***okanagan lake, mysis shrimp removal***

[b_man360]

for those of you that dont know, okanagan lake had mysis shrimp put in it back in the 60s or 70s to help feed the kokanee. the plan backfired because the shrimp started eating the same food that the kokanee fry eat.

now there is a company (i wont use any names) that is fishing these shrimp out of the lake using a big trawling net, then the shrimp get sucked up a tube attached to the back of the net up to a barge being towed by the trawler. the government helps pay for part of the boats and the company makes money by selling the shrimp as a food for aquariums. to make a positive impact on the kokanee population, they are only allowed to catch 1 kokanee fry for about every 1000 pounds of shrimp and NO kokanee over 2 inches. they catch about 1500 pounds of shrimp on average every night. and on cold nights about 700 pound average. while i was working there in the fall and begining of winter we would catch at least 500 little fry every night, and the worst night was about 2000 fry. some nights we would get about 300 kokanee at least 4 inches long, and one night we got a 3 pound kokanee (all the kokanee are pretty much dead after being sucked up the tube). some nights we got burbot that where at least 7 pounds.

the fish are sapose to be seperated out by a seperator that is inbetween the net and the tube, but the seperator is kind of "turned off" when theres not fishery guys on the boat (they only come out about once a month) because when its "turned on" then you catch less shrimp. the owner of the company and all the bosses dont care about all the fish that they catch because all they are concerned about is catching lots of shrimp to make lots of money.

i was getting pretty upset with all the fish being caught, but i stayed quiet and tried not to complain to much because i was making good money. but now that im not working there, i feel that i should share this even tho i signed something saying i wouldnt. the kokanee population HAD started to go up, but in the past couple years i have heard that it is going down again and i feel that this is the main reason that is it going down.

thank you for taking the time to read this, and if you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask. thank you.

[macrib46]

It figures another company only concerned about money, and nothing else. Isn't it just typical.

dave

[btree]

Related -

If you read the mission statements of most aqua-culture companies, $$$ for investors etc is at the top of the list, innovation to make more $$$ is next, and it is only implied or stated in wishy-washy terms that protecting the local environment is a concern.

grrrrrr.

[b_man360]

Related -

If you read the mission statements of most aqua-culture companies, $$$ for investors etc is at the top of the list, innovation to make more $$$ is next, and it is only implied or stated in wishy-washy terms that protecting the local environment is a concern.

grrrrrr.

their mission statement is all about trying to help the kokanee population, because the government is helping to fund it. the only reason they are allowed to fish for the shrimp is to try and get rid of them and help the kokanee. but i guess money is what its all about these days. if it keeps going like this, say goodbye to kokanee in okanagan lake.

[RickB]

So, if it is just a way for that company to make money why are we allowing it? It seams to me from what I have heard, they need to get rid of those shrimp in a big way before, all the fish are gone!! I am sure sacrificing some of fish in the process would be a better option rather than having no fish at all, or no?? I don't know much about this so, please correct me if I am wrong??

[b_man360]

So, if it is just a way for that company to make money why are we allowing it? It seams to me from what I have heard, they need to get rid of those shrimp in a big way before, all the fish are gone!! I am sure sacrificing some of fish in the process would be a better option rather than having no fish at all, or no?? I don't know much about this so, please correct me if I am wrong??

they are allowing it to happen because the fishery guys that come out once a month think that no fish are being caught.

they wont ever get rid of the shrimp. there is to many of them and they reproduce to fast. what they are sapose to do is just keep the shrimp population in check and try and put a dent in the population.

it hasnt been totaly proven that these shrimp are hurting the kokanee. the only reason they think that the shrimp are harming the kokanee is that the kokanee population started to go down after they introduced them back the the 60s or 70s, but it could be a coincidence. the shrimp do eat the same food at the kokanee fry, but there are lakes in the usa that have these shrimp naturaly and the kokanee live just fine with them. shuswap lake and kal lake have the shrimp also but not in the same numbers as okanagan lake.

they can catch the shrimp without catching fish if they do everything the right way (like when fisherys are on the boat). but when they fish the right way they catch less shrimp, and they want to catch as much as they can so that they can sell it for aquariums. they can sell the shrimp for $20 a pound.

[RickB]

Thanks for that!! I get it now!! They should just install fisheries cameras on the boat to keep and eye on their practices, that might solve that problem but not likely to happen!!

[ThaSandman]

I'm sure the camera would just "accidentally" get bumped by something anyway...

[Sawmill]

Rick, camera's are a great idea, hell of a lot cheaper than always paying someone from fisheries to be on board keeping a mindful eye on them when they could be doing some other meaningful project.

I wonder who would be best to contact about this subject to help get those kokanee casualties at a minimum?

[Trout Tramp]

Perhaps a better way to do it would be getting fisheries to do the work themselves & use the money they earn to help pay the costs of operating the boat/boats.Unfortunately this is also unlikely to happen.