"Then And Now" Sport Fishing for Salmon in BC will air again on the Sportsman Channel Canada in September 2022

British Columbia’s recreational salmon fishery is world renowned. Every year for over a century anglers from around the globe join hundreds of thousands of British Columbians to try their luck at catching one of the five species of salmon found in the rivers and coastal ocean. 

 

Recreational salmon fishing has employed hundreds of thousands of people and contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to BC’s economy. It is an industry with organizations and regulations, but also one with colourful characters and many fish tales. 

  

The documentary, Then and Now: Sport Fishing for Salmon in British Columbia, will journey back to the exciting beginnings of recreational sport salmon fishing in BC, telling the story from the discovery of the Tyee Spit in Campbell River in 1896 and the days before the introduction of regulations. It highlights the heydays of the ’70s and ’80s, and explains the negotiations and compromises that have led to the fishing industry we have today. 

 

It introduces the five species of salmon that exist on BC’s coast and follows the remarkable life cycle of a salmon from its birth in one of BC’s freshwater river and lake systems, to its life in the ocean, then its journey back to its home river to spawn and die. It will discuss the technologies involved in salmon fishing and how they have been regulated and evolved over the years, as well as look into the inner workings of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and their system of hatcheries.