I've read a bunch about this. The closure is due to extreme river Temps above 20 degrees Celsius and extremely low flows due to no rain. Neither of these are factors that fisheries can change. When water Temps are over 18 degrees c the sockeye are in danger of death before ever spawning. Unless we get some cool days or rain it could spell disaster. Last year they forecast 75 million sockey. In reality only 16 to 18 million showed up. They over fished last year by 1.4 million. Apparently the bios recommend only 20 to 30 mill return but the feds try to push it up asuh as possible for the largest possible commercial harvest. money talks and fish don't. This year they projected 5 to 6 mill and now I'm hearing 1 to 2 million. That's a shame for the fraser in a time when the fish will be super stressed. They should start some hatchery sockeye before we lose them.
Your trip might be ok in September if river Temps fall and sockeye are gone up river they'll probably reopen it.
|