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Fish Trap Overview

This overview on how fish traps work and their conservation benefits was produced by the Wild Fish Conservancy.

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Mark P. Sherwood
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79 views12 pages

Fish Trap Overview

This overview on how fish traps work and their conservation benefits was produced by the Wild Fish Conservancy.

Uploaded by

Mark P. Sherwood
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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FISH TRAPS

for f ish - for f ishermen

for killer whales - for ecosystems

for communities - for local economies

Photo by Shane Anderson —1—


W hy fish traps ?

With news of Pacific salmon runs at all-time lows, endangered species


struggling despite millions of dollars spent on their recovery, and Southern
Resident killer whales starving and at the brink of extinction due to lack of
available Chinook, more people than ever are asking the same question - what
new steps can be taken to recover wild salmon
and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest?

Enter the fish trap - a repurposed tool making it’s first appearance since the
early 20th century, a fishing gear that holds promise to revolutionize
the way we harvest.

Poorly managed in the past, fish traps are now the ideal tool for sustainable
harvest in mixed-stock commercial fisheries, enabling fishermen to selectively
harvest targeted fish stocks while gently capturing and releasing non-targeted
species - a step widely recognized as necessary for salmon and steelhead
recovery and a way to restore Southern Residents killer whales back from thebrink.

And with a low upfront production cost, fish traps make economic sense, too.
Fishermen who build and fish with traps may be allowed to fish for longer due
to their low impact on non-target and endangered species, and may receive
higher prices for an extremely high quality and much more sustainable product.

Wild Fish Conservancy is looking for partners to pioneer this method. Read on,
watch the new fish trap video, review our published research, and then contact us to
learn more or to visit a fish trap already in operation.

thefishtrapjournal.org
[email protected]

—2—
Photo by Austin Ferguson
—3—
FROM LEADER TO LIVE WELL

spiller

live well

lead

kicker
heart

U sing a time - tested method , fish traps passively corral


salmonids to allow for their capture or gentle release
When migrating upstream, salmon and steelhead first encounter the ‘lead’- a long line of nets
supported by pilings that extend down to the river bed. Searching for a route upstream, the fish are then
led into the ‘heart’, a large chamber that passively collects and guides fish into the final chamber - the
spiller. When the spiller is full, it is raised from below to guide the fish into a live well.

—4—
THE SPILLER

T he spiller net guides corralled fish into the live well


in a matter of seconds
Spilling is time and energy efficient. A solar-powered winch lifts the net, resulting in a zero -
carbon operation. Once fish are guided into the live well, the spiller is redeployed and begins filling with
the next haul. As the trap refills, two fishermen quickly sort the catch for harvest or passive release.

—5—
Wild Fish Conservancy’s experimental
Fish Trap Project on the Columbia River
near Cathlamet, WA.

—6—
—7—
—8—
STOCK-SELECTIVE FISHING

mixed - stock

The majority of fisheries consist of more than one species


and a mix of hatchery and wild runs.
Selectively harvesting these runs is essential to
promoting the recovery of wild and endangered salmonids.

fish traps

Fish traps passively capture fishes, ensuring the lively


and unharmed release of non-target species. Unlike
conventional gears types such as gillnets, fish traps
do not rely on physically entangling fish to ensure
capture.

post release
Research indicates that post release survival rates from
fish traps range from 94-100%, a significant
improvement from the 50-55% estimated for gillnets.

—9—
GOOD FOR FISH

chinook , orca , and


near - zero bycatch mortality steelhead recovery
Fish traps release non-target stocks in an Reduction of bycatch mortality is a critical factor in the
exceptionally lively condition. Research suggests recovery of endangered populations of Chinook salmon
that non-target species survive post release and steelhead. Chinook salmon recovery is doubly
at a rate of 94-100%. critical as they are the major food source for endangered
Southern Resident killer whales.

helps wild fish recover research / monitoring


An excellent tool for safely sorting hatchery from Fish traps serve as excellent research stations,
wild stocks for selective harvest or passive release, equipped to monitor run timing, run size, stock-
fish traps can improve the proportion of wild fish composition, survival, fish behavior, genetics, Passive
on spawning grounds, increasing genetic fitness and Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags, and Coded Wire
promoting recovery. Tags (CWT).

— 10 —
GOOD FOR COMMUNITIES

Photo by Austin Ferguson

more fishing higher quality


With nearly zero impacts to threatened stocks, Extremely minimal handling and air exposure, and
fishermen can fish targeted stocks longer and more virtually no entanglement, results in a higher quality
consistently. salmon product relative to other gears.

sustainable orca safe


Fish traps can achieve sustainability certifications In addition to sustainability certifications, fish
that lead to higher prices in a market that increasingly harvested from fish traps in river systems may be
values a highly sustainable product. certified as ‘orca safe’ - further driving up the
marketable price.

— 11 —
a win - win solution

Recovery of endangered stocks is critical for the economies of the


communities that depend on them. Use of selective fishing gears can
revitalize our fisheries today while fostering salmon and orca whale
recovery into the future, with consequent sustainable jobs in commercial
fishing, tourism, recreation and service industries.

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