Longtime marine fisherman Howard Gray is frustrated with the federal government鈥檚 management of the commercial sockeye harvest around Prince Rupert and afraid it will lead to two million dead fish that should have been caught in the ocean this year, he said on Aug. 3.

Gray has been commercial fishing on the North Coast for more than 60 years, primarily harvesting salmon and herring.

鈥淎 multi-million dollar travesty is happening as we speak. There鈥檚 going to be in excess of three million fish, sockeyes, going into the system, which is about two million more than there should be,鈥� he said.

Gray believes the rules that Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) announced regarding the commercial sockeye fishery were not in line with the high number of fish returning this year.

A notice pertaining to commercial fishing on July 28 and July 29 stated that fishermen could use a maximum net length of 100 fathoms (187.5 metres), which is considered a 鈥渉alf-length net.鈥� A second rule limited fishers to a 20-minute soak time, which refers to the maximum amount of time they are allowed to have their nets in the water from the time it is completely set to the time it begins to be retrieved.

Both of these rules limit the volume of sockeye commercial boats can harvest.

Gray is upset the fish are going to die without reproducing because with so many swimming up the river to spawn the streams will not be able to accommodate them, he said.

鈥淭he fish are going to end up in the Babine Lake. The majority of them will die. They won鈥檛 spawn, they close the fences off so you have a little bit of wild stock and the rest of it just dies in the lake. Well in excess of a million 鈥� they鈥檒l end up dying for sure. This happened before. They鈥檝e allowed too many fish in there and what it does, it screws up the next run,鈥� Gray said.

Donna MacIntyre, Lake Babine Nation鈥檚 Fisheries Director, defended the regulations saying they were put in place by DFO to protect the wild salmon stocks.

She explained that the ocean sockeye fishery is a mixed stock. There is both wild sockeye and enhanced sockeye.

The enhanced salmon come from artificial streams where humans manage the conditions, creating an ideal, manufactured environment for the fish to lay their eggs, she said.

鈥淪o all of a sudden, you鈥檝e got tons and tons of fish that have been produced from these artificial rivers, which are the spawning channels, and we get, like this year, a lot of fish back.鈥�

In comparison, the wild sockeye, which is returning to their natal streams in Lake Babine Territory, is in major danger, she said.

鈥淪o just imagine a pile of fish swimming together. Can you tell which one鈥檚 enhanced and which one鈥檚 not enhanced?鈥� MacIntyre posed.

The harvest regulations for commercial marine fishermen are in place, so they do not unintentionally target the wild stocks that swim alongside the enhanced fish, she said.

鈥淚 call the spawning channels a blessing and a curse because they produce lots of sockeye. It鈥檚 a curse because of this mixed stock fishery. But then we don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to happen in the future if all of a sudden these enhanced fish end up with a disease and they get it every year or something weird happens.鈥�

It鈥檚 her opinion that 鈥渨hen you mess with Mother Nature, it comes back. She bites you and gets you hard鈥�.

Gray doesn鈥檛 see the enhanced fish as being different from the wild stocks.

鈥淭hey are wild fish that go into a spawning channel. A spawning channel is like a ditch that has gravel and what, it鈥檚 not a hatchery鈥� Where it comes from is from the wild stock,鈥� he said.

After more than six decades on the water as a commercial fisherman, Gray said he didn鈥檛 even bother going to the fishery this year.

鈥淚 refuse to cut a net in half and the 20-minute set is ridiculous,鈥� he said.