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[Rodney]

https://www.interior-news.com/news/fishing-code-of-conduct-being-finalized-for-haida-gwaii

[Ry the fly guy]

Is there a link to the whole thing? I can't seem to find it in this article. Very interesting to ban catch and release on Haida Gwaii, I wonder what impact it will have on the true giant (45lb+) Chinooks.

[RalphH]

https://www.interior-news.com/news/fishing-code-of-conduct-being-finalized-for-haida-gwaii

my security software flags that link as hazardous.


Don't think those 45lb plus chinook are getting any bigger if they are released.

[Wiseguy]

Wow! Banning of catch and release fishing. The natives don’t like “playing with your food” and consider that practice unethical!  Wonder how that is going to affect the fishing lodges?

[wildmanyeah]

Hida is surrounded by lodges. Guys catch their limits in the first 2 mins of being there and then spend the next 10 hours catching and releasing fish.

Corporate catch and release trips to these lodges have gain in popularity and the lodges have spent the last 10 years promoting catch and release and even provided prizes for releasing tyee size fish.

Going to be lots of push back but I’m sure they will Agree as they really can’t operate those lodges without First Nation support.

[Ry the fly guy]

my security software flags that link as hazardous.

The link Rod provided works fine, I'm wondering if there is a link to the actual so called, "code of conduct" and not just an article talking about it

Don't think those 45lb plus chinook are getting any bigger if they are released.

Pretty sure any fish that weighs more than 45lbs had to, at some point, weigh 45lbs. Or do they just magically appear??

Thanks for the helpful reply Ralph /s

[RalphH]

The link Rod provided works fine, I'm wondering if there is a link to the actual so called, "code of conduct" and not just an article talking about it

Pretty sure any fish that weighs more than 45lbs had to, at some point, weigh 45lbs. Or do they just magically appear??

Thanks for the helpful reply Ralph /s

sorry but I don't think that a fish 45lbs or more that is returning to it's natal stream following a short stop in waters off Haida Gwaii are putting on much more weight...that was the meaning of my statement. Wasn't sure what your meaning was. You think all the fish that size caught there get released?

Some of the guides up there have already adopted the practice - once you catch your limit of salmon you can fish for something else or beach combing, exploring etc.

[Ry the fly guy]

sorry but I don't think that a fish 45lbs or more that is returning to it's natal stream following a short stop in waters off Haida Gwaii are putting on much more weight...that was the meaning of my statement. Wasn't sure what your meaning was. You think all the fish that size caught there get released?

Some of the guides up there have already adopted the practice - once you catch your limit of salmon you can fish for something else or beach combing, exploring etc.

A ban on c&r will make it illegal to release a giant fish, something that many (but not all) view as the right thing to do. I am wondering how this will effect the amount of big fish that get to spawn.

Obviously c&r has some level of mortality, maybe this will reduce the amount of overplayed/dead fish that end up being released.

Just wondering other’s opinions on this. Maybe it will be a good thing overall for the fishery, maybe not.

[RalphH]

here is an alternative source of the story that passes my web browser "sniff" test

https://www.wellandtribune.ca/ts/news/canada/2020/12/14/fishing-code-of-conduct-being-finalized-for-haida-gwaii.html

the original error message was that the https security certificate is not signed by a recognized third party...much like this site which isn't https certified.

According to the link above  "The Haida Nation does not support using catch-and-release to fish for entertainment...refraining from targeting the largest fish...take only what you need".

Seems to me this code does not exclude releasing fish where it's mandated by law or where an individual angler releases fish for conservation reasons -such as not targeting the largest fish but I guess that's arguable.

Without some form of censure, codes of ethics or conduct are more or less useless IMO. If you read the Angling ethics listed in the Provincial Synopsis it's not hard to realize most anglers don't even know about it let alone follow it in any form. Those suggestions also include "limit your harvest to your needs" and "limit catch and release".

The popularization of catch and release was originally intended to benefit the fish and in the long run anglers but was not intended to extend the fishing time or daily catch possibility for anglers. Staying on the water the entire day catching as many fish as could possibly be done was not part of the idea.

[Blood_Orange]

I'd support a ban on C&R salmon fishing (with fine details to be worked out to account for "largest fish" scenarios).

