The chair of Sunshine Coast Sport Fishing Advisory Committee is hoping to explore options to help the coho fishery in Chapman Creek rebound after what he’s calling the “worst coho run ever.”
David Burnett is also the manager of the Chapman Creek Hatchery. He said the hatchery has only five females for egg harvesting at the moment and they’ve only managed to capture around 50 fish all season, compared to the 1,200 or so they’d normally see. Burnett said the poor run this year could have a devastating impact on the coho run three to four years from now.
Burnett is hoping, through motions at the committee, to encourage the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to allow the hatchery to try methods like “swimming” the creek (wading in with hand-held nets) to catch breed stock or look at other strategies for recovering from the low season.
As well as the impact of the drop in coho, the committee will be discussing enforcement issues and efforts to get DFO to station a fisheries officer on the lower Sunshine Coast.
The committee is meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 7 at the Chapman Creek Hatchery on Parkway Drive in Wilson Creek.
