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Author Topic: protest fishery  (Read 38227 times)

allwaysfishin

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protest fishery
« on: August 25, 2005, 10:41:00 AM »

I have received info through "the vine" that there may be a major commercial protest fishery this weekend. I have been told that this is to be a very organized and purposefull event.
The commercial sector is adopting the principle that Those manageing our fisheries , both provincial and federal should be replaced with folks who can play hardball with the FN's. I totally support this and echo my own comments regarding  COMPLETE NON CONFIDENCE in our fisheries management. The commercial sector is requesting sport fisher support during this protest and would like to see us on the water right along side them. If I receive any more pertinent info I will let you all know.
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Gooey

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Re: protest fishery
« Reply #1 on: August 25, 2005, 10:57:39 AM »

Sporties indeed have a very small voice, I am glad to see the commercial guys stepping in.  Their last protest fishery was very successful and left egg on DFO's face as the supreme court said a FN COMMERCIAL opening was racially based and therefore threw out the charges laid againts our comercial fishers.

Point is, this is a "food fishery" now and DFO's mandate is to provide FN with priority access to stocks for this purpose.  We all know they arent getting all counted (maybe DFO knows that to and factors it in) we also know alot get sold.  But I don't think the courts would not diferentiate what actually happens to FN catch...they wil simply see it as a food fishery.

I hope their actions are successful as they are already in a pot of hot water (not having a season yet), so a protest fishery could bring that water to a boil.

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BwiBwi

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Re: protest fishery
« Reply #2 on: August 25, 2005, 11:16:13 AM »

Good point.  However, that fact DFO has no acurate number on fishes taken by FN is still incompetent on their part and its mismanagement.
20 hours drifnetting can be no fish can be thousands of fish. Without good monitoring system. Well whos to say if FN has enough for food or not?
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allwaysfishin

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Re: protest fishery
« Reply #3 on: August 25, 2005, 11:44:08 AM »

i HAVE BEEN TOLD TODAY, BY STAKEHOLDERS AT THE DFO CONFERENCE THAT SPORTIES AND COMMERCIAL ARE NOT GOING TO BE ALLOWED ACCESS TO THIS YEARS RUN.
I WILL BE JOINING ANY PROTEST FISHERIES THIS WEEKEND PROVIDING THEY ARE WELL ORGANIZED.
MORE DETAILS TO COME. WHEN THE COMMERCIAL BOYS LET ME KNOW WHAT THE PLANS ARE, I WILL RELAY THEM TO YOU ALL
SPREAD THE WORD
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH EITHER CLOSE IT TO ALL OR OPEN IT UP.
THERE WILL BE NO MORE SPECIAL INTEREST DECISIONS FOR FN'S ACCEPTED BY COMMERCIAL OR SPORTIES.
A WELL ORGANIZED PROTEST FISHERY IS SURE BETTER THAN BURNING BOATS AND NET SHACKS, OR MAYBE THE GOVERNMENT WANTS ANOTHER "BURNT CHURCH" SITUATION ON THE WEST COAST....... SMOKE AND ASHES IS BETTER THAN SMOKE AND MIRRORS...
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pepsitrev

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Re: protest fishery
« Reply #4 on: August 25, 2005, 12:24:31 PM »

well said i agree with you 100% and will welcome the chance to join the protest fishery if needed ;D
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Rodney

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Re: protest fishery
« Reply #5 on: August 25, 2005, 12:27:02 PM »

For those who are considering going out to harvest sockeyes against DFO's regulations, you do it at your own risk. As for a protest, is there a need to kill some fish to get your points across? What kind of impacts does it do to the sportfishing sector in the public eyes if anglers go out and break the law? I am 100% against any protest fishery, which would further widen the gap between DFO and the recreational sector (for those who are unaware, DFO and the local SFAC have been working extremely hard together to find as many recreational fishing opportunities as possible. We try to get lots of information out so people are aware of what's going on. We are (I am at least) very happy with the professionalism of all the local DFO staff who go out of their ways to satisfy our requests for information each time). How is our protest fishery different to what the Cheam First Nation has done in the last couple of months? What exactly are people trying to accomplish?

FYI, for a rec opening to happen:

  • If the run size stays at 4.5M - no changes status quo
  • If run size is upgraded to 5.0M - Cdn TAC for com and rec is approx. 165k (rec share  approx 8k. Comm share approx 157)
  • If run size is upgraded to 5.5M - Cdn TAC for com and rec is approx. 375k (rec share  approx 19k Comm share approx 356)

bbronswyk2000

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Re: protest fishery
« Reply #6 on: August 25, 2005, 12:36:13 PM »

I agree with Rod. You dont need to kill fish to make your point. You can be heard through media outlets our a protest through the streets. Their are many ways to do it. Killing fish is only making the problem worse and as Rodney said you are no better than the Cheam in what they are doing. If people go out this weekend and kill fish you know that its not because of the protest its an excuse to get some sockeye in the freezer.
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blueback

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Re: protest fishery
« Reply #7 on: August 25, 2005, 01:00:02 PM »

I'm not sure if I agree with a protest fishery but I am not at all suprised it's come to this. DFO has done a %$^&-poor job of letting people know WTF they are thinking or planning. On one hand, the protest may receive much-needed media attention; on the other hand the commercials can wipe out out entire races of fish in very short order (as has been very close to being demonstrated in the past). If this protest goes ahead, I hope it has maximum media impact and minimum fish impact.

