Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => Fishing-related Issues & News => Topic started by: poper on October 01, 2011, 07:53:08 PM
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I took a look CPR bridge to see how many anglers were out today, and It was packed, there were tugawars going on,pinks getting launched on the rocks and punted back in,people snagging 90% of fish caught. It was a joke! Other than that it was nice day on the river.
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I took a look CPR bridge to see how many anglers were out today, and It was packed, there were tugawars going on,pinks getting launched on the rocks and punted back in,people snagging 90% of fish caught. It was a joke! Other than that it was nice day on the river.
Are you sure it wasn't just 89%? ;D
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I took a look CPR bridge to see how many anglers were out today, and It was packed, there were tugawars going on,pinks getting launched on the rocks and punted back in,people snagging 90% of fish caught. It was a joke! Other than that it was nice day on the river.
another reminder why I don't plan to fish the vedder ... it would make me sick and ruin my day.
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another reminder why I don't plan to fish the vedder ... it would make me sick and ruin my day.
Agreed. Fished a different river for only over an hour and hooked into a few fish but lost them. Still rather fish this particular river even if I dont get the results that the Vedder would give me.
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I think there are about 20 kilometers of Vedder to fish. Virtually every salmon that enters the river passes by somewhere along that 20 km's.
I don't get why people go to where the crowds congregate, then come on forums like this and post how terrible the Vedder is.... I live in Chilliwack and am proud of what a gem of a river we have. Unfortunately it draws a lot of fishermen.
Avoid the crowds and you can enjoy a day on the Vedder as much as many of us do.
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Don't encourage them to spread out. ;)
There would be more empty runs available ;D
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It's mob mentality. Guys show up at the river and see other fishermen there, they assume that fishing is good so they join in. Others see this and they join in. Well, you get the picture.
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;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Don't encourage them to spread out. ;)
There would be more empty runs available ;D
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I was up by Peach rd yesterday with my daughter and witnessed some great behavior by these so called fishermen. One snagging ugly pinks that I wouldn't feed to my dog and of course keeping them. Unfortunately he was across the river so it was to hard to say anything to him. Another one beside me halls out a clean healthy doe pink onto the rocks bleeding, takes a picture and then gently releases it back into the water. Come on do you really think it's going to survive? I said to him as politely as possible having my daughter there that if he does not intend to keep the fish to release them in the water. Of course he pretends to understand me and continues on fishing. it really makes me think on why I my brought my daughter down there.
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;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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What I witnessed at the browne rd area today was stomach churning people killing foul hooked pinks, kids fishing with there fathers no bait not even the token piece of wool just a bare hook snagging pinks in 6 inches of water. Throwing garbage down on the river bank. I had to leave (after making a call to the dfo) it was to sickening to watch anymore.On a brighter note had a good morning fishing the thompson park area with like minded fisherman all short floating and doing there best to not to foul hook the pink salmon that where schooled up in the pools. >:(
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why cant the dfo just designate one officer to that stretch of river. Doesnt sound hard to do.....and they would be writing tickets all day long
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did they come
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Unfortunately this is just one of many disgusting and dissapointing stories from the Vedder. From an ethical standpoint I can't even comprehend the complete and utter disregard of something as important and sacred as the salmon, not to mention the lack of sportsmanship. Many of us can't and will never understand, and many of us see our recreational opportunities as a privilege and not a right, and there are many of us who contribute to the conservation and enhancement of our fisheries and educate themselves of the importance and fragility of our resources. I would personally gladly give up my salmon fishing privilege If it meant we could clean up the act of a certain few and bring respect back to the rivers in this region. Sadly, the conservation authority is under staffed and cannot be everywhere, perhaps there is more we can do? Learn to fish programs for adults, river watcher programs and more community involvement. Some of these things already exist in one form or another, just have to get the word out and get involved.
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I know some people may not agree with me, but its time to close retention of pinks on the Vedder for the year. We've had a good kick at the can with the Fraser and most of the pinks in the system now are too far gone to be considered "smokers". In my opinion, it should have been closed by the 15th of Sept. No, its not a conservation concern with respect to pinks, its a conservation concern with respect to other salmon. The DFO shows concern for threatened interior coho stocks by instituting bait bans on the fraser rightfully so) yet allows this gong show to perpetuate on the Vedder. Yesterday I saw another Cultus Lake sockeye dead in a pool caught by an angler thinking that it was a hatchery coho and yes I let him know what he did wrong (didn't have my phone with me to call it in).
