Thousands of Chinook salmon caught accidentally by B.C. trawlers: Report

DFO's report suggests over 20,000 Chinook were likely thrown overboard, while 3,700 may have been tossed onto land, according to Pacific Wild.

A recent study from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has shown that Chinook salmon — a precious Pacific resource — are being caught unintentionally by the thousands by fishing trawlers in B.C.

Sidney Dixon, a marine specialist for the environmental group Pacific Wild, said 93 per cent of some 28,000 salmon caught through ground fish trawl fishery Option A licence holders during the 2022-2o23 season were Chinook. It’s not the fish those fishers hoped to find in their nets, meaning they were discarded, she added.

DFO’s report suggests more than 20,000 Chinook were likely thrown overboard, while 3,700 may have been tossed onto land.

“This is a huge issue because they are a primary food source of our critically endangered southern resident killer whale,” Dixon explained. “Chinook salmon are a threatened or endangered species in many places in southern B.C.”

The Deep Sea Trawlers Association of BC, which represents the industry, told Global News it’s aware of the bycatch issue, but the high number of Chinook caught was likely due to an abundance of them during the federal department’s study period.

The association further said it has plans to change their techniques and deploy new technology to catch fewer Chinook.

Pacific Wild, meanwhile, applauded Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s study — billed as the first of its kind — and hopes more such studies are incoming.

“Imagine what we would find if they started doing enhanced monitoring for other, economically, culturally and ecologically important species on our coast … like Pacific herring,” she suggested.