VANCOUVER -- A native band that says it is just reasserting its right to a traditional fishery has stirred up controversy on one of British Columbia's most famous trout fishing lakes.
Stung by the criticism of sports anglers, the Skeetchestn Indian Band this week is trying to head off conflict over rainbow trout on Tunkwa Lake.
The lake, 40 kilometres southwest of Kamloops, was the site of the 1993 World Fly Fishing Championships. It is a popular destination for fly fishermen from around the world, most of whom practise catch and release, a conservation ethic that has helped make Tunkwa Lake the most productive fishing lake in B.C.
However, some of the trout released alive by the sports anglers this spring may have ended up in native nets, leading to a clash of values.
"If we don't do something then there could be a conflict and we are totally against that. We don't want a conflict with anybody," Chief Eddy Jules of the Skeetchestn band said.
Chief Jules said the band is planning a number of actions, including handing out pamphlets that explain its fishing practices.
"We want to educate people and let them know what we're doing, so there is no conflict. I think a good thing would be to fish and have a barbecue with some of the people that are concerned," he said.
He said the band is also planning a ceremony at Tunkwa Lake Provincial Park in an attempt to improve relations with the sports fishermen.
"There'll be singing, dancing and a few prayers. And maybe they will set some nets. I really don't know if they'll do that because the [trout] run is running down. We really just want to show people we are not up there raping the system.
"You know every family goes up there and catches so many and that's it. The most I've heard is one of our community members catching 30 fish. That isn't very much when you look at our community and families. That sustains us until the first run of salmon that come up the Thompson River," he said, estimating a total of about 200 trout have been taken in nets set at a stream that flows out of Tunkwa into nearby Leighton Lake.
Although the 296-hectare lake was made when ranchers dammed a creek to store water for irrigation, Chief Jules said a much smaller lake originally existed there and the Skeetchestn traditionally fished it in the spring.
The band has not been at the lake much in recent years because native fishermen have been concentrating on other lakes in the area. But they never gave up their interest in fishing Tunkwa Lake.
"This spring we are reaffirming and reasserting our aboriginal rights to fish up there," he said.
Said band councillor Terry Deneault, in response to the criticisms boiling up on a sports anglers' Internet site: "These people do not understand that we fish to feed our families, not just for fun."
One posting in the Fish BC chat room read, "Natives have been netting the spawning channel between the campsites. . . . They are not just netting, but are also trampling on sensitive habitat.
"They are also damming the creek so that the fish cannot escape. This is taking place during the day. At night, they are damming the top of the waterfall between Tunkwa/Leighton and lamp lighting, netting in that area.
"They have destroyed the 'No Fishing' signs -- throwing them in the bush. . . . They are littering -- garbage left all over the place. They are lighting fires on the grass, not in permitted areas or within the legal fire rings."
Chief Jules said the postings on the website are unfair comments by misinformed people.
"On the Internet there were some statements saying we're up there destroying the habitat and fishing out all the fish. We don't do that. That isn't how we look after the environment."
Georgi Abbot, who runs the Logan Lake Fly Shop, said there has been concern and confusion over the native fishery.
"Trout fishing in the lakes around here has been fabulous this spring," she said. "People have been catching a lot of fish and everyone coming in the shop has been happy. But there is concern about the impact the native fishery might have on Tunkwa Lake."
Ms. Abbot said native and non-native fishermen should work together to share the lake and make sure the fishery is healthy for all.
Ian McGregor, the provincial government's fish and wildlife section head, said the native catch does not pose any conservation concerns at its present level. "They don't impact the lake to any significant degree."
He said sports fishermen put in about 20,000 angler days on Tunkwa (one angler fishing for one day equals an angler day) and they kill an estimated 7,500 trout.
Sports fishermen are allowed to kill up to six trout a day on the lake -- which would be a total harvest of 120,000 fish if every angler killed the limit -- but most sports anglers release their catches.
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Topic: Native nets in Tunkwa? (Read 3641 times)