A net cannot choose its catch.
Gillnets targeting salmon can also intercept other salmon stocks and white sturgeon. The catch may be released, but encounter and handling still carry risk.
nogill.net · Fraser River stewardship
NO GILLNET
The name is the mission. The Fraser carries distinct salmon runs, white sturgeon, and whole communities. nogill.net calls for a transition away from gill nets on the mainstem toward fishing that can better protect non-target fish.
The Fraser near HopePhoto: Emma0mb / CC BY 4.0 · cropped and toned
01 / Why it matters
One river.
Many lives.
The challenge is specific: reduce avoidable harm to non-target fish while respecting the people and fisheries connected to the Fraser.
Ancient fish. Modern pressure.
For long-lived sturgeon, preventing injury and mortality matters across generations.
Move beyond mainstem gillnets.
Shift toward selective, accountable fisheries that can protect vulnerable fish and sustain access to harvest.
The mixed-stock problemMany salmon populations.
Many salmon populations.
One migration corridor.
Fraser salmon return from different tributaries at overlapping times. A mainstem gillnet cannot identify a fish’s run before it catches it. Protecting weak returns calls for more precise methods and timing.
Sockeye, Adams River · CC0 / Wikimedia Commons
Improve now. Transition together.
Monitor nets closely and release non-target fish quickly while testing alternatives with Indigenous and commercial harvesters.
A warning from the watershed · Thompson steelhead
A legendary run on the edge.
Thompson River steelhead once supported a world-renowned fishery. Returns collapsed, and B.C. now treats Interior Fraser steelhead as an extreme conservation concern. These fish must pass through mixed-stock fishing areas on the way home.
Bycatch in Pacific salmon fisheries has contributed to the decline. Poor ocean survival and degraded habitat have also played major roles. The population persists, but the former fishery and its abundance are gone.
Read the steelhead story
COSEWIC’s 2018 emergency assessment classified Thompson steelhead as Endangered after a 79% decline over three generations. It identified commercial salmon bycatch and poor ocean survival as serious threats. In a November 2025 test-fishery update, B.C. forecast fewer than 19 Thompson spawners for spring 2026. That forecast has substantial uncertainty, yet the province assessed the probability of “Extreme Conservation Concern” at more than 97%.
How was the steelhead science changed?
Scientists challenged the edits
Documents released through Access to Information show that DFO officials changed the summary of a 2018 recovery assessment after scientific review. The B.C. Wildlife Federation and scientists involved in the process said the revised wording weakened the call to reduce fishing-related harm. A B.C. science team warned that the published summary downplayed salmon-fishery bycatch.
The listing decision
In 2019, the federal government declined to list Thompson and Chilcotin steelhead under the Species at Risk Act. Its published reasons weighed conservation measures, consultation, and projected social and economic effects of listing. Conservation groups allege that the softened science helped justify this decision; the released record does not establish that motive as fact.
Read the record
The B.C. Wildlife Federation investigation links the released documents. Compare DFO’s published assessment with the federal listing decision and reporting on scientists’ emails. The final DFO assessment still calls for fishing-related harm to be reduced as much as possible and identifies habitat and productivity as additional factors.
Potential spawners in spring 2026, according to B.C.’s test-fishery model.
This was a forecast, not a final count. The 95% credible interval was 5–435 fish. See B.C.’s latest updates.
02 / Follow the net · 01 of 03
A salmon net can meet more than salmon.
The Fraser is shared water. A fishing method designed for one catch can encounter another.
01 / Encounter
Fish move through the same channel.
When salmon and sturgeon share a stretch of river, a set or drifting net may catch a fish outside the target fishery.
02 / Release
Alive at release is only part of the story.
Time in gear and handling can affect survival. Fisheries and Oceans Canada says post-release mortality for non-target fish is typically higher in gillnets than in more selective gear.
03 / Response
Make every encounter count.
Monitoring, rapid release, and methods that allow unwanted fish to escape or be released alive can reduce harm and make decisions better informed.
03 / The evidence
Look closer.
Ask better questions.
The case for change is strongest when we separate measured impacts from gaps in the data.
