Wild Salmon Center Announces New Protected Area in Russia

The Wild Salmon Center (WSC), Khabarovsk Wildlife Foundation (KWF), and other partners have succeeded in winning the approval of the Tugursky Nature Reserve, which will protect nearly 80,000 acres of critical habitat within the Tugur Watershed in the Russian Far East’s Khabarovsk Region. A regional decree was signed by the Governor of Khabarovsk to establish the Reserve.

The Tugur River flows through the Tuguro-Chumikanskiy region of Khabarovskyi Krai (territory) and into the Sea of Okhotsk. The Tugursky Nature Reserve will safeguard key habitat for over 20 species of fish including chum and pink salmon and the threatened Siberian taimen as well as brown bears, foxes, Blakiston’s fish owl, osprey, Steller's sea and white-tailed eagles.

“This achievement would not be possible without the understanding and support of the local communities, including the Evenki indigenous people, the scientific community who helped develop justifications for this protected area, and the Wild Salmon Center and their long-standing commitment to salmon conservation,” said Alexander Kulikov of the Khabarovsk Wildlife Foundation.

The Tugur is a global stronghold for Siberian taimen (Hucho taimen), which are a member of the trout and salmon family found in Russia and Asia. Siberian taimen are the biggest of the taimen family with the largest recorded specimen weighing 231 pounds and measuring nearly seven feet.

Tugur taimen can reach lengths of over six feet and weigh up to 170 pounds and are in a special category because they are one of only a few taimen populations that feed on adult Pacific salmon. The creation of the Reserve will also help protect strong salmon runs: the river currently supports a productive commercial fishery including a 170 metric ton chum salmon catch.

In 2012 Siberian taimen were assessed range-wide as Vulnerable on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List. The assessors concluded that the creation of freshwater protected areas was the most urgent conservation action needed to recover the species. Over the years WSC has been serving an important role in supporting taimen conservation and assessment work, partnering closely with IUCN.

“Creation of the Tugursky Reserve is an example of successful cooperation between NGOs, government agencies, and municipalities of the Khabarovsk Region,” said Mariusz Wroblewski, WSC’s Western Pacific Program Director. “This accomplishment would not be possible without the long-term commitment of some of our most dedicated supporters, including the Turner Foundation and the US Forest Service’s International Program.”

The Tugur is also a sport fishing destination. The establishment of this new protected area will provide an opportunity to demonstrate new low-impact angling techniques, including the use of single, barbless hooks.

“I couldn’t think of a better place to create a protected area to safeguard this species,” said ecologist and National Geographic Explorer Zeb Hogan. “There is virtually no human footprint there, offering the rare opportunity to effectively control habitat and fishery impacts that are pervasive throughout this region.”

The Wild Salmon Center has been working with partners to conserve key salmon ecosystems in the Russian Far East since the 1990s. In that time WSC has helped establish four protected areas in addition to the Tugursky Nature Reserve, including the Vostochny Refuge on Sakhalin Island, the Kol River Salmon Refuge on the Kamchatka Peninsula, and the Koppi River Nature Preserve and Shantars Island National Park in Khabarovsk. Together they represent over two million acres of protected wild salmon ecosystems in key geographies throughout the Russian Far East.

Source: http://www.wildsalmoncenter.org/press/Tugur_PR.php

HarborWare joined the Wild Salmon Center in 2014 as a corporate partner.

Fisherman Reels in $11,000 in Cash at the Roche Harbor Salmon Classic

Photo by Tony Floor

The weekend of February 6, nearly 350 fisherman from all over Washington State came to Roche Harbor on 100 different boats to compete for $25,000 in cash and prizes. In addition, Roche Harbor guaranteed $30,000 in cash on top of the first place winnings if a "30 pounder" was caught. 

172 Chinook were caught in all; the winning one 20.2 lbs caught by Andy Holman. The fish was caught on Friday, the first day of the event. Andy took home $11,000 in cash for his catch.

The Roche Harbor Salmon Classic is part of the year-long, annual Northwest Salmon Derby Series.

October, Fishing and Breast Cancer Awareness

October is Breast Cancer awareness month. To many, it will mean Halloween, the opening of deer season, maybe a vacation. For me, it’s 31 days of unforgettable memories of what fishing meant to my mom. It was her therapy.

Big or small, her eyes lit up with each catch. In her darkest time, her biggest battle was being fought. Each fish gave her simple joy, as she battled cancer. Fishing was her time think about anything except treatments, medicine, or her chances of survival.

Fishing means a lot of different things to each of us. To her, it was the escape that led to the escape of a disease she bravely fought each day. Each cast was another chance to win.

Her passion of fishing burns inside of me everyday. Call it an addiction, or what have you, but I like to call it honor. Mom’s last words to me were, “Always make sure your boat matches your truck.” Yes M’am.

Mom never seen me win big, or my son catching his first fish.

So, next time you hit the water, relish that moment, enjoy your time to escape, and don’t take it too seriously. Support Breast Cancer awareness. You never know, you just might help someone win.

By: Jason Baggett

Gigging for Suckers, Southwest Missouri’s Little Known Outdoor Activity

It was a frigid cold January night and my father-in-law convinced me to accompany him on a quest for the holy grail of suckers.  Armed with a long stick that looked more like a smaller version of Poseidon’s spear, he was determined.  I am always up for an adventure and was definitely game for catching fish by plunging a spear into the water!  Although I secretly wandered if this quest was something similar to a “snipe hunt” and the real sucker was me.

Believe it or not, suckers do exist, although there is nothing special about them.  Gigging for suckers originated in Southwest Missouri; today it’s not nearly as popular.  Suckers are a relatively small, bony fish that are nearly impossible to cook and eat by the novice.  You also have to endure some harsh winter elements just to catch them.  However, as one suckerette might put it, gigging for suckers is all about the hunt.

The reason you gig for suckers in the middle of the night in January is because this is when the creeks and rivers are most clear.  It’s also the Missouri government mandated gigging season.  Suckers come out at night and sleep in large vulnerable packs, making them far too easy to catch.  The most dedicated suckerette will weld a guard rail around his jon boat and attach industrial spot lights pointing down into the water, illuminating all of the helpless victims.  My first time gigging was on one of these well-equipped jon boats.

By the time our boat came upon the first school of suckers, it was late and I was too cold to even care, it was around 15 degrees after all.  I was thinking this silly fish is so unimportant that the only season it is granted is in the dead of winter.  However, amid my debbie downer syndrome, with the first throw of the spear, we pulled one in.  Let me tell you, the excitement and adrenaline you feel while holding this stick with a flopping fish on the end is beyond explanation!  Within the first hour we were spearing and pulling in fish of biblical proportions.  When the night came to an end we had buckets of them.  For us, it was only appropriate to clank a drink in a ceremonial manner to christen our catch.

Unfortunately our night of entertainment had to be at the expense of the suckers’ pain and suffering.  This is a sport definitely unsanctioned by PETA.  We did attempt to cook the fish the following day so it wasn’t completely in vain.  Cooking suckers is an art; we failed miserably and wound up eating Captain D’s instead.  Gigging for suckers was one for the record books and is definitely something everyone should try.

By: Dave Darr