Watching a number of threads here..both in the present and in the past, I can't help but to view the comments of so many 'sport fishers' as a 'Holier than Thou' attitude towards the fisheries resource (s) and Fraser sockeye fishing in particular. 'We' and I use that term loosely, believe we have an inherent right to the resource, have little overall impact and really can't understand why DFO doesn't see this and afford more opportunities. As a bit of background....
I spent 31 years in DFO.. as a Fishery Guardian. Patrol boat captain (42 footer), Fishery Officer and finally manager (although somewhat junior, in the whole scheme of things). Added to this mix, I have been a sport fisherman, in both fresh and salt water for nearly my entire life (at least as long as I have been able to hold a rod). Sport fishermen (with the exception of the 'commercial' sporties such as the Canadian Princess operation, Sewell's marine, etc.) have to understand one thing...DFO places your participation in the 'industry' of the fishery so far down the ladder in terms of priority, that you really don't even register on their radar. They may place you, in official literature. on par with commericial fisheries for allocations after conservation and First Nations but believe me, you or shall I say 'we' are a distant fourth.
First and foremost in the minds of DFO and the Federal Government is...nope wrong. It is not conservation as we would all like to think and what DFO continually says is their first mandate. Ok...it is conservation but that word always bares the burden of an asterisk. First and foremost in the minds of DFO are the First Nations. I, for one, believe that First Nations deserve a legitimate and first opportunity to harvest fish for food and ceremonial purposes. Stepping out on a limb, I view anyone that disagrees with this basic premise to be, in a word, racist and to forget the rights of the first people to inhabit our great province. Having said that, I add my own asterisk. If you ever have the time, go into Fraser Canyon, up to the Stikine or the Nass and watch a proud people catch their life's blood with dip nets and then say they don't deserve to preserve their heritage. Then, to balance it all out, go to Chilliwack/Agassiz and watch the Cheam band with their 'f**k you attitude' or go to Campbell River or Alert Bay and watch modern seine boats go out under the pretense of an aboriginal fishery and catch 8000 sockeye, most of which never see an aboriginal mouth.
I am not advocating, by the way, that native people need to confine their activities to dip nets and fish traps or any other method employed generations ago. That would be foolish. What I take exception to is the commercialization of the native fishery. Despite the rhetoric by DFO and First Nations, a very large portion of the native fishery is nothing but commercialization. Conservation, though, takes a back seat because DFO is politically unwilling to rein this fishery in. If you don't believe me, go ask a fishery officer or call a DFO aboriginal fisheries manager and ask what steps DFO takes to ensure aboriginal access is not abused. You know what they will say?..."this fishery is well managed". First Nations have signed agreements to accurately report their catches. So much for the fox guarding the hen house. After all, why would First Nations have any reason to misreport catches?... money issues aside!
So how do aboriginal fisheries affect you, the sport fisherman?... other than the obvious one of course of them taking 'your' fish. In simple terms, because First Nations are number one in the pecking order after..umm..conservation..DFO cannot legally permit any other fishery to occur, sport or commercial, unless First Nations fisheries are permitted initial access. If there are surplus stocks to be harvested, then commercial and presumably sport fishing opportunities are then provided. It is important to note that whenever a commercial or sport opening is permitted, First Nations are entitled to EQUAL access, at the SAME time. Forget that they had aboriginal only openings. The fact is DFO cannot legally prohibit access by First Nations when other user groups have access. So the question becomes, when stocks are low, who gets access? If the stocks are so so and might notwithstand the impact of 3 user groups, who will get access? If I have to tell you, you haven't been listening.
