The Province is closing the sports fishery on most of North Vancouver’s Seymour River and its tributaries from Feb. 1, 2016, through to Jan. 31, 2017.

The closure extends from the top of Pool 91 downstream to the tidal boundary.

A December 2014 landslide is preventing steelhead, cutthroat, char and various salmon species from accessing spawning-and-rearing habitats in the upper portions of the river. As well, the action mirrors a Fisheries and Oceans Canada closure on salmon fishing on the river.

In the meantime, the Province is working with stakeholders on a slide-mitigation plan, and the group expects to have a fish fence in place in the lower Seymour River by the end of the year. The fence will intercept returning adult steelhead and salmon, which will then be moved upstream of the slide. Full mitigation of the slide could take approximately five years.

Quick Facts:

• Under the federal Fisheries Act, the Province is responsible for non-salmon freshwater fisheries, including sea-run steelhead, cutthroat and dolly varden.
• The federal government is responsible for First Nations fisheries, commercial and recreational fisheries in tidal waters, and salmon fisheries in non-tidal waters.