This year, the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC (the Society) is providing $415,269 to support 24 projects that benefit freshwater fisheries – both wild and stocked – around the province.
Since 2015, the Society has worked with fisheries biologists from the provincial government to identify and fund projects that develop, enhance, and protect recreational fisheries in small lakes, large lakes, and rivers. Funds to support the work come from freshwater angling licence fees. To date, the Society has approved over $9 million and funded more than 500 projects towards these goals. Projects funded by this initiative cover a range of areas including angler access and infrastructure improvement, habitat restoration and enhancement, fisheries stock assessments and monitoring, guardians on large lakes and rivers, angler effort and satisfaction research, aquatic invasive species programs, and stock recovery.
Funding is based on a proposal review process where joint provincial-Society committees assess and prioritize projects based on the funding’s objectives:
- Enhance the fishing experience
- Attract and maintain public participation in recreational fishing
- Maintain and improve the variety of fishing options available to the public
- Maintain and restore healthy wild and enhanced fish stocks to support freshwater fisheries
- Seek opportunities to support shared stewardship initiatives
- Improve delivery of the freshwater fisheries program
Images (L to R): Rod Hsu, T. Jensen
Projects allocated funding in 2024-25
2024-25 marks the tenth year of the program. A total of 14 small-lakes projects, six large-lakes projects, and four rivers projects were funded and are currently underway.
Some of the projects include:
- Funds to support restoration and protection of an important fish-bearing tributary to Okanagan Lake and Columbia Basin (Penticton Creek) that flows through the urban core of the City of Penticton
- Evaluation of angler effort on priority small lakes in the Omineca, Cariboo, and Kootenay regions
- Evaluation of the Upper St. Mary River bull trout population to inform management decisions and evaluate current regulatory strategies in the watershed
- Evaluation of effort response to improved lake access across the province
- Biological assessments of priority small lakes across the province to ensure that stocking and regulatory approaches are continuing to support quality fishing
- Fertilization of four low-productivity small lakes on Vancouver Island to enhance stocked kokanee and rainbow trout fisheries
Middle: Fisheries staff spent significant time during the 2023-24 field season conducting basin-reconnaissance work to identify critical bull trout habitat and use in primary upper St. Mary River tributaries. Image: D. Koller
Right: The objective of the Cariboo Region bull trout acoustic assessments is to obtain a better understanding of which tributaries are utilized by these fish, their relative abundance, and their general distribution.
2023-24 funded projects
To see the summary reports of projects funded by the Society in 2023-24, explore the links below.
Other initiatives
You can also explore other work undertaken by the Society by navigating to the News page and, on the green “Filter by” bar, applying the “Conservation” and “Science & Research” categories. An example of one initiative you will find under “Community” news is the installation of accessible fishing docks, including a dock at Wood Lake and another at Stewart Lake. These docks help to address the need for safe and reliable fishing access.
Author: Staff, Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC