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Ernie Fedoruk is Vice President of the
Outdoor Writers of Canada and former B.C. Director with
the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association. Winner of
26 awards in the last 16 years, the sports/outdoors
columnist retired from a 48-year newspaper career in
1996.
Messages can be faxed to him at (250) 592-7090, or emailed
to efedoruk@islandnet.com
"A man's passion for fishing should not allow it
to interfere with his love of family. But if the glue
binds, then please consider the angler's passion also
a love for family." |
FISH PRIORITIES
A Canadian government, at long last, is giving recreational
fishing its rightful place in the economic pecking order .
. . at the top. Federal Fisheries Minister David Anderson’s
historic and provocative announcement Dec. 16 will give priority
of the Pacific’s coho and chinook salmon species to sports
anglers.
For more than a half century, Canada’s managers catered
entirely to the commercial industry. The recreationist, in
earlier years of huge abundances, harvested only a minute
portion of the resource. In the last four or five decades,
sport fishing’s popularity soared. Yet the sports catch of
Pacific salmon -- all species -- remained very insignificant.
The recreational take has been around five per cent of the
total catch.
The popularity explosion in fishing, abetted by modern transportation
that can take anglers to remote areas, created another taxpayer
benefit: tourism. The huge economic spin-off from tourism
gives business and governments profits that offset the disappointments
of, among others, failing lumber and commercial fishing industries.
With Anderson’s Dec. 16 announcement, the Canadian government
admits it now recognizes the value of recreational fishing.
The Minister released a discussion paper on a seven-year salmon
allocation plan that would give sport fishing first dibs on
coho (silver) and chinook (king) species AFTER conservation
and aboriginal needs have been met. As well, the recreational
sector will continue to catch other salmon. Commercial fishermen
are promised 95 per cent of the sockeye (their most coveted
species), chum and pink runs. Commercial boats also would
be allowed, "when stocks are sufficiently strong," to harvest
coho and chinook in years of abundance.
In newspaper stories published the day after Anderson’s announcement,
representatives of the commercial industry rang bells of alarm,
moaned of "devastation" to the fleet, warned of court action,
accused the Department of Fisheries and Oceans of "breaking
promises," and were guilty of dim vision, panic and, very
honestly, sublime stupidity. We can understand their concern
but the stupidity of a few of commercial fishing’s selected
leaders, especially those in union-dominated related industries,
is beyond belief.
There is gross stupidity, too, by media relaying idiotic
information. The galling example was in a Vancouver Sun story
by Peter O’Neil. In his report from Ottawa, he wrote: "Analysts
say the decision is sure to rile the commercial section, which
has been complaining bitterly for years that the recreational
fishermen get special treatment and DON’T DO THEIR SHARE TO
ENSURE CONSERVATION." (My capitals are for emphasis.) The
analysts were not named so O’Neil became the Dork of the Week
of the Week.
It is absolutely absurd to say sportsmen have not done their
share. The fishing people -- just as those who work for Ducks
Unlimited, the Elk Foundations, the Coast Conservation Association,
Canadian and U.S. Wildlife and a variety of many other respectable
outdoor groups -- have been in the trenches for the past half
century, or longer. Ducks Unlimited has done its job so well,
the Canada goose is on the verge of being declared the new
Pest Emblem.
In my corner of the world, the Sport Fishing Advisory Board,
BC Sport Fishing Institute, BC and regional wildlife associations,
steelhead and fly-casting groups and a multitude of individuals
from elementary schoolrooms to pensioners have slogged in
streams, cleared debris and nursed roe. The legions included
many good guys from the commercial sector, but they were --
unfortunately -- NOT in the majority. The volunteers who count
as recreationists outnumbered the professionals from the fishing
industry, and still do.
The recreation sector applauds and appreciates the Canadian
government’s wise decision. But it does not gloat. Bob Wright
is majority owner of the Oak Bay Marine Group, the largest
resort/marina operator on the BC coast. He has consistently
poured major funding into many fights with DFO. Just as consistently,
the commercial leaders have suggested "sure, it’s to cover
his investment." Many other resort operators never bothered
to "cover their investments." Furthermore, was not the commercial
industry "covering investment" by hiring the sleazy Ottawa
lobbyists to do its dirty work? But Wright, unlike the commercial
industry, recognizes a milk cow and has greater passion for
the fisheries resources. "It is time Ottawa recognized value
over volume," said Wright a few days after Anderson’s announcement.
Then, without a pause, he added: "It is not a decision to
destroy the salmon industry. If it works, as we hope it will,
then the commercial boats will have plenty of salmon to take
to take to the market."
BC’s fishing fraternity hears the pronouns I, Me, Us and
We far more often from the commercial sector that it does
from Wright. His pronouns, as it is with the adorable thousands
who enhance salmon stocks, generally identify the fish. The
difference in thinking explains why some fishing boats may
be left tied to the docks in coming years. The salmon industry
needs new thinking, and perhaps new leaders.
DFO’s Allocation Framework is available through Fisheries’
website at: http://www.pac.dfo.ca/comm/
Copyright ©
Ernie Fedoruk retired in 1996 after a 47-year journalism career as an outdoors and sports columnist, has just completed
14 years as director/officer of the Outdoor Writers of Canada,
also was director of the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association
for 11 years. His passion is fishing – to find and to
protect – and insists his greatest contribution as a
conservationist is incompetence.
Ernie Fedoruk Freelance Journalist
1867 Neil Street Victoria, BC, V8R 3C6, Canada
phone:(250)592-4438 fax:(250)592-7090
e-mail: efedoruk@islandnet.com
To purchase Ernie Fedoruk's column for publication, please
contact efedoruk@islandnet.com
For previous articles by Ernie Fedoruk, click on the links
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