Our History - FVSS
By Chris Gadsden
On a hot humid day in May of 1984, on the 29th to be exact, 250 concerned Fraser River fishermen gathered in Evergreen Hall in Chilliwack. The agenda before them was to see if there was enough interest to form an organization to see what could be done to reopen the Fraser to the retention of adult chinooks. This once popular fishery had been closed since 1980. At the time of the meeting only chinook jacks up to 50 centimeters to a maxim limit of 4 per day could be retained.
What had triggered this meeting was the May 3, 1984 ticket received by the late Peter Epp, a long time Fraser River fisherman, for retaining an adult chinook. He caught it at the mouth of the Sumas River where it meets the Fraser, a popular spot for chinook fishing that usually started in April.
Sports fishers are among the best conservationists and law abiding user groups, and they did not support breaking the law, but it still seemed to many anglers that there was imbalance going on here regarding the allotment of these Pacific Salmon to the freshwater fishery. At this time in the ocean 30 chinook a year could be retained by a salt water angler.
During the time of the 4 year closure, the sporties on the Fraser River were the only user group not being able to retain adult chinooks, and they were the ones that science said has the least impact. As well, sports' fishing contributes millions of dollars to the economy in British Columbia, but the several businesses in the Fraser Valley suffered from the loss of this fishery.
Chris Gadsden and Fred Helmer Jr. presided at this meeting and outlined their reasons and goals for calling it. They were amazed and encouraged by the attendance at this original gathering. The attendees also gave the group a financial kick start tossing $322.51 into the hat that was passed through the crowd.
Individual anglers found at this meeting they had many allies and collectively they concluded there was strength in unity to press for changes.
At this meeting an executive of 18 was elected to formulate a game plan to how to try to reopen the fishery. Fred Helmer Sr. was elected to the presidency.
At the newly elected board's first executive meeting 2 days later, the name Fraser Valley Salmon Society was selected along with a crest design.
The newly-formed board determined a number of noteworthy points to work on that included:
1 Justice -- salt water limit vs. fresh water.
2 Develop a punch-card system similar to the saltwater one in use.
3 Enforcement of present regulations.
4 Inability of DFO to establish sport salmon catch numbers in the Fraser River.
5 Self policing being the presence of law abiding fisherman returning to the river.
A month later another general meeting was called where petitions and form letters were circulated to be sent to the then Liberal Fisheries Minister Pierre De Bane were circulated and filled out by the 100 interested fishers that turned out.
During the next couple of months the group was frustrated by a number of changes in the fisheries portfolio as De Bane was replaced soon after the letter writing campaign started being replaced on June 30 by The Honorable Herb Breau.
A little over 2 months later, on September 17, a new government, The Conservatives, were sworn into power with the Honorable John Fraser being appointed the new Fisheries minister.
The FVSS felt good about Fraser's appointment. With the same name as the Fraser River, was there some justice here? Fraser also was from the West Coast and was a sports angler himself, so the hope was he could identify the problems at hand.
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