SkeenaWild Conservation Trust (SWCT) recently developed an app that they hope will reduce the amount of misidentification of species fisherman are annually being charged with.
“Species misidentification is common, particularly among newer anglers. I don’t know of any published statistics related to misidentification, but every year there are people charged who claim to have misidentified their catch,” said Johannes Edinger, developer of the app for SkeenaWild Conservation Trust.
The app allows recreational fishermen to find the right area to get the best river fishing spots, get local marine weather including tides, wind velocity, weather visibility, see mapped regulations like Rockfish conservation areas, access to GeoBC, marine charts, as well as species identification.
Edinger said that so far 1591 users have downloaded the app, which is only available for Apple devices at the moment.
“So far, a total of 1220 users from Canada, 204 from the United States, 31 from Germany, 27 from Italy,and 18 from the United Kingdom have downloaded the app,” said Edinger.
A majority of users use the service on their iPhone, while seven per cent of users have been recorded to use their iPad and two percent using their iPod.
SkeenaWild Conservation Trust is a regional initiative located in Terrace B.C. that works towards making the Skeena watershed a global model of ecological and economic sustainability.
According to the SWCT Facebook page, the Skeena watershed in northwest B.C. is one of the last remaining large, intact wild salmon ecosystems in the world.
“For millennia, First Nations people successfully co-existed with the Skeena Watershed and its resources. Since contact, wild salmon have declined significantly, with fewer benefits flowing to local communities,” says the SWCT Facebook page.
In response to the decline, SWCT was formed in 2007 to counter these effects through education and resources.
“Currently, government agencies responsible for wild salmon are under enormous pressure from a wide range of interests. Dissatisfaction exists among First Nations, commercial fishers, commercial angling guides, recreational fishermen and other citizens, all of whom are struggling with declining wild salmon runs,” says SWCT.
For more information visit SWCT visit their website at http://skeenawild.org/ and to be a part of the initiative download the app on your device at the Apple App Store and search for SkeenaWild - Fishing in British Columbia.