Islandgirl
Well-Known Member
I have just seen a letter from fisheries minister Shea to the SFAB regarding halibut allocation..They are sticking with the 88/12 ratio. Time for us to write letters, I will post email addys of mla's etc
No good news regarding Halibut
- Thread starter Islandgirl
- Start date
Islandgirl
Well-Known Member
February 22, 2009
The Honourable Gail Shea
Minister, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E6
Honourable Minister;
I am writing you today to express my deep concern and confusion over your February 12th decision delivered to the SFAB regarding the 2009 Halibut fishery.
Frankly Minister I am at a loss to understand how you could so totally ignore the facts in this matter. As I had noted to you in previous correspondence regarding our meeting in January, I, and the others attending actually believed you comprehended the information we gave you on this issue.
We, the representatives for the recreational sector, have bent over backwards in an attempt to reach the type of management regime your predecessors and now it appear you, demanded. We spent countless days in travel and meetings with your officials and representatives, we thought, from the commercial sector coming to a number of mutual agreements for the management of the Halibut fishery. In every instance, after the agreement was reached, the commercial sector breached or ignored that agreement. Now your government has spent over a year, reviewing the latest proposal that we jointly put forward and the commercial sector has again breached, and after a year, you reject it out of hand.
To say this is unsatisfactory would be the understatement of the century. Your playing Pontius Pilot with this issue will not resolve it and I can assure you will amount to nothing more than throwing gasoline on the flames.
At a time when your government is making continuous claims about your concerns over losing jobs in Canada and the need to keep our economy stable and growing, you make a decision that will ensure the loss of hundreds of jobs in the recreational fishing industry in 2009. Moreover we will see losses in the millions of dollars to the British Columbian and Canadian economies because of your decision.
The amount of Halibut needed to maintain a viable and vibrant recreational fishery amounts to far less than the commercial sector will leave in the water in 2009. A transfer of this amount would cost the commercial sector nothing but would, as noted, have saved hundreds of jobs in the recreational industry as well as create an infusion of tens of millions of dollars into our economy. This is hardly living up to your duty to achieve the highest possible return to the people of Canada for the use of their fishery resource.
Either your staff failed to tell you or you have chosen to ignore the fact that at the recent meetings of the International Pacific Halibut Commission the processing industry advised the Commission that they currently have in storage some 10 million pounds of Halibut from last years harvest. That is more than all of the 2008 B.C. allocation and over 30% more than the total 2009 harvest. Every indication was given that commercial halibut prices were going to be but a shadow of what they were in 2008. In fact the processors made it clear that they cannot even sell their current stock even at ex-vessel prices, never mind at wholesale prices.
Yet you chose to allocate this valuable public resource to the lowest possible use for 2009.
Moreover you continue to support the practice of giving this resource to a major portion of the commercial quota holders who do not even fish for them. Of the 435 holders of commercial Halibut quota in 2008, only 168 actually fished for Halibut. The majority Halibut quota holders, 267 take this resource that was gifted to them by the government and sit on the beach while they collect rent for a Canadian resource from the few who are actually willing to go to sea and fish. All fish allocated to and caught by recreational fishers are taken by the anglers themselves not by third parties..
Madam Minister you are perpetrating a farce and supporting the lowest possible benefit to Canadians for the use of their resource. I ask you to immediately reverse your position and provide for the 2009 recreational Halibut fishery to proceed as it should and create an atmosphere and a basis for development of a rational long term management plan.
Yours in conservation.
The Honourable Gail Shea
Minister, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E6
Honourable Minister;
I am writing you today to express my deep concern and confusion over your February 12th decision delivered to the SFAB regarding the 2009 Halibut fishery.
Frankly Minister I am at a loss to understand how you could so totally ignore the facts in this matter. As I had noted to you in previous correspondence regarding our meeting in January, I, and the others attending actually believed you comprehended the information we gave you on this issue.
We, the representatives for the recreational sector, have bent over backwards in an attempt to reach the type of management regime your predecessors and now it appear you, demanded. We spent countless days in travel and meetings with your officials and representatives, we thought, from the commercial sector coming to a number of mutual agreements for the management of the Halibut fishery. In every instance, after the agreement was reached, the commercial sector breached or ignored that agreement. Now your government has spent over a year, reviewing the latest proposal that we jointly put forward and the commercial sector has again breached, and after a year, you reject it out of hand.
