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Well I decided to hit the Allouette this afternoon since it was a beautiful day. Well when I got to the hole that produced some fish earlier in the week I was surprised by how many people where there. At first I thought it was ok until they started to snag chum and drag them up the shore. I was only there for a short while and by the time I left I was pretty pissed off. Too many families around to really lay into some of these people after explaining to them that what they where doing was wrong. Felt like I was talking to a brick wall so the only thing I could do was write letters to our local news papers and I will forward then to DFO as well. The unfortunate thing was that I forgot to bring my cell to report this activity. Here is a copy of the letter I sent to my local papers.
To the editor
As the return of the salmon to our local streams has begun it is nice to see the start of this return be so healthy. The sad part is to witness the unethical treatment of these fish by some of the fishermen that have started to fish the local stream since the opening of the retention of coho. These fishermen seem to think that it is perfectly acceptable to foul hook chum. They also seem to think that it is acceptable to drag these fish up onto the rocks, step on them to remove the hook and then throw them and I mean throw them back into the river. They also seem to think that it is acceptable to pull them into the shallows then kick them up onto the rocks remove the hook and then proceed to kick them right back into the water. I have confronted these people on the river to explain that what they are doing is wrong and could earn them a violation from one of the many DFO officers out there. Their only response is why, what is wrong with what we are doing or their other response would be "it is just a chum" . It is sad to think that in todays society people think that because it is just a chum it is perfectly ok to treat them this way. Well it is not. It should not matter whether it is a chum or a coho or a steelhead or any fish for that matter they should all be treated the same and they should learn how fish ethically. I have fished these local waters for just over 25 years and have never witnessed such horrible unethical treatment of these fish. From now on I will bring my cell phone which has the phone number for DFO and report all violations and hope that others do the same. Maybe just maybe with enough pressure an officer will patrol these waters on a regular basis to bring an end to this type of practice. It is apparent that explaining to these people does not help, but maybe a nice fine hitting them in the pocket book will work. I hope these people are also reading this and think twice about doing it again but if you still think it is acceptable and continue don't be surprised if an officer is standing behind you writing out a violation.
To the editor
As the return of the salmon to our local streams has begun it is nice to see the start of this return be so healthy. The sad part is to witness the unethical treatment of these fish by some of the fishermen that have started to fish the local stream since the opening of the retention of coho. These fishermen seem to think that it is perfectly acceptable to foul hook chum. They also seem to think that it is acceptable to drag these fish up onto the rocks, step on them to remove the hook and then throw them and I mean throw them back into the river. They also seem to think that it is acceptable to pull them into the shallows then kick them up onto the rocks remove the hook and then proceed to kick them right back into the water. I have confronted these people on the river to explain that what they are doing is wrong and could earn them a violation from one of the many DFO officers out there. Their only response is why, what is wrong with what we are doing or their other response would be "it is just a chum" . It is sad to think that in todays society people think that because it is just a chum it is perfectly ok to treat them this way. Well it is not. It should not matter whether it is a chum or a coho or a steelhead or any fish for that matter they should all be treated the same and they should learn how fish ethically. I have fished these local waters for just over 25 years and have never witnessed such horrible unethical treatment of these fish. From now on I will bring my cell phone which has the phone number for DFO and report all violations and hope that others do the same. Maybe just maybe with enough pressure an officer will patrol these waters on a regular basis to bring an end to this type of practice. It is apparent that explaining to these people does not help, but maybe a nice fine hitting them in the pocket book will work. I hope these people are also reading this and think twice about doing it again but if you still think it is acceptable and continue don't be surprised if an officer is standing behind you writing out a violation.