by Valorie Lennox The Review The 1.5-mile driftnet cast out by the Arctic Harvester snagged small blue sharks, squid, tuna, pomfret, sunfish, yellow fin, two dolphins, and a few small birds — but no salmon. And that was good news for a five-member technical crew, engaged in a six-week Department of Fisheries and Oceans research project on drifinet fishing. Trying to find out if squid fishery driftnels were also cat- ching salmon, the research team deployed a short drifinet and measured water temperature. and salinity along the squid fishery border. Taking the measurements on the first half-of the trip was Saani- chton resident Doug Yelland, who works at the Institute of Ocean - Sciences in North Saanich. He joined the chartered 150-foot Arctic Harvester in Nanaimo July 12 and stayed on the ship until it: reached Honolulu July 31. Although. the fishboat carried an eight-man-crew and the driftnet, it was dwarfed by the Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean squid fish- ery boats. Many of those ensured 250 ‘feet.and carried nets 20 to 30 miles - long, Yelland says. On the return - any. | Prices. ‘ Effective. “Sept 5-9/89 © “We Reserve - the Right Sharks snagged but salmon escape drifinet ip, the rescarch boat crew com- pared notes with the skipper. of a squid fishing boat, who scoffed at the Arctic Harvester’s 1.5 mile driftnet. “He asked if they were fishing or just Out ona picnic, * Yelland says. The ship waveled west along the 43-deyree lautude boundary of the squid fishery, zig-zagging to the north and south to take readings and deploy the net. On the outward trip, the net was deployed cight or nine times. Yelland measured water temperature and salinity every six hours. The boundary: moves with the water (emperature, so on the retum trip the Arctic Harvester tested waters in the area of 41 degrees latitude. The water was warmer than usual this year, Yelland says: Ideally, water in the squid fishing areca should be too warm for sal- mon. If squid fishery boundarics are far enough south, the acciden- tal catching of salmon. in squid ’ driftnets is eliminated. “We didn’t find any salmon on the:whole trip, even on the return leg,”’ Yelland says. The crew used ~both driftnet and long-line fishing to try to'catch salmon. Eventually, the bin set aside on ‘deck to hold captured salmon was filled with water and used as crew hot tub. Although no salmon were ‘caught, cnough other species were netted to illustrate how indiscrim- inate drifinet fishing can be. The- relatively short net used by the Arctic Harvester picked up a wide range of fish. as well as a few birds that had become tangled in the | monofiliment lines. The two dolphins caught.in the net were tangled in layer after layer of mesh, Driftnets usually hang cight to 10 meters vertically and stretch for miles. One cstimate suggests enough driftnets are deployed every night to encircle the globe. — It took an hour to play out the Arcue Harvester’s driftnet and one to two hours, depending on the catch, to bring the net in. In addition to the potential catch of salmon by driftnets, problems are also posed by abandoned or lost. driftnets, called ghost nets, and illegal fishing for salmon using the nets. Yelland says the research project was intended to examine the legal squid fishery boundaries and to collect more information on drift- “net fishing... “To extrapolate anything from : one cruise is premature. You have . to study it long term.” But he notes. the crew. did jump to.one quick deduction after find-. TheReview Wednesday, September 6, 1989 — Ald - again,” DRAWING IN THE DRIFT- NET on the Arctic Har- vester,,crew members found o variety. of spe- cies Caught in the mesh including (inset) a dol- phin which had died after becoming tangled in the net. ing six-inch chunks bitten out: of | fish caught in the net overnight. ~The evening before, the crew had” woe been frolicking in the water off the’ - boat. “We didn’t go swimming Yelland says. WE PACK YOUR PURCHASES WITH FREE BAGS — BEEF PORTER TOUS ; | BEEF T-BONE — to Limit): | Quantities >. | “ ggsr BEACON AVE, _ Sidney By the Sea” ed E ENOL Ba 7. 65 kg" | BEEF | WING STEAKS... fs) Marat ‘Size 138's Sétig a | FRESH | CAUL-_ . 29 | ne 25 tb 59 FRESH B.C. or U. S. 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