Its nice that they allow you to fish in the area of the river where all the effluent from 3 pulp mills are released. I wouldnt touch a fish anywhere from Prince George to Quesnel or further for fear of contamination.

Why would anyone kill a fish that's migrated this far up a system? I don't think contamination is as much of an issue as flesh quality at this stage of the their life cycle.

What's the point of an opening? The Salmon, Bowron, and main Fraser River runs are no where near their peak so what's the point. I don't think that catch and release is so bad but again, what's the point. Do people really like to hook booty old springs?

DFO biologists know that the long term benefits related to high numbers of fish returning to spawning grounds far out weighs the benefits of appeasing a few anglers in the short term. Fish that die naturally after spawning enrich the system for other species of fish and for rearing chinook fry. There are so many benefits to closing the retention fishery.

I suggest that we get really frugal with our fish stocks and close it to all non-residents and change the rules to catch and release only on prodominantly all salmon and steelhead fisheries in BC.

I want to make a point about commercial, Native and Salmon lodge fisheries in BC. DFO's management plan for these three salmon fisheries is going to extinct the species. It's inevitable that the stocks will die off with the current plan. It may not happen in the next ten years but the lobbying and polical pressures will kill the salmon fisheries in BC. Look at DFO's track record in Eastern Canada.

Policitally, the gov't can't say no to the Native fisheries. The DFO & Provincial fisheries enforcement plan looks good on paper but they are reluctant to bring cases against violations by native fishers given the high likelihood of a loss in court.

The salt water troll fleet takes an enormous percentage of Chinook. Many of the fish they catch are wild fish from delicate genetic systems from equally delicate drainage systems like the Fraser, Skeena, Island, and many other rivers.

Coastal salmon lodges need to address the amount of fish taken by their customers. If they're not prepared to manage it conservatively then DFO needs to enforce a tightly monitored system. Catch and release needs to be implemented across the board in BC. Small amounts of retention could be continued to satisfy a sampling of the fish.

Last and not least is the impact of industry on the Fraser, Thompson, Skeena, and other sensitive systems in BC. Look at the Kenny Dam on the Nechako. This water system for Kamano robs the Nechako and ultimately the Fraser from cool tributary waters. This has massively effected Sockeye, Sturgeon, and other species in the Nechako system. The Nechako has the potential to be a very healthy system for fish stocks. Industry has sealed it's fate.

As a closing comment, management plans developed by the DFO and fishery departments run by the provincial gov't continue to baffle me. Fish stocks continue to decline in BC at an astronomical rate, yet, the BC Wildlife Federation, the province, DFO, commercial & Native fisheries, and other pro-retention agencies and groups continue to exploit salmon and steelhead stocks. It's possible that in my generation that Salmon will be a very "at risk" species requiring national and provincial protection. Why do we have to wait for that in order to act?

Join me in letting your MP and MLA know that we are going to hold them accountable for the extinction of this valuable resource. They're acting like there's nothing to lose.

I don't buy wild stock, even from my native bros. I eat the farm stuff. The wild stock is not worth bothering about.