In the pecking order of allocation, as stated earlier, DFO places commericial fisheries at the same priority level as offering sport fishing opportunities. That is not written into law but falls under the broad scope of discretion by the Fisheries Minister. Commercial fisheries will always be, in an unwritten rule, a higher priority than the sport fishing sector. The simple reason being... the majority of Canadians either don't fish or live in an area of the country where Pacific salmon do not exist. As Mr. Spock once said..."the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few..or the one". Commercial fisheries provide food for the masses whereas the sport fishery provides food for the few..or the one. I see time and time again sport fishermen arguing about how much money they add to the economy through licence fees, fuel, bait, lures, etc. Trust me, that money pales in comparison to what the commercial sector spends. I'm not saying its right, just that the commercial boys add hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of dollars more into the economy. Think adding 10 litres of gas to your o/b is of financial significance? Try adding 8-10,000 litres to a seine boat. Add to that the hundreds, if not thousands, of processor workers and the taxes they pay. If you are going to try to argue 'economic value' as a reason for increased sport fishing opportunities, it will fall on deaf ears by DFO.
On the subject of commercial fisheries..my pet peev. At some point in time (it took DFO in Newfoundland long enough to make a decision re the cod), DFO in the Pacific Region have got to understand that the huge gillnet fleet licenced for the Fraser River (800-1000 boats) is not sustainable and hasn't been for the last 20 years. For the most part, this fishery is pure and simple a UI fishery. Get enough fishing days in (one day = 1 UI week), then sit back for the rest of the year collecting yours and my tax dollars. It is a welfare fishery. Because of the large number of boats, DFO is very careful in allocating openings. Since DFO's official position is providing commercial and sport opportunities on an equal basis, if stock strength is questionable for commercial access, DFO will not allow sport fishing, even if its deemed that recreational access will not be detrimental. This is purely a political decision and ensures DFO will not have to answer to the angry hoards of commercial interests or a class action lawsuit.
On a final note... I can tell you that DFO regrets the day that they ever permitted the legalized 'snagging' of Fraser River sockeye. It flies in the face of existing regulations that DFO has the mandate to enforce. They are now quite uncomfortable about this whole matter. The decision to permit this fishery was done internally by bureaucrats, presumably without legal advice, and the poop has hit the fan, with the Department of Justice admonishing the Department for this unauthorised breach of regulation. Consequently, DFO is looking for any reason to limit opportunities, until either the regulation is amended (good luck there) or until there is a political will to prohibit sports access. So don't ever think that DFO stays awake nites wondering how they can accomodate the Fraser River sports sockeye fishery. I am sure the Regional Director General thinks..'maybe if I close my eyes..they will all go away.....'
I spent 31 years in DFO.. as a Fishery Guardian. Patrol boat captain (42 footer), Fishery Officer and finally manager (although somewhat junior, in the whole scheme of things). Added to this mix, I have been a sport fisherman, in both fresh and salt water for nearly my entire life (at least as long as I have been able to hold a rod). Sport fishermen (with the exception of the 'commercial' sporties such as the Canadian Princess operation, Sewell's marine, etc.) have to understand one thing...DFO places your participation in the 'industry' of the fishery so far down the ladder in terms of priority, that you really don't even register on their radar. They may place you, in official literature. on par with commericial fisheries for allocations after conservation and First Nations but believe me, you or shall I say 'we' are a distant fourth.
First and foremost in the minds of DFO and the Federal Government is...nope wrong. It is not conservation as we would all like to think and what DFO continually says is their first mandate. Ok...it is conservation but that word always bares the burden of an asterisk. First and foremost in the minds of DFO are the First Nations. I, for one, believe that First Nations deserve a legitimate and first opportunity to harvest fish for food and ceremonial purposes. Stepping out on a limb, I view anyone that disagrees with this basic premise to be, in a word, racist and to forget the rights of the first people to inhabit our great province. Having said that, I add my own asterisk. If you ever have the time, go into Fraser Canyon, up to the Stikine or the Nass and watch a proud people catch their life's blood with dip nets and then say they don't deserve to preserve their heritage. Then, to balance it all out, go to Chilliwack/Agassiz and watch the Cheam band with their 'f**k you attitude' or go to Campbell River or Alert Bay and watch modern seine boats go out under the pretense of an aboriginal fishery and catch 8000 sockeye, most of which never see an aboriginal mouth.
