Business of Atlantic Salmon Angling

Our governments just don’t get it. Atlantic salmon truly are the king of all sportfish, sought by anglers worldwide. That’s why Atlantic salmon fishing brings 2.5 million dollars annually to Nova Scotia’s Inverness County. Only 20 years ago Guysborough County benefited in a similar way from tourism. Today, due to the closure of Atlantic salmon fishing, our tourism has been largely reduced to a few folks that are just passing through. Salmon fishing used to reel them in and keep them here for days, weeks, or even months, and many returned every year for the fishing. Just like it now does in Inverness County.

Although governments claim to have little or no funding for salmon sport fishing development, they are somehow able to fund the Atlantic salmon aquaculture industry. That industry continues to grow in Atlantic Canada despite the threat it poses to wild salmon stocks and its much lower economic benefit to rural communities. Like it or not, Atlantic salmon sport fishing has gradually been replaced by Atlantic salmon aquaculture in Nova Scotia.

In 1995, our federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) ceased supplementation of wild salmon stocks with hatchery-reared fish. This, along with other factors such as prolonged droughts, resulted in a serious decline of many salmon populations in Nova Scotia. However, the past five seasons, 2009 excepted, some impacted streams have shown a steady improvement in salmon populations, a fact denied by DFO. One is Guysborough County’s St. Mary’s River.

Why DFO won’t recognize that can only be speculated. One possible reason is to deliberately understate salmon population estimates in order to avoid exploitation by native fishers. Another is to further aquaculture development, because wild salmon stocks are an obstacle to that industry. Or it may simply be a silly bureaucratic reason: DFO may only be able to record costs and not the economic benefit resulting from spending. If the latter is true, we see a dysfunctional federal government at work here. Whatever the reason, DFO policies appear to be driven by someone who doesn’t want wild Atlantic salmon in Nova Scotia.

A business case can easily be made for Atlantic salmon fishery development projects, even a restoration and maintenance of historic population levels. Such projects would be evaluated using potential social and economic benefit, projected cost, and financing options. This is the approach advocated by our newly-formed Eastern Sportfish Association, a volunteer group www.sportfishns.ca. The main challenge here is to find government support that is sufficient to overcome DFO’s refusal to permit such projects, even if funding is secured.

Speaking of challenges, catching a large Atlantic salmon on a tiny fly is a worthy one. Here’s a good salmon fly for fall salmon fishing on Nova Scotia’s Northumberland Strait streams. Flies that imitate shrimp or prawns work well here in the fall, so here’s another for our fly box, with specifications by Bill Hunter, the fly’s designer:

Tippet Shrimp

Thread:                      UTC G.S.P. 50 Denier thread

Hook:                          Mustad 36890 salmon hook, size 8 - 2

Tail:                             10 – 12 hot orange bucktail fibers, twice hook length, 2 strands each of gold and pearl Krystal Flash

Body:                          Rear – Golden-orange chenille wound to head

                                    Centre - Two Golden pheasant tippets spread out to form veiling around   

                                    Rear body

                                    Front – Red-orange dubbing ribbed with oval gold tinsel

Collar hackle:           GP Red breast feather

Head:                         Red thread, finished with 2 coats glossy head cement.          

Please send comments and suggestions to slim@rivermagic.ca.

Please stay on the line …