It’s looking to be another good, but not great, year for salmon fishing around Vancouver Island, according to DFO’s seasonal forecast.
Ken Franzen with the BC Wildlife Federation took part in Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s 2024 “Preliminary Salmon Outlook” conference this week. He says it’s a mixed bag of some good and bad news.
“The problem that comes, of course, is trying to fish around the stocks that aren’t doing well,” he says. “You end up in some cases only being able to keep adipose fin-clipped fish, or they start the season for Chinook late to let Fraser fish go by.”
For example, Chinook on the Island’s West Coast look promising, and Vancouver Island coho runs are expected to be excellent. However, Chinook and coho elsewhere are expected to be poor, and so are chum and most sockeye.
Pink salmon are also expected to have poor returns, as it’s an even-numbered year. Pink returns are typically strongest in odd-numbered years.
