The Department of Fisheries and Oceans came under fire yesterday for allegedly mismanaging last year's northern B.C. fishery.

The Watershed Watch Salmon Society claims DFO succumbed to political pressure and allowed over-fishing at the mouth of the Skeena River.

Gillnet boats fished 29 days last summer, which is more than twice the 10-year average, and contributed to increased by-catch of non-targeted species and dangerously low returns to many of the Skeena River tributaries, said Vicky Husband with the WWSS.

The WWSS said DFO's own documents, which were obtained through a Freedom of Information request, reported a lack of enforcement for fishers not in compliance with conservation standards.

Also among the files was an e-mail from Steve Cox-Rogers of DFO's stock assessment division to Dana Atagi, head of the fish and wildlife section of the B.C. Ministry of Environment, which reads: "The real issue for me is that we said we would fish selectively to minimize harvest impacts on non-target species and we caved under pressure."

The same e-mail also states the mayor of Prince Rupert flew to Vancouver and met with DFO to have the season extended into September.

"The allegations are there was political interference, which is wrong. We make management decisions based on fish abundance," said David Einarson, DFO's area chief of resource management of the north coast yesterday.

"Every year there is lobbying for more or less fishing time. We're kind of used to that, and that happens, but we can't let it distract us," he said, adding Cox-Rogers is entitled to his opinion, but may not have had the entire picture.

WWSS is calling for an independent investigation into the 2006 season to make sure the same mistakes aren't repeated. In the meantime, DFO is stepping up the number of officers patrolling the Prince Rupert area for this year's fishery.