In other rivers, we close off spawning channels and areas where spawing fish are stacked but in the Vedder, where pinks are spawning everywhere, its a free for all.
In the absence of increased enforcement on the river, this would be the only solution in my opinion.
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I couldn't agree more
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What I witnessed at the browne rd area today was stomach churning people killing foul hooked pinks, kids fishing with there fathers no bait not even the token piece of wool just a bare hook snagging pinks in 6 inches of water. Throwing garbage down on the river bank. I had to leave (after making a call to the dfo) it was to sickening to watch anymore.On a brighter note had a good morning fishing the thompson park area with like minded fisherman all short floating and doing there best to not to foul hook the pink salmon that where schooled up in the pools. >:(
Was there Friday before work for a few hours at a couple of different spots and witnessed the same things. I couple of guys "catching" there limit of pinks, walked by them and had a word and it did not seem to phase them at all!
Really slow day for me...guess I was used the wrong set-up! How dare do I use a short float, with barbless hooks! ;)
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What I witnessed at the browne rd area today was stomach churning people killing foul hooked pinks, kids fishing with there fathers no bait not even the token piece of wool just a bare hook snagging pinks in 6 inches of water. Throwing garbage down on the river bank. I had to leave (after making a call to the dfo) it was to sickening to watch anymore.On a brighter note had a good morning fishing the thompson park area with like minded fisherman all short floating and doing there best to not to foul hook the pink salmon that where schooled up in the pools. >:(
Wow... it's sad that all those dads are teaching their kids how to snag fish...
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I too witnessed the patheticness of the meat hungry "anglers". I was just upstream from the vedder crossing and the guy down from me was fishing with a bare hook and weight. Couldnt tell him he was wrong becuase he couldn't understand what I was telling him. Then a group of guys showed up and were casting and then ripping the hook back. They were speaking in a European language. Enough was enough and I made the call to RAPP.
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Good on ya, maybe if we flood the RAPP hotline we'll get our point across
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Good on ya, maybe if we flood the RAPP hotline we'll get our point across
I agree totally, if the violations don't get reported, DFO can't justify people extra resources out there to deal with these idiots. The more complaints, perhaps the more patrols and enforcement they can put on the Vedder.
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This is why i fish stillwater only. Quality fishing no hassles ;D
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I think that if we all call in violations we witness, more officers will be sent out to the hot spots. although I hate playing junior fish cop, I think its the only way to stop the snaggery and beakery
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The vedder is no secret, if they actually cared they would be there.
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Saw two Asian men snagging pinks in a puddle which was about a half foot deep. Cooler was right beside them and they were just dropping them in.
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This is why i fish stillwater only. Quality fishing no hassles ;D
imo you are missing out on some great fishing. It's beyond me why many of the people on here constantly fish the beek holes and then B*tch about the unethical methods. i've been fishing the vedder since late august and have yet to do much fishing within 50 yards of another angler unless I am there with a buddy. The meat holes of the Vedder live up to their rep but the rest of the river will give you some pretty good fishing opportunities.
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imo you are missing out on some great fishing. It's beyond me why many of the people on here constantly fish the beek holes and then B*tch about the unethical methods. i've been fishing the vedder since late august and have yet to do much fishing within 50 yards of another angler unless I am there with a buddy. The meat holes of the Vedder live up to their rep but the rest of the river will give you some pretty good fishing opportunities.
Shhhh.... ;D
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I think there are about 20 kilometers of Vedder to fish. Virtually every salmon that enters the river passes by somewhere along that 20 km's.
I don't get why people go to where the crowds congregate, then come on forums like this and post how terrible the Vedder is.... I live in Chilliwack and am proud of what a gem of a river we have. Unfortunately it draws a lot of fishermen.
Avoid the crowds and you can enjoy a day on the Vedder as much as many of us do.
I certainly agree what a gem that river is. For what its worth I have been fishing that river for a number of years and its taking a long time to learn how to avoid crowded areas - anywhere within easy reach of parking is crowded. Even spots that I knew about last year that were relatively uncrowded are no longer there because the river is constantly changing.
If you live in Chilliwack I can quite see how you would find those uncrowded areas by hiking in advance or whatever is necessary. If you don't live in the area it is far easier to gravitate to crowded areas just because it saves on time (..especially for people who can't get out all that often). Yesterday I took the whole day out just to explore the entire river from top to bottom to see if I could locate uncrowded spots that looked promising - I think I found a few areas but it requires a lot of work up front for someone less familiar with the river as in my case. I think that may answer the question as to why people gravitate to crowded areas.
