Download Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

GOBIERNO DE CHILE
SUBSECRETARIA DE PESCA
Managing Populations of newly established Chinook
Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in Chile: balancing
a sustainable fishery with societal demands
Doris Soto, Ivan Arismendi, Marcelo García and Fernando Jara
History of Salmonid Introductions
• By late 19 Century, Chilean authorities considered that
many water ways offered empty niches suitable for
introductions of recreational species (trout and salmon)
• 1890-1930: First attempts (brown and rainbow trout,
Atlantic and Chinook salmon) for recreational fishing
– Eggs from hatcheries in Europe and North America
• 1960-1980: Rainbow and brown trout; Pacific salmon for
developing a canning industry
• 1980-to the present: Exponential development of the
aquaculture industry
Chile is a very long and slender
Country, separated by regions from
North to South.
Chile is close to an “island-country”
All major watersheds in Chile
are short, running from the
Andes to the Pacific Ocean
Salmonid and native species abundance
From North to South by 2000
0,54
0,45
0,40
0,35
0,25
Salm
0,20
Nat
0,15
0,10
0,05
39
O
41O
42
O
(Soto et al 2006)
Rasm
Serr
Ñire
Yelc
Chep
Horn
Puel
Petr
Maul
Llico
Buen
0,00
Valdi
ind/m2
0,30
The relevance of recreational fisheries
• Recreational fishing in Chile has become
a relevant driver of tourism generating
opportunities for rural employment and
livelihoods
• Incomes from recreational fisheries are
not well estimated but could be in the
order of hundreds of millions USD for
the country
• Recreational fisheries has also have an
impact in the increasing recognition of
ecosystem services by native forest and
waterways
• Until 2000 the main target species were
Rainbow and Brown trouts
A new comer: the Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
Most recent invasion success of Chinook
Feb-2011
Apr-2012
Dec-2009
42 lb
Nov- 2010
33 lb
In some basins can be more than 50% of the catches and more than 90% of the biomass
Recent studies indicate that the origin is
polyphyletic
Chinook Salmon expansion
2014
(Soto et al, 2006)
(Correa &Gross, 2008)
Artisanal fishermen are catching
Chinook in estuaries and at the sea
• Wild capture Chinook are now common
at local markets (Valdivia, Temuco)
• This is becoming an important harvest,
more so, considering overfishing of
other native resources in the coastal
marine environment
• But commercialization of non farmed
salmon is illegal according to current
Chilean legislation
• Local authorities are now requesting to
formally open a fishery for Chinook
salmon
The Salmon Farming Industry is Expanding
US$ 4 billions (2014)
Often robbed salmon goes to local markets
Therefore salmon farming opposes to opening
fishery
Arismendi et al. (2014)
Chinook salmon are already
established and expanding their
distribution
Recreational fisheries
Capture fisheries
Is opening a
capture fishery
on the species a
good approach?
????
Conservation
Aquaculture
Way forward and recommendations
For the Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority
• Develop and implement EAF/EAA management
plans for some of the watersheds and coastal zones
through transparent and participatory decision
making
– Need of political will to face the issues, Fisheries
administration to generate/modify legal frameworks
– Agreeing on socioeconomic, environmental and
governance objectives of a Chinook fishery (both
recreational and capture), recognising the trade-offs in
different time/spatial scales
– Establishing a well design monitoring system of the
chinook populations and associated native fauna to
input in the management plan on permanent basis