Rod- If DFO is being very open and helpful in the meetings you are attending re: maximising sport fishing opportunities, I would ask that the info pertaining to the salmon fishery opportunities be posted here for all to see. I am not questioning you Rod, I have just been involved in too many government 'consultations' not to be suspicious.
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Gooey

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Re: protest fishery
« Reply #8 on: August 25, 2005, 01:16:19 PM »

The first chance at a rec fishery and they are going to alot us 8,000 pieces? 

Does it sound like being short changed when the natives have harvested 400,000 COUNTED fish plus what has been uncounted and poached!

what about our poor commercial guys who have boats/home/etc to pay for?

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BwiBwi

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Re: protest fishery
« Reply #9 on: August 25, 2005, 01:31:25 PM »

Cheam has about 600 members 1 person per day (based on calorie intake) will only require 219,000 fish.
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BwiBwi

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Re: protest fishery
« Reply #10 on: August 25, 2005, 01:32:39 PM »

But for health reason.  Don't just rely on fish.  :P
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FishOn

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Re: protest fishery
« Reply #11 on: August 25, 2005, 01:57:07 PM »

The commies just had there entire season cancelled today (see articlebelow). I can see why they are upset and want to stage a protest fishery.

 
canada news 
Thursday, Aug 25, 2005  Email this to a friend
 print this page
 
B.C. Fraser River commercial fishery cancelled for year

VANCOUVER (CP) - Commercial fishermen who hoped for the chance at some of the sockeye salmon now returning to the Fraser River have received bad news.
A federal Fisheries Department official said that although the estimates of the number of sockeye entering the Fraser had increased this week to five million from an earlier forecast of 4.5 million, there will still be no non-native commercial fishery on the river in 2005.

Fisheries spokesman Don Radford said a native fishery for food, ceremonial and societal purposes - permitted under the Constitution - has taken place and future native fisheries will be allowed subject to conservation concerns.

The decision was made to cancel the commercial fishery because some rare sockeye species are now mixed in with the larger summer run and officials want to ensure the threatened sockeye make it to their B.C. Interior spawning grounds.



© The Canadian Press, 2005
 

 
 
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Rodney

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Re: protest fishery
« Reply #12 on: August 25, 2005, 02:49:53 PM »

Rod- If DFO is being very open and helpful in the meetings you are attending re: maximising sport fishing opportunities, I would ask that the info pertaining to the salmon fishery opportunities be posted here for all to see. I am not questioning you Rod, I have just been involved in too many government 'consultations' not to be suspicious.

Blueback, there are two main problems that I've recognized in the communication part among anglers, and between DFO and anglers. First is misinformation (look at the above posts in this thread, numbers are flying left and right from no where and people take those numbers as gold which are then passed on). Second is the absence of a efficient medium to get that information out to the angling community.

I'll tackle the second one. Conference calls are going on almost on a daily basis between SFAC, SFAB and DFO. Staff of DFO cannot be at the waters at all time, so they rely on the anglers to bring the information to them (ie. fishing boundaries, lack of enforcement, high frequency of violation, low return of fish numbers, etc). By consulting with angling organizations, they can then make decisions on the management of our fisheries to accommodate everyone. That doesn't mean we'll always get what we want, the resource managers will make decisions mostly based on the findings of their biologists.

Official notices and other related information can be found in this section of the website:

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/fishy_news/index.html

In the last few months, I'll say the local (Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland) DFO staff have do a very good job communicating with anglers who utilize these waters. Examples:

Information on adipose clipped sockeye salmon from Cultus Lake
Capilano weirs information
Cultus Lake sturgeon identification

DFO has also made an effort to get the First Nations and recreational anglers together for the Fraser Valley fisheries dialogue. DFO Chilliwack has financially supported the Vedder River cleanup program for the past two or three years. Just a week and a half ago, DFO Steveston was very quick on the response to my concerns on fishing line and bird life. There have already been some discussions about how we'll broadcast the information better next year, ie. information kiosk at local fishing piers, etc.

Just because the recreational sector did not get the 2 week sockeye allocation, it does not mean DFO does not care about recreational angling! It's unbelievable how much focus there is on this fishery and how people do not make themselves more informed instead of just waiting for the opening to come. There are definitely actions done by DFO and FNs that we disagree, and we make sure our concerns are heard through emails and phone. The sockeye fishery is shadowed by politics and staff at DFO are just as frustrated as you are. By going out there to harvest a few sockeye salmon illegally in the name of a protest, you will not be accomplishing anything except degenerating the relationship between anglers and DFO, the public and other sectors that also use the same resource.

Have you guys and gals heard about this other species called pink salmon? They will come in by the thousands each day next month. Time to go fishing. ;)

lucky

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Re: protest fishery
« Reply #13 on: August 25, 2005, 03:30:12 PM »

 Im really hoping that this protest fishery is a go, would be nice to see a combined sportsfisher, commercial protest. This is the only sure thing to raise attention with some of the people in Ottawa. Personally I cannot understand the faith you put in the dfo Rodney, seems like a dream world to me, where we write a bunch of letters and hope they do the right thing? Protest fisheries have done wonders for the East coast, and as far as making us look bad? it would be the complete opposite in my views it may just cause enough people to open their eyes and re examine dfo policy. The Cheam band would not of accompished anything if they stayed at home and wrote letters to the government asking for openings. Just my two cents.
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Rodney

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Re: protest fishery
« Reply #14 on: August 25, 2005, 03:35:52 PM »

Well, prove me wrong, go for the protest fishery if you feel that it will do the fish and anglers some good. :)