To say this is unsatisfactory would be the understatement of the century. Your playing Pontius Pilot with this issue will not resolve it and I can assure you will amount to nothing more than throwing gasoline on the flames.
At a time when your government is making continuous claims about your concerns over losing jobs in Canada and the need to keep our economy stable and growing, you make a decision that will ensure the loss of hundreds of jobs in the recreational fishing industry in 2009. Moreover we will see losses in the millions of dollars to the British Columbian and Canadian economies because of your decision.
The amount of Halibut needed to maintain a viable and vibrant recreational fishery amounts to far less than the commercial sector will leave in the water in 2009. A transfer of this amount would cost the commercial sector nothing but would, as noted, have saved hundreds of jobs in the recreational industry as well as create an infusion of tens of millions of dollars into our economy. This is hardly living up to your duty to achieve the highest possible return to the people of Canada for the use of their fishery resource.
Either your staff failed to tell you or you have chosen to ignore the fact that at the recent meetings of the International Pacific Halibut Commission the processing industry advised the Commission that they currently have in storage some 10 million pounds of Halibut from last years harvest. That is more than all of the 2008 B.C. allocation and over 30% more than the total 2009 harvest. Every indication was given that commercial halibut prices were going to be but a shadow of what they were in 2008. In fact the processors made it clear that they cannot even sell their current stock even at ex-vessel prices, never mind at wholesale prices.
Yet you chose to allocate this valuable public resource to the lowest possible use for 2009.
Moreover you continue to support the practice of giving this resource to a major portion of the commercial quota holders who do not even fish for them. Of the 435 holders of commercial Halibut quota in 2008, only 168 actually fished for Halibut. The majority Halibut quota holders, 267 take this resource that was gifted to them by the government and sit on the beach while they collect rent for a Canadian resource from the few who are actually willing to go to sea and fish. All fish allocated to and caught by recreational fishers are taken by the anglers themselves not by third parties..
Madam Minister you are perpetrating a farce and supporting the lowest possible benefit to Canadians for the use of their resource. I ask you to immediately reverse your position and provide for the 2009 recreational Halibut fishery to proceed as it should and create an atmosphere and a basis for development of a rational long term management plan.
Yours in conservation.
Islandgirl
Well-Known Member
Shea Min Fisheries, Hon Gail
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> Shea.G@parl.gc.ca
>>
>> MacAulayL FishCritic, The Ho...
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> MacAulay.L@parl.gc.ca
>> Mr.MacCaulay is the Liberal Fisheries Critic
>>
>> Mr. Randy Kamp, M.P.
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> Kamp.R@parl.gc.ca
>> Randy Kamp is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries
>> and
>> lives in Maple Ridge
>>
>> Mr. Peter Arend Stoffer, M.P.
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> Stoffer.P@parl.gc.ca
>>
>> StofferOfficeHalifax, Peter
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> stoffp1@parl.gc.ca
>> Peter Stoffer is the NDP Fisheries Critic and a hard worker for our cause
>>
>> SultanL, Ralph
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> ralph.sultan.mla@leg.bc.ca
>> Ralph Sultan is an MLA on the Steelhead Committee and also on the Outdoor
>> Caucus
>>
>> KruegerL, Hon Kevin
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> kevin.krueger.mla@leg.bc.ca
>> Keven Krueger is also an MLA who has an interest in fisheries issues
>>
>> GordonPremier, Campbell
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> Officeofthepremier@gems9.gov.bc.ca
>> No explanation needed
>>
>> AustinN, Robin
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> robin.austin.mla@leg.bc.ca
>> Robin is the MLA for the Skeena and well versed in fisheries issues
>> BennettL, Bill
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> bill.bennett.mla@leg.bc.ca
>> Bill Bennett is the chair of the B.C. Provincial Outdoor Caucus
>>
>> StGermainSenator, Hon Gerry
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> stgerg@sen.parl.gc.ca
>> Gerry is a B.C. Senator with a long history of involvement with fisheries
>> issues.
>>
>> Dan Cody
>> CodyD@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.
>> Dan Cody is the Special Assistant for the Minister of Fisheries on the
>> West
>> Coast, his messages do not get filtered by the Mandarins
>>
>> Mr. Garry W. Breitkreuz, M.P.
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> breitg1@parl.gc.ca
>> Garry is the chair of the Federal Outdoor Caