Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

Author Topic: Buying FN sockeye  (Read 4199 times)

alwaysfishn

  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2364
Buying FN sockeye
« on: August 16, 2011, 08:06:27 AM »

Great article, sheds some light on this issue.....

http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/theprogress/news/127773513.html

Sto:lo sockeye catch can't be sold



Sto:lo Nation member bands can't legally sell the sockeye salmon they catch in the lower Fraser River this summer.

The bands stretching from Pitt Meadows to Yale could have had an authorized commercial fishery – as happened in past years – but not enough of them were willing to sign a sales agreement with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).

Usually, when there's enough inbound sockeye to open a regular commercial fishery, sales agreements letting aboriginal bands also profit from the fishery are almost automatic.

Without such a deal, the Sto:lo are supposed to fish only for food, social and ceremonial purposes and not sell any of their catch.

But the bands won't have to submit to the more rigorous monitoring and enforcement by DFO that come with authorized sales.

Critics who have accused the Sto:lo of being behind widespread illegal salmon sales in the past doubt its fishermen will honour the rules.

B.C. Fishery Survival Coalition spokesman Phil Eidsvik pointed to the estimates of DFO investigators, entered in evidence at the Cohen Inquiry this spring, that more than 90 per cent of lower Fraser sockeye harvested under aboriginal food fisheries were being illegally sold.

DFO officials at the inquiry also warned that budget cuts are likely to further limit the department's ability to bust illegal salmon sales and poaching.

"It's fairly easy for the Sto:lo to walk away from a sales agreement because they know they can sell it illegally anyway," Eidsvik said.

"It might be easier to sell more fish without a sales agreement than it is with one."

Nor is he confident in DFO's ability to police aboriginal fishing.

"They still don't have the regulatory tools and support from their bosses to get control of this fishery."

Eidsvik said he hopes the issue gets further airing before the Cohen commission, which examines aboriginal fishing again Aug. 19.

Sto:lo representatives could not be reached for comment.

An estimated 4.2 million sockeye salmon are currently believed to be returning to the Fraser.

That's a relatively small run and the Sto:lo would likely have been allocated "very few" sockeye for sale had enough member bands signed on, said Les Jantz, DFO's deputy area director for the B.C. Interior.

"They are just going to be fishing for food, social and ceremonial purposes," he said. "If there are situations where fish are sold that would be illegal from that fishery and enforcement would be engaged to deal with that situation."

A sales agreement is in effect with the Musqueam at the mouth of the Fraser and the Tsawwassen First Nation have a sockeye catch allocation under their treaty.

Logged
Disclosure:  This post has not been approved by the feedlot boys, therefore will likely be found to contain errors and statements that are out of context. :-[

troutbreath

  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2908
  • I does Christy
Re: Buying FN sockeye
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2011, 08:34:04 AM »

If they try and sell them sockeye, they will face the same punishment as the vancouver rioters!
Logged
another SLICE of dirty fish perhaps?

StillAqua

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 489
Re: Buying FN sockeye
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2011, 01:02:08 PM »

If they try and sell them sockeye, they will face the same punishment as the vancouver rioters!
Ain't that the truth!
Logged

greese30

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 71
Re: Buying FN sockeye
« Reply #3 on: August 22, 2011, 07:15:30 PM »

despite their not being allowed to sell their sockeye, i have only seen repercussions set against the buyers when caught, if at the very least the loss of their fish and $.  unless both parties are penalized, nothing will change.
Logged

Fish Assassin

  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10803
Re: Buying FN sockeye
« Reply #4 on: August 22, 2011, 09:31:26 PM »

I was driving up Kingsway on Sunday and there was a truck on the side of the road advertising fresh sockeyes for $15.00
Logged

Sandman

  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1498
Re: Buying FN sockeye
« Reply #5 on: August 22, 2011, 09:35:49 PM »

I was driving up Kingsway on Sunday and there was a truck on the side of the road advertising fresh sockeyes for $15.00

That is probably Musqueam fish.
Logged
Not all those who wander are lost

greese30

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 71
Re: Buying FN sockeye
« Reply #6 on: August 23, 2011, 08:07:04 PM »

Musquem can sell?
Logged

Sandman

  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1498
Re: Buying FN sockeye
« Reply #7 on: August 23, 2011, 08:35:43 PM »

Musquem can sell?
Yes, so can the Tsawwassen, it is in the above quoted article.  They signed the agreement for a commercial sale, the Sto:lo did not.
Logged
Not all those who wander are lost

anorden

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 160
Re: Buying FN sockeye
« Reply #8 on: August 24, 2011, 02:11:46 PM »


DFO officials at the inquiry also warned that budget cuts are likely to further limit the department's ability to bust illegal salmon sales and poaching.



Not that Im complaining, but how do they manage to find the budget to monitor recreational fisheries? Plenty of threads on this site suggesting that DFO are out at every bar checking hooks, fish and licenses, sometimes acting undercover. That doesnt seem to fit with the argument of budget cuts.
Logged

Sandman

  • Old Timer
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1498
Re: Buying FN sockeye
« Reply #9 on: August 24, 2011, 07:37:44 PM »

Not that Im complaining, but how do they manage to find the budget to monitor recreational fisheries? Plenty of threads on this site suggesting that DFO are out at every bar checking hooks, fish and licenses, sometimes acting undercover. That doesnt seem to fit with the argument of budget cuts.

They are at a few key Fraser River bars because that is where the crowds are (maximizing their profile).  I have yet to see them in my many excursions this summer as I do not frequent the meat holes.
Logged
Not all those who wander are lost