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We at Sport Fishing BC would like to
hear more from you, our readers. We welcome you to submit
a letter, article or story about a certain fishing topic,
or comments about the Sport Fishing BC web site in general.
Selected letters will be added below. Sport Fishing
BC reserves the right to edit submissions.
To send a letter to our editorial department, email
editorial@sportfishingbc.com
If you would prefer, you may submit an article to our
chat room.
We thank everyone for visiting our web site and hope
that you will come back often.
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I recently watched a program called Disclosure featuring
an article on fish farms owned by a Norwegian Company(Stolt).I
was disgusted by the DFO and our Provincial Government for
taking so lightly the problems associated to fish farms (Lice).
I now sport fish and hopefully will retire to a thriving fishery.
I will die with a rod in my hand and a fish on hopefully.
The amount of money I spend on boats tackle and lodges multiplied
by the thousands of avid anglers world wide, surely should
count for something. When the wild stocks are wiped out this
web site and all the lodges and tackle stores that advertise
here will cease to exist. This web site and every sport fisherman
in this Province regardless of political biases should be
screaming for some heads to roll.
R.B. Yarr
Open-pen fish farms on our coast are industrial feed lots with
a licence to destroy what is left of our ocean biodiversity.
Rivers are being colonized by escaped farmed fish. Sea lice
in concentrations not found naturally are destroying complete
salmon runs. The raw effluent (sewage) from a typical salmon
farm raising up to 750,000 fish at one time is released untreated
and unchecked into our waters.
Fish protein needed to raise farmed salmon is fished mostly
off the coast of Third World countries, jeopardizing their own
food fisheries. Fishing down the food chain to get enough fish
protein to raise farmed fish jeopardizes countless wild fish
runs around the world. It takes two to three pounds of wild
fish turned into fishmeal to get one pound of farmed fish, which
means this industry is depleting the global protein supply,
not increasing it as the industry and our government would have
you believe.
Questions as to the safety of eating farmed fish due to the
chemicals put into their feed - in attempts to make the meat
red, firm and hopefully parasite free - are becoming more common,
contrary to what the industry and our government would have
you believe.
There are 90-plus operating open-pen fish farms on our coast
right now (one of them on our very own not-so-well-preserved-or-protected
island) with the industry promising us well over 400 such sites
on our coast over the next few years. (See the industry advertisement
in the Globe and Mail newspaper.)
All of this is done with the legislative and financial support
of our federal department of fisheries and aquaculture and our
provincial government.
The degradation of our natural environment by this industry
is nothing short of criminal.
There have been numerous reports and studies from around the
world sounding the alarms over this fast-growing destructive
industry. Two such reports recently conducted by highly respected
and credible B.C.
I read Ernie Fedoruk's 'save our salmon' article and was
quite impressed. I wonder if I can, in any way, help preserve
dwindling salmon stocks? For me it would be extremely sad
if the river I am looking at was void of salmon. I am a student
at the University of Calgary and would like to somehow get
involved.
Tom Heller, Calgary
Ernie comments:
Heller's letter raises an interesting scenario. I have fielded
similar queries from would-be writers, local anglers who want
to help, etc., but Heller's willingness to help revives past
thoughts. Trout Unlimited is Calgary-based, and share salmon
concerns. Sport Fishing Institute of BC (SFI) very concerned,
as is Salmon Foundation of BC, the wildlife federations and
many others. The Gulf Conservation Association assembled an
army and shut down the commercial fishing of Red Fish and
speckled trout in Gulf of Mexico when those species were in
trouble. The Gulf shutdown was due to GCC lobbying. In Canada,
we have platoons, divisions and regiments but they need to
be co-ordinated into an army. Tom's letter has not been answered
in full, but stay on line. It is stupid governments that require
lobbying. Volunteers like Tom, united, will save the salmon.
Stupid governments will not.)
From: Blaszak, Anthony S.
I read your article where you express your concern about
your fishing in B.C.. Keep it up. Come to Oregon and see what
happens when government gets involved with the outdoors. It
wasn't that long ago when we had fishing like you folks have
up there. But now look at it. It's all gone. Yes there are
few measly runs left but it ain't worth the time and gas anymore.
Keep on them up there or you will be facing the same thing.
I guess governments don't place a value on recreational fishing.
Thanks,
Tony Blaszak Milwaukie Oregon
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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