[IronNoggin]

Hyprocrisy Re-defined

Where does it end? The business of playing with our food is wearing thin. Have any of the Haida been to Witset on the Bulkley to witness the abuse steelhead (and sockeye and coho) are subjected to courtesy of their Wet’suwet’en neighbours whom we pay handsomely to conduct what is sold as stock assessment? Why aren’t the Haida recommending all those regulations pertaining to FN fisheries along the Fraser (i.e catch and release for gill net caught specimens of multiple endangered species) be replaced by closures? After all, the recreational fisheries are closed. Why is conservation applicable to one user group but not another?

When are we going to see the governments we elected stand up and represent all of us instead of conferring special status to a minority who don’t own public resources? Enough is enough!

http://steelheadvoices.com/?p=2300

[Blood_Orange]

"Where does it end? The business of playing with our food is wearing thin. Have any of the Haida been to Witset on the Bulkley to witness the abuse steelhead (and sockeye and coho) are subjected to courtesy of their Wet’suwet’en neighbours whom we pay handsomely to conduct what is sold as stock assessment? Why aren’t the Haida recommending all those regulations pertaining to FN fisheries along the Fraser (i.e catch and release for gill net caught specimens of multiple endangered species) be replaced by closures? After all, the recreational fisheries are closed. Why is conservation applicable to one user group but not another?"

It's okay to try to fix part of the problem without fixing the entire problem at once. The article Nog linked is an excellent example of a debate tactic called Whataboutism: "... attempts to discredit an opponent's position by charging them with hypocrisy without directly refuting or disproving their argument."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism

A more honest way to think about the issue might be "If all of the measures proposed in that article were implemented, would I support closing C&R salmon fishing in Haida Gwaii?"

[RalphH]

whataboutism - it's very similar to the argument that FN communities don't deserve any special rights or privileges because before the blessed English came here and gave them the Kings Law, the Kings religion and the Kings speech they practiced slavery meanwhile forgetting so did the blessed English and Canadians at the time.

Opposition to "catch and release" isn't a FN universal value. It seems to be one big with elders and traditionalists but I have certainly met FN sports anglers who release fish they don't want. HG was also one of the first locales to go completely c&r on wild steelhead largely on local initiatives and I would bet some sizable segment of the local Haida community agreed with that.

[Tylsie]

To just chalk it IronNoggin's post to "whataboutism" does it a disservice. The article is asking a very specific question. How, in the exact same water, catching the exact same fish, can C&R be praised in one sector and reviled in another? It is a legtimate question. But one that will never be answered. Similar to the assertion that C&R of large breeding halibut has dire consequences but the killing and processing of them by the commercial fleet doesn't. Some of life's greatest mysteries.

As far as the code of conduct goes; it is more or less an attempt to throw a bandaid on a sucking chest wound. Stocks are declining. They have been for years but in the last 15 they have collapsed. Handing control over to First Nations won't reverse that; it will shift the blame though, and cause major fighting among the various bands (issues between Upper and lower Fraser Bands are already becoming heated) and I guess that may be the end game itself. Until Canada wants to actually address the issues facing salmon; enact real change, this will accomplish nothing.

[rymack]

I could be wrong and stand to be corrected but I believe that the Haida pursued this policy when they took over west coast resorts ( which they closed in 2019 ... I don't know the details surrounding  why they closed but i am not at all surprised as the Fishing Lodge business is a big money business with a ton of variables that can be beyond your control).

The idea that you would have to completely stop fishing if you hit your limits of fish you got to the boat seems to be extremely short sighted. What happens if you land 4 pinks when targeting Spring? At times the pink /coho are pretty thick and suicidal on lures etc. What happens when you catch your limit in 30 minutes? you go jig up every other possible species you can retain for the day? what happens to the sole/flounder/greenling/rockfish etc populations?What if you land a monster spring ? Take it out of the gene pool?( though as I understand it a monster sized spring doesn't necessarily make monster sized offspring ..for instance they could be natural triploids etc)

One of the things that has always made me shake my head about the Haidas attitude toward that area is that most of the stock along the west coast transit through that area during the year. Why do they assume its all of there's to manage and make decisions on?

They are also the people who took it upon them selves to dump 100 tonnes of iron sulfate into the ocean without approval from DFO in a attempt to "fertilize" the oceans.