One other thing I don't get is I have been watching people quite closely and I could not find one example of anybody fishing with his or her leader less than twice the depth of the water in any of the areas I was watching. I can only assume that none of the people from this forum were there yesterday ???
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Thoughtful post by Floater. Although I agree with alwaysfishin that there's always water away from the crowds, finding good water is difficult to do if you don't live in the area. The river changes from year to year, and finding that magic spot without crowds is hard to do when you have limited time on the water and you don't live nearby (i.e. you have a 9 - 5 job in Vancouver). I really found that out the hard way, now that I have 2 kids (one just 5 months old). It takes a long time to check out spots, and you end up sacrificing fishing time. Tough to do when you're a weekend warrior and you don't live in the area. I can see living in Chilliwack to be a great advantage to scouting out the river! I'm just lucky that I have good vacation benefits! :)
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its is hard to watch. i don't understand why there isn't more enforcement. with all the tickets they could have handed today,would have payed for 10 officers. why cant they make a guy who just rights tickets and doesn't have to do the investigating part, kinda like a bylaw enforcement. then call dfo when there someting serious. think of all the barbed tickets and no licence tickets they could have handed out. i bet people would volunteer for this position to help educate people. any enforcement would get people to think twice. on a better note managed to catch a 16lb spring on my new g-loomis pin rod on some pink roe. bring on the rain, move some fresh cohos in ;D
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unfortunately they can write all the tickets they want, its collecting the money that is the problem. It's not like icbc where they can force you to pay( unless its a huge fine).
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imo you are missing out on some great fishing. It's beyond me why many of the people on here constantly fish the beek holes and then B*tch about the unethical methods. i've been fishing the vedder since late august and have yet to do much fishing within 50 yards of another angler unless I am there with a buddy. The meat holes of the Vedder live up to their rep but the rest of the river will give you some pretty good fishing opportunities.
Let them stick to their hunny holes. ;D ;)
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imo you are missing out on some great fishing. It's beyond me why many of the people on here constantly fish the beek holes and then B*tch about the unethical methods. i've been fishing the vedder since late august and have yet to do much fishing within 50 yards of another angler unless I am there with a buddy. The meat holes of the Vedder live up to their rep but the rest of the river will give you some pretty good fishing opportunities.
Could'nt agree more HN. Was out today with a couple buddies and we had no problem finding a quiet spot and finding plenty of fish as well. We hooked into very few pinks as the roe we were using worked quite well for the jacks, coho's and one very large hatchery doe springer. We had lot's of fun, enjoyed a beautiful day and only encountered very few fishermen that left us all to ourselves.
Get out while the weather's fairly good and enjoy our beautiful land. Forget the beeks and all the other loser's that have no skill and no ethic's. I used to just get all worked up when I saw people do their sad stuff but now it's better and safer to instruct and advise than to raise my voice. I still raise my voice sometimes but only if the fellow is less than 6 ft. tall, (just kidding).
Life and enjoying it is a state of mind. If you're mentally prepared for what you know may occurr then if makes it a lot easier to enjoy your day. In other words, when you go to a fair expect to see a few clowns.
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I think there are about 20 kilometers of Vedder to fish. Virtually every salmon that enters the river passes by somewhere along that 20 km's.
I don't get why people go to where the crowds congregate, then come on forums like this and post how terrible the Vedder is.... I live in Chilliwack and am proud of what a gem of a river we have. Unfortunately it draws a lot of fishermen.
Avoid the crowds and you can enjoy a day on the Vedder as much as many of us do.
Huge number of the people fishing the Vedder are not fishermen, they are garbage.
I am beginning to understand why some people I know who have fished BC rivers for a long time don't even consider the Vedder a river.
I spent half a day in the lower river yesterday and fishermen were outnumbered 10:1 by the long liners. Out of 30 people who passed through the run there were 5 of perhaps who had leaders shorter than 2 feet.
Everyone else was using bouncing betties, and 2/0 hooks with 10 foot leaders.
They use nothing on the hook at all.
There were 7-8 adult springs taken from the run by the long liners, none of them legally.
There is snagging going on, flossing, rod passing to uncles, fathers, sons.
I've fished this run in previous years and have never seen this before.
Where are all the guys I was seeing the previous years???
The reason people gravitate to some runs is because those runs are good and accessible.
It's shameful what has allowed to happen to this "gem".
It's a disgrace of the DFO and the police that they don't have the mustard to jail this garbage.
