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The Port Renfrew Salmon
Enhancement Society was incorporated as a Not-for-Profit Society on August
17, 2010.
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The primary objective of
our Society is to raise funds for salmon enhancement and protection, chiefly
through the Port Renfrew Chinook Net Pen project. We are in our 8th year of
the project and have raised a total of over 190,000 Chinook salmon.
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This project is
completely operated by community volunteers, including First Nations, local
Fish and Game club members, and recreational fishers.
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This project is approved
by Fisheries and Oceans and also approved by the local community advisor.
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The project goal is to
increase survival of the Chinook salmon. In the local San Juan River it is
currently about .5 of 1% and is similar to the survival rate in Washington
State hatcheries. Proven technology and our past community advisor
acknowledges we are getting at least 2 % survival with these ocean net pen
raised Chinook.
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For the last three years
we have been raising and releasing 40,000 per year. We have capacity for
50,000 Chinook in the 2 pens that are anchored in San Juan Bay, [1 km South
of the government wharf].
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The coded wire tag data
in 2005 indicated we [recreational fishers] harvested 285 local San Juan
Chinooks in our total catch that year of 10,000 Chinooks. At a survival rate
of 2%, we are now having a return of 800 mature Chinooks from our project
alone. The local sports fishing community is now producing more local mature
Chinooks than they are catching, thanks to this project.
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All labour is provided on
a voluntary basis; our expenses for the project are for infrastructure and
fuel. In 2010, our costs for the project were $3500.
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Four years ago we were
voted, by the BC Wildlife Federation, the best enhancement project of the
year.
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