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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."
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Our Greatest Stumbling Block
Pausing to reflect on thoughts about grumps, fishers, and
other name-calling . . .
ITEM ONE -- THE GRUMP:
The reluctance of the Department of Fisheries Canada (DFC)
to restrict recreational anglers to narrow shore-hugging corridors
in a number of BC areas is most galling to those who live
in and around the provincial capital. The Juan de Fuca Strait
"red zone" fishing corridors around Victoria are extremely
narrow and force sports boats to work shorelines. Because
of that insanity, most find it difficult to catch sockeye,
pink or chum species, all of which tend to pass through deeper
offshore waters. This being 1999 -- an "odd year" -- pinks
will abound. Senior citizens and parents seize the opportunity
to take their children fishing. Pinks easy are to catch and
this year an estimated eight million will pass Victoria en
route to spawning grounds. The joy in pink fishing is sustained
action. That is what youngsters want. They don’t become enthusiastic
anglers if treated to boring fishing. But David Anderson,
the grump in charge, must have forgotten what it took to get
him interested.
ITEM 2 -- ONLY NAME CHANGES:
If you haven’t heard, DFC is the official new title of the
federal ministry -- and a recent change from the long-standing
Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) handle. Little else
has changed. The Canadian taxpayers continue to pay for a
specialist to manage our fisheries but we continue to receive
a coolie’s result.
ITEM 3 -- WHERE’S THE HONOR?
During the half century, or so, I have studied the Canadian
political scene, I have heard Members of Parliment, Senators
and provincial MLA’s designated or called "stupid, empty-headed
tramp, dishonorable, incompetent, moron, unconscionable, boor,
blockhead, dimwit, bozo, spinny, spineless, asylum resident,
clod, clown, scumbag, dishonest, corruptible, twit, snake,
weasel, rat, jackass, skunk, hyena, hyprocrite, arrogant,
blind, unwanted annoyance, egotist, excellent reason for the
return of the Great Black Plague. However, in Parliament,
the elected ones still refer to each other as "the honorable
. . ." (Which proves -- once again -- they never listen to
the people.)
ITEM 4 -- THE SMELLY ONES:
In the world of writing, the political correctness I detest
most is the word "fishers" as substitute for fishermen. Fisher
is a fierce but very stinky little critter. I do not like
to call my angling comrades "fishers." Commercial boats ...
net fleet ... anglers ... or many other alternatives available
if the word "fisherman" is taboo to the feminist editor/publisher.
Have they, the righteous, given thought to how they would
like to be called stinky critters?
ITEM 5: BEN TRE LOGIC
To maintain continuity, Let us stay on the subject of stupidity.
This is my favorite topic. Like sleep, it is a universal happening,
sometimes hilarious, sometimes very evil. Systematic stupidity
brought the Soviet Union down, and it should revive Canada’s
Department of Fisheries. Federal Ministers and DFO bureaucrats
always managed saltwater fishing -- both on the East and West
Coasts -- with Ben Tre logic. It is a thinking named after
a Vietnamese town about which an American officer said: "It
became necessary to destroy the town in order to save it."
Tell me if I am wrong. Does that not sound like our fish managers???
ITEM 6 -- MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO
The BC Environmental Ministry also is factored on Ben Tre
logic. BC environment has three economists and a geographer
filling four deputy minister positions. No where is there
a biologist at the top level, and that displays supreme ignorance!
Stupidity gets to be dangerous. Wasn’t it Senator Everett
McKinley Dirksen who warned us about people who operate recklessly.
Quote: "A million dollars here, a million there, and soon
we get to the real money." Friends, it long has been apparent
that the greatest problem here, and in the Atlantic provinces,
is that Canadian fishermen from all sectors get more value
out of a Sears Catalogue than we do from the dipsticks in
government.
Federal and provincial fishing ministries are not without
talent. There are many who show greater devotion toward saving
the fish than the gaddamn buck. Check the many past employment
records. The good ones, if they created more than one wave,
were rushed into early retirement or given a position in the
mail sorting room.
We had an example of the excellence that could be in this
morning’s Time Colonist. Y’all, I am sure, read Dave Narver’s
letter. This American-born was our former provincial fish
director, very dedicated and worked for everything beautiful
about BC. Thankfully, we have him in the BC Wildlife trenches
with Wayne Harling, a former DFO bureaucrat.
When Harling or Narver make a statement, let me assure you
that they know. They have researched and checked. If you dare
argue, you will lose. Trust me.
There are and have been many good scientists and researchers
on government payroll. Jim Walker, taking orders from the
dingbats in BC Environment even though he has more brains
than the four of them; Terry Gjernes, and you can’t forget
Gord Hartmann, hustled into retirement by Ottawa when this
biologist fought Alcan’s Kemano project.
The problem, friends, is in Ottawa and, on a lesser scale,
on Belleville street. The politicians are idiots and the influential
bureaucrats are self-serving morons.
I have rambled and apologize but would like to offer a solution
to our problem. In Texas, there are 450 people on death row.
Restore the death penalty in Canada, give me power to pick
and choose -- only from Ottawa -- and we’ll take the lead
away from the Texans.
Our bureaucrats and politicians have forgotten they work
for us -- you and me, and ALL Canadian people.
That is our greatest stumbling block.
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
below:
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