Regulation glossary

The maximum number of a species (most often Chinook or halibut) you can keep in a calendar year across every trip, tracked separately from any single day's or possession's limit.

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.

A species caught unintentionally while fishing for something else. Bycatch handling rules (e.g. immediate release) can apply even when the bycatch species itself would otherwise be closed or open.

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.

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.

The volume of water flowing past a point in a river per second, measured in cubic metres per second (m3/s). A more stable signal of a river's condition than water level alone, since level can vary with tide or channel shape.

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.

A fish with its adipose fin clipped, identifying it as hatchery-raised. Some retention rules only allow keeping hatchery-marked fish of a species, releasing any wild (unclipped) fish caught.

DFO's National New Salmon Escapement Database System -- the historical spawner-count records referenced by the escapement figures shown on the conditions hub, always a season or more behind real time.

The maximum number of a species you can have in your possession at once, whether just caught, in a freezer, or being transported -- distinct from and usually a multiple of the daily limit.

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.

A permanent, year-round closure to fishing for any bottomfish (rockfish, lingcod, and similar species) within a mapped area, regardless of the species-by-species status shown elsewhere on a zone page. Shown as an overlay on the zone map.

A minimum, maximum, or slot length a fish must fall within to be legally kept, usually measured in centimetres from nose to fork or tip of tail depending on the species.

A numbered subdivision of a DFO tidal management area (e.g. 9-1 through 9-12 within Area 9), used when a rule differs by specific location within one zone rather than applying to the whole zone.

A fishery open only very close to a river's mouth or within the river itself, late in a salmon run, once the stock composition is well enough understood to target it directly.

A small, standardized fishery (like the Albion test fishery on the Fraser) run specifically to produce a consistent catch-per-effort signal of how many salmon are moving through, not a public fishery itself.

Any saltwater area where DFO's tidal recreational fishing rules apply, as opposed to non-tidal fresh water (lakes, rivers, streams above tidal influence) where a different rulebook, federal for salmon or provincial for trout/char/kokanee, applies instead.

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.