Plain language

Glossary

The terms DFO uses in regulations and notices, translated once so you don't have to decode them every time.

6 total
Barbless hook

A hook with no barb, or with the barb pressed flat -- required gear in most BC tidal salmon fisheries. Makes releasing a fish faster and less harmful, which matters for catch-and-release/non-retention rules.

CPUE (catch per unit effort)

A count of fish caught per standardized amount of fishing effort -- e.g. per net-day at the Albion test fishery. It's an index of relative abundance, not a raw fish count, and it is explicitly unverified/provisional data.

Daily limit

The maximum number of a given species you can keep in one calendar day, per the regulation in effect right now for your zone -- distinct from possession and annual limits.

Escapement

The number of adult salmon that survive to reach their spawning grounds -- i.e. the fish that "escaped" fishing and predation. NuSEDS reports this after a season ends, so it's always historical, never a live number.

Retention

Whether you're allowed to keep a caught fish. "Non-retention" means you must release it immediately, even if the species is technically "open" for other reasons like bycatch handling.

VO number

A Variation Order number -- the legal instrument DFO uses to change a fishing rule in-season via a Fishery Notice, overriding the baseline regulation until it expires or is superseded.