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I think referring to a lot of the people as "garbage" is a little strong but I understand your frustration. Unfortunately people learn as I did by observing what others around them are doing and there is no worse way to learn than by watching people on the Vedder.
There is an easy solution to the whole problem. Just make the vedder catch and release only and I bet you all the snaggers would be gone for the most part. It would be a shame because I like to keep a nice fish as much as anyone but I like fishing even more.
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I think referring to a lot of the people as "garbage" is a little strong but I understand your frustration. Unfortunately people learn as I did by observing what others around them are doing and there is no worse way to learn than by watching people on the Vedder.
There is an easy solution to the whole problem. Just make the vedder catch and release only and I bet you all the snaggers would be gone for the most part. It would be a shame because I like to keep a nice fish as much as anyone but I like fishing even more.
Make it C&R and say goodbye to the hatchery. Enforcement is the only way.
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some good points raised here boys. I agree, most people on the vedder are just complete GARBAGE! there's no way to sugar coated it is what it is...I too have seen people using betties there and couldn't believe my eyes....wtf people, really?
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Huge number of the people fishing the Vedder are not fishermen, they are garbage.
I am beginning to understand why some people I know who have fished BC rivers for a long time don't even consider the Vedder a river. I have so many friends that think i'm crazy for fishing there, and probably don't want to fish with me just because I fish in a community of snaggers, despite the fact I fish ethically and with integrity
I spent half a day in the lower river yesterday and fishermen were outnumbered 10:1 by the long liners. Out of 30 people who passed through the run there were 5 of perhaps who had leaders shorter than 2 feet. It should be illegal to fish with leaders longer then 3 feet when it's not sockeye
Everyone else was using bouncing betties, and 2/0 hooks with 10 foot leaders. gross.
They use nothing on the hook at all. I consider it a plus when they are actually using barbless
There were 7-8 adult springs taken from the run by the long liners, none of them legally. they bonk the fish quicker than they can say "fish on"
There is snagging going on, flossing, rod passing to uncles, fathers, sons. gang fishing at it's finest!
I've fished this run in previous years and have never seen this before.
Where are all the guys I was seeing the previous years??? real rivers that should not be discussed on this site ;)
The reason people gravitate to some runs is because those runs are good and accessible.
It's shameful what has allowed to happen to this "gem".
It's a disgrace of the DFO and the police that they don't have the mustard to jail this garbage.
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Why don't we all just get together and take over the popular runs with proper fishing techniques?
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Why don't we all just get together and take over the popular runs with proper fishing techniques?
They'll just stand behind and cast over you.
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Gonna be hard for them to cast when they get my hook in their eye from my back cast
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Why don't we all just get together and take over the popular runs with proper fishing techniques?
Eight of us did that a few years ago at KWB I have never seen so many pissed off fishermen. We were fly and spey fishi g and working our way down the run, cast, strip in steop down and repeat. I was the low man on the run and took a lot of flak and was called some unmentionable names from some genntlemen that were glued to their spots. They did learn a little about rotational fishing that day. WS fun but I do not think we made a difference we just POed some snaggers and fence posts, it was fun though.
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unfortunately they can write all the tickets they want, its collecting the money that is the problem. It's not like icbc where they can force you to pay( unless its a huge fine).
I don't agree, DFO, Police and ICBC are a part of the same organization.
Government. They should be able to cross-enforce the law. Law is the law, is the law no matter what it applies to and no matter where it's broken.
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I don't agree, DFO, Police and ICBC are a part of the same organization.
Government. They should be able to cross-enforce the law. Law is the law, is the law no matter what it applies to and no matter where it's broken.
I do agree that they are somewhat part of the same organization but they probably have priorities on how they are supposed to spend their resources. Unfortunately the government probably feels that ICBC being an insurance company is much more profitable to "invest" in than to hire more DFO officers or to enforce their fines.
Nonetheless, i hope the snaggers out there will one day get some bad karma for the cupcakes they do. On the side note, it really makes me angry when me and a buddy arrive at a location early in the morning to fly fish and then some "locals" or so they seem come in to cast their bait casters right between us.
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I don't agree, DFO, Police and ICBC are a part of the same organization.
Government. They should be able to cross-enforce the law. Law is the law, is the law no matter what it applies to and no matter where it's broken.
DFO is federal, police can be municipal, provincial or federal (in Chilliwack's case, they are federal RCMP), ICBC is provincial.
The responsibility for enforcement on the Chilliwack/Vedder river is with DFO.