6.2–
11.5%
11.5%
Estimated two-day mortality after capture in set gillnets in one lower Fraser sturgeon study.
This is a study estimate, not a present-day riverwide mortality rate. Drift-net estimates in the same study were 0–4.8%. Read the B.C. summary.Why focus on white sturgeon?
White sturgeon are long-lived and mature slowly. B.C.’s lower Fraser management material identifies bycatch in salmon fisheries among the threats to juvenile and subadult fish, alongside other pressures. Protecting fish through multiple life stages supports the population over time.
Does releasing a fish solve the problem?
Release is important, but a fish can be injured or die later. DFO notes that gillnet post-release mortality for non-target fish is typically higher than with beach seines, fish wheels, and hook and line. Short soak times, revival equipment, and prompt release help reduce risk where gillnets are used.
What about ghost nets and unattended gillnets?
Ghost nets are nets that have been lost, abandoned, or discarded. They can keep catching fish after their owners have lost control of them. An active gillnet left unattended is not technically ghost gear, but delayed checks can leave non-target fish entangled longer and reduce the chance of a healthy release.
Keep nets tended, use short soak times, secure and recover gear, and report lost or suspected abandoned nets. If you spot a net, note its location and report the concern to DFO; a visible net alone does not show whether it is lost or being fished legally.
DFO: What is ghost gear? · DFO: Short soak times and bycatch survival · DFO: Observe, Record, Report
What do we still need to know?
B.C. identifies gaps in monitoring of fishing effort and sturgeon bycatch, the effects of newer management measures, and delayed mortality after release. That is why consistent reporting and direct observation matter: they let people evaluate which changes actually work.
Is this about ending Indigenous fishing?
No. Indigenous food, social, and ceremonial fisheries are constitutionally protected. The aim is to reduce preventable bycatch through solutions shaped with the Nations and harvesters who know the river. DFO has supported First Nations-led selective fishing pilots on the Fraser. Different methods have different costs, site limits, and cultural implications.
04 / What helps
Stewardship is
a set of choices.
Practical measures can work together. The best mix depends on the river reach, the target fishery, and the people doing the work.
01 / Fishing methods
Test more selective gear.
Fish wheels, traps, and beach seines can offer ways to sort or release live catch. Fraser pilots are testing what is effective and workable in specific locations.
02 / On the water
Reduce time in gear.
When nets are used, active monitoring, short soak times, careful handling, and revival equipment can improve outcomes for non-target fish.
03 / Better decisions
Record every encounter.
Reliable bycatch and release information helps communities and managers see where the risk is highest and whether new measures help.
Fishing and responsibility
Respect rights.
Examine methods.
A food, social, or ceremonial purpose describes why people fish. Gear determines how fish are caught. Both deserve careful discussion.
Conservation and access belong in the same conversation.
Indigenous food, social, and ceremonial fisheries are constitutionally protected. Durable change must be shaped with Nations and harvesters, and account for the cost, location, and limits of each alternative. Read DFO’s Fraser fisheries overview.
What do net injuries look like?
A lower Fraser study includes photographs of sturgeon markings after set-net capture. View the study and images.
The Fraser sustains a living culture.
For Stó:lō communities along the lower Fraser, salmon and the river are bound to food, ceremony, identity, and community life. The Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre describes an annual First Salmon Ceremony that honours the returning fish and shares the first catch. River stewardship must be shaped with Stó:lō and other First Nations whose rights, knowledge, and responsibilities are connected to these waters.
Learn from the Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre
05 / Your part
Care for the river
you share.
Learn from the evidence. Support collaborative, selective fishing solutions. If you witness a suspected fisheries violation, record the location and details and report it to the right authority.
Explore Fraser selective-fishing projectsDFO: Observe, Record, Report
DFO’s 24/7 B.C. reporting line: 1-800-465-4336. A visible net is not, by itself, evidence of a violation.
Further reading
Read the primary sources.
- B.C. Lower Fraser white sturgeon planManagement background and research links
- B.C. knowledge, life history and threatsBycatch evidence, management measures, and gaps
- DFO selective fishing backgroundGear tradeoffs and post-release survival
- DFO B.C. Salmon Restoration Fund projectsFirst Nations-led selective fishing pilots