I am not advocating, by the way, that native people need to confine their activities to dip nets and fish traps or any other method employed generations ago. That would be foolish. What I take exception to is the commercialization of the native fishery. Despite the rhetoric by DFO and First Nations, a very large portion of the native fishery is nothing but commercialization. Conservation, though, takes a back seat because DFO is politically unwilling to rein this fishery in. If you don't believe me, go ask a fishery officer or call a DFO aboriginal fisheries manager and ask what steps DFO takes to ensure aboriginal access is not abused. You know what they will say?..."this fishery is well managed". First Nations have signed agreements to accurately report their catches. So much for the fox guarding the hen house. After all, why would First Nations have any reason to misreport catches?... money issues aside!
So how do aboriginal fisheries affect you, the sport fisherman?... other than the obvious one of course of them taking 'your' fish. In simple terms, because First Nations are number one in the pecking order after..umm..conservation..DFO cannot legally permit any other fishery to occur, sport or commercial, unless First Nations fisheries are permitted initial access. If there are surplus stocks to be harvested, then commercial and presumably sport fishing opportunities are then provided. It is important to note that whenever a commercial or sport opening is permitted, First Nations are entitled to EQUAL access, at the SAME time. Forget that they had aboriginal only openings. The fact is DFO cannot legally prohibit access by First Nations when other user groups have access. So the question becomes, when stocks are low, who gets access? If the stocks are so so and might notwithstand the impact of 3 user groups, who will get access? If I have to tell you, you haven't been listening.
In the pecking order of allocation, as stated earlier, DFO places commericial fisheries at the same priority level as offering sport fishing opportunities. That is not written into law but falls under the broad scope of discretion by the Fisheries Minister. Commercial fisheries will always be, in an unwritten rule, a higher priority than the sport fishing sector. The simple reason being... the majority of Canadians either don't fish or live in an area of the country where Pacific salmon do not exist. As Mr. Spock once said..."the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few..or the one". Commercial fisheries provide food for the masses whereas the sport fishery provides food for the few..or the one. I see time and time again sport fishermen arguing about how much money they add to the economy through licence fees, fuel, bait, lures, etc. Trust me, that money pales in comparison to what the commercial sector spends. I'm not saying its right, just that the commercial boys add hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of dollars more into the economy. Think adding 10 litres of gas to your o/b is of financial significance? Try adding 8-10,000 litres to a seine boat. Add to that the hundreds, if not thousands, of processor workers and the taxes they pay. If you are going to try to argue 'economic value' as a reason for increased sport fishing opportunities, it will fall on deaf ears by DFO.
On the subject of commercial fisheries..my pet peev. At some point in time (it took DFO in Newfoundland long enough to make a decision re the cod), DFO in the Pacific Region have got to understand that the huge gillnet fleet licenced for the Fraser River (800-1000 boats) is not sustainable and hasn't been for the last 20 years. For the most part, this fishery is pure and simple a UI fishery. Get enough fishing days in (one day = 1 UI week), then sit back for the rest of the year collecting yours and my tax dollars. It is a welfare fishery. Because of the large number of boats, DFO is very careful in allocating openings. Since DFO's official position is providing commercial and sport opportunities on an equal basis, if stock strength is questionable for commercial access, DFO will not allow sport fishing, even if its deemed that recreational access will not be detrimental. This is purely a political decision and ensures DFO will not have to answer to the angry hoards of commercial interests or a class action lawsuit.
On a final note... I can tell you that DFO regrets the day that they ever permitted the legalized 'snagging' of Fraser River sockeye. It flies in the face of existing regulations that DFO has the mandate to enforce. They are now quite uncomfortable about this whole matter. The decision to permit this fishery was done internally by bureaucrats, presumably without legal advice, and the poop has hit the fan, with the Department of Justice admonishing the Department for this unauthorised breach of regulation. Consequently, DFO is looking for any reason to limit opportunities, until either the regulation is amended (good luck there) or until there is a political will to prohibit sports access. So don't ever think that DFO stays awake nites wondering how they can accomodate the Fraser River sports sockeye fishery. I am sure the Regional Director General thinks..'maybe if I close my eyes..they will all go away.....'
issed:
