase the Salmon Population

I am not sure if they allow fish on their way up stream to spawn to be commercially fished. Those at sea may not yet be mature enough.

Too many variables in the elements of spawning.

Please tighten the net and sharpen your point

One has to realise that the "average" fish dies somewhere in the first week of its life. Unless all the conditions for life are present i.e. abundant food supply present, lack of predators as well as the right temperatures and water conditions, releasing large numbers of eggs is not going to help much.

The juvenile and adult fish stocks that provide us and other marine species with food are really super survivors.

Brgds

The problem is not as simple as it sounds.

Particular genetic strains return to specific streams. As an example the Fraser River salmon run is genetically distinct from the Serpentine River and Nickomekl River runs, yet the mouths of the two river systems are within 20 miles of each other.

We are not allowed to mix the genetic strains by government fisheries regulations (DFO).

If we so much as want to transplant some of the fry from the Serpentine to the Nickomekl we need special permits, (a review by the DFO biologists). The issues are genetic, and disease confinement.

We run a volunteer hatchery enhancement program for the Serpentine River system. The Serpentine River is now an urban water shed. Twenty years ago it was believed to be dead. It now supports several hundred thousand fry each year. The hatchery alone releases 250,000 fry a year into the various tributaries. Nature does the rest. Sport fishing is now allowed in the lower reaches. We have Chinook, Coho, Chum, and Steelhead in the river.

The enhancement program entails raising the eggs through to the fry stage. We have about a 95% survival to this stage. Some fry are released as unfed, a portion are raised longer until they are much larger.

Our tagged salmon have been caught as far north as Alaska. A large portion end up in the "wild" salmon commercial fisheries. We get about a 1 to 2% return to our rivers. This has been a tremendous success.

Unfortunately, our biggest hurdle is financial. We run a budget of $20,000. $6,000 comes from DFO, the rest from donations. Expenses of $9,000 is for hydro alone. Several thousand for feed, the remainder is for insurance and maintenance of the facilities. Our cost per fry is about $0.10, a tenth of the cost compared to the federal enhancement programs. Being 100% volunteer we have no salaries or pensions to pay!

A silly proposition for so many reasons...but, setting those aside, fish do not spawn on command. And, speaking of populations, increase of fish farm production will do nothing to increase or stabilize (i.e., stop a population collapse of) a species. It must be the wild type having its fertility (and numbers) increased dramatically in order to reverse present trends - a thing not achievable via artificial procreation on farms.

For now, reducing the mortality rate is the only best avenue to restoring sustainable populations. Unfortunately, the future prospects of some salmon types is dubious at best.