Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Lew Chater]

As Terry indicated, I was at the Williams Inquiry for 7 hours yesterday. While it was very interesting, it was also very frustrating. It becomes clear to me that the management of this resource i.e. salmon, is extremely complex and involves so many agencies, even Internationally (Pacific Salmon Commission) and use groups. It came out time and time again that the DFO doesn't have the resources needed to manage this complex resource. Some decisions have to made without proper scientific background, the enforcement branch is so short staffed and limited in their funding that they can't do their job properly.The enforcement staff have to work under "Protocols" that have been worked out by discussions with Native Bands that make it very difficult to enforce the law the same way for all user groups. Many decisions have been made at the upper level of DFO with very little apparent input from from the field as to whether this is a workable decision. I understand that many of the upper DFO directors etc, are in "acting positions", and there seems to be very little consistancy in the people who make these decisions. On top of all these problems, especially lack of funding, most departments in the DFO are looking at another approx. 20% cut again this year. You could just see the frustration in the faces of the various DFO field workers who are being hassled from all sides and yet are going to be able to even less this coming season.
Like Terry says, I don't know if this inquiry can ever come to a decision about the missing fish, but I hope that some progress can be made on how to manage the whole system better for our future.
Thanks to all the presenters from the Chilliwack area yesterday. It takes a lot of time and effort to do what you did. Thanks to Chris for his video tape of illegal nets that was shown even though Chris could not be there to present it.

[chris gadsden]

Thanks to Terry and Lew for their observations and for taking the time to attend the marathon.

I unfortunatley was under the weather with the flu and did not have the energy to handle the stress level and lenght of this meeting. I have to thank Frank for picking up the 15 video's I prepared for all 15 of the Salmon Inquiry committee members and showing the 11 minute clip I prepared for a public viewing.

Hopefully all the submissions made by the recreational anglers and other concerned citizens in the Chilliwack and other cities where these hearings were held will get to the Federal Government and they finally do something so as to prevent an escalation of tensions on the Fraser River this summer.