Milestone Activities are designed to gather student research from each region in order to help other students to prepare for the treaty process. For instance, students in Seattle will publish information about Washington State salmon biology, habitat, culture, fisheries, and treaties as resources for the Vancouver, BC students who will serve as Washington State delegates in the Salmon Summit.
Look at Student Work to see what students have submitted for this Milestone Activity.
The Milestone for Fisheries asks students to submit the following information:
1. Supply the most recent commercial catch statistics by species and spawning system that are available for your state or province.
Optional: chart the statistics over an historical span.
The purpose for this activity is to record both the size of the species catch for each jurisdiction and, where possible, to indicate the origins of the fish caught. For instance, what are the numbers of Columbia River chinook that were caught in British Columbia? What were the numbers of Fraser River sockeye caught in Washington state? The information will be useful in the treaty negotiations. Teachers may take the opportunity to use this question to create lessons in statistical computation and representation, as well, with such questions as, "What proportion of the total catch is made up of coho salmon?"
Teachers may choose to gather statistics from the past to chart the rise and/or decline of the catch. Students will have to decide how to organize a legible chart that allows them to compare data. If teachers wish, they may engage students in a discussion of trends and different ways of making predictions.
2. Locate where the commercial fishery operates for each species, and when the runs occur.
Optional: locate fishing areas on a map.
By consolidating this information, students will continue to develop their portrait of commercial fishing operations in their area. They will see how much commercial fishing (and for which species) takes place in open waters and how much takes place in rivers.
3. Indicate which fishing methods are used for each salmon run (troll, purse seine, gillnet, etc.) and the harvest size of each (if available).
Optional: include a graph summarizing the findings.
This data will help to round our the portrait of commercial fishing by revealing the types of boats and equipment that are used to catch the different species and the relative size of the catches for each type of boat. Students may convert their findings into pie charts or other graphic representations.
4. Summarize the legal policy on aboriginal fishing in your region.
In the course of learning about salmon fisheries, students will become aware of the legal decisions and regulations covering First Nations fishers in their region. Students representing the different governments during the Salmon Summit need to share this information in order to understand fishing policies and practices outside of their own countries.
5. Supply the most recent aboriginal catch statistics (by species, if available).
Statistics for First Nations fishing are necessary to complete the survey of actual salmon capture numbers.
6. Supply sports fishing data, by species, for your region.
The salmon sports fishery does not capture nearly as many salmon as the commercial and aboriginal fisheries, but it does have an impact on the salmon population. In periods when certain fisheries are closed to commercial operations, sports fishers may be allowed to catch the restricted species. Sports fishers (and the lodges, guides, and tour operators they support) have a strong interest in the treaty process.
7. What restrictions are currently in place over commercial, aboriginal, and sports salmon fishing in your region and how long have they been in place?
In order to preserve salmon stocks, governments place significant restrictions on fishers. This question asks students to summarize the restrictions from the most recent year. Students might include the actual number of hours that commercial fisheries were open for the different stocks during their runs.
Teachers can submit Milestone conclusions in the Publication section.
