I support giving rec fishermen access when other sectors have access. If the numbers are not their then close it to all. We both no the the rec sector when it comes to sockeye harvest is not going to make a dent when compared with other sectors.
If you have concerns about run size Ralph perhaps you should of expressed them when you were defending FSC and wasting/selling fish.
I have also expressed concerns about having a mop up commercial seine and troll fishery at the mouth for lates when early they said non natives can't fish over concerns for late run. It does have the makings of 2018 overharvest again.
HOWEVER, since they OPENED IT to COMMERCIAL HARVEST I SUPPORT a REC OPENING. I dont think people should feel guilty about going fishing when commercial and FSC are taking hundreds of thousand and sport will take maybe 20k this season,
Also i look forward to this fall and you expressing the same concerns for IFS when it comes to FSC chum fishery's.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to clarify my position.
best of luck
...and you like everyone else can now have their cake and eat it too. I am sure everyone then will complain that their piece wasn't big enough.
I try to present facts.
The FSC is a fact. It's a fact that it is first in the harvest list priority. It's a fact that what has been and is being taken in that fishery is consistent with what has been harvested within the last 20+ years.
poaching and a black market for salmon is a fact. It's extent is not well known. There is no credible evidence that it so extensive it poses a hazard to salmon stocks. The question was examined in detail by the Honorable John Fraser, a former Minister of Fisheries when in the early '90s a shortfall of sockeye supposedly recorded by the mission hydro-acoustic apparatus failed to appear on the spawning ground. Accusation flew that "millions" of salmon had been poached and sold illegally above Mission. They found no evidence of this. The Fraser investigation found the most probable cause of the shortfall was that DFO/PSC erred in counting the salmon and among other things the Mission counting station is unreliable. Today however, the apparent myth of a huge black market operation continues.
The fact is waste is massive through out food system My daughter worked in a number of high class restaurants in Vancouver and many times commented on the massive amount of food including expensive seafood, including salmon, that was tossed out everyday. By law it can't even go to a food bank if it is still edible. Most of us just don't see it like the salmon dumped at the side of the road as it goes into a dumpster in the back alley.
I actually support the rec fishery. I favor a late summer bar fishery for chinook over a floss fest for sockeye. I support a saltwater fishery for sockeye before a flossery in the river. I favor hiring and training more FOs and COs for enforcement. I also favor more funding so methods can be developed to make better predictions on how many salmon will and do return. Very large errors are common every year. Very few runs and spawning areas are monitored at all.
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Topic: 2022 Fraser River Sockeye Salmon Updates (Read 81531 times)