DFO is so strangled with budget cuts right now it's a miracle that you'll see anyone.
Any time you actually see some enforcement on the river, it's probably provincial conservation officers acting on DFO's behalf.
There are major restrictions on cross-enforcement and even sharing information between government organizations.
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on the topic of a vedder gongshow I could't believe how many huge coolers were being filled up with half decomposed pinks this weekend!
it was my 2nd time river fishing but even I knew these fish were beyond "smokable"
wow
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Was on the Canal both Saturday and Sunday away from the crowds near the bridge. People around me rather civilized, handled fish well, no taking of boot springs or pinks, no snaggers, about 80% fishing roe. Great group of people.
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DFO is federal, police can be municipal, provincial or federal (in Chilliwack's case, they are federal RCMP), ICBC is provincial.
The responsibility for enforcement on the Chilliwack/Vedder river is with DFO.
DFO is so strangled with budget cuts right now it's a miracle that you'll see anyone.
Any time you actually see some enforcement on the river, it's probably provincial conservation officers acting on DFO's behalf.
There are major restrictions on cross-enforcement and even sharing information between government organizations.
Yeah agreed, anything public in BC if anybody hasn't noticed is very inefficient and slow. But you have to give some credit to our government for doing an OK job during this recession, I just hope next year our economy will be the same/better and not worse(most likely), then our government will have some more time and resources for departments related to our environment.
I haven't seen myself how the gong shows are like, since i usually take the effort to do some scouting (love long walks on the boulder beaches on the Thompson :-X . But at least these issue can be addressed by the DFO officers or provincial conservation officers. It is probably a whole different story when FN are involved since they are governed at the Federal level.
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actually i did see dfo present at the vedder crossing. at least there was 1. :'(
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actually i did see dfo present at the vedder crossing. at least there was 1. :'(
And he was probably in charge of all the rivers between Squamish and Chilliwack!
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unfortunately they can write all the tickets they want, its collecting the money that is the problem. It's not like icbc where they can force you to pay( unless its a huge fine).
Increase the fines and give them to a collection agency. Once their credit is screwed they might find another hobby.
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After reading the shared anger, it strikes me as funny that we can't have a volunteer DFO position, for the sole purpose of preserving fishing.
I would gladly take a course in enforcement.
Match two volunteers up, and one videos while the other writes tickets.
Or assist the DFO.
I would gladly Commit half a day on any weekend too.
Just don't send me out solo. Too may weirdos.
And why isn't there a video on fisheries site showing illegal fishing tactics... Something that must be watched to validate licenses? I.e. Enter your number as acknowledgement that you saw it.
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After reading the shared anger, it strikes me as funny that we can't have a volunteer DFO position, for the sole purpose of preserving fishing.
I would gladly take a course in enforcement.
Match two volunteers up, and one videos while the other writes tickets.
Or assist the DFO.
I would gladly Commit half a day on any weekend too.
Just don't send me out solo. Too may weirdos.
Don't see why we couldn't have volunteer Fisheries Guardians. Usually they are paired with a Fisheries Officer to double the number of people in the field.
From the DFO Wiki:
Fishery Officers are designated under section 5(1) of the Act and as peace officers employed to educate and enforce all provisions of the Act and other related acts and regulations. They carry firearms and other weapons such as pepper spray while conducting patrols and other enforcement initiatives.
Fishery Guardians are also designated under section 5(1) of the Act and as peace officers but are not necessarily employed by the department. For example, a provincial conservation officer may be designated as a fishery guardian for the purpose of enforcing the Act. In general, fishery guardians cannot conduct a search unless authorized by a warrant or conditions are met under warrantless search of the Criminal Code of Canada. Under the Aboriginal Guardian Program, certain first nations may submit to the Minister to designate certain band members as guardians.
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DFO is so strangled with budget cuts right now it's a miracle that you'll see anyone.
And it's going to get worse; all Fed departments including DFO are taking another 5-10% cut in the next Fed budget. The first thing that goes is overtime and thier ability to patrol and do investigations outside of normal working hours when fishing is at its peak. The last Fish Cop I chatted with said even gas for boats and trucks can be a limiting factor. Now that's just getting silly....
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I believe this year they also didnt recruit any members.
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Hmmm - no mention of the whitewater float flossers? ??? Don't they get any disdain? I've never seen so many people with polarized glasses waiting for a coho to come by so they can floss with their tiny piece of white wool (or snag the fish somewhere on the head). Remember, you don't need a long leader to floss, just an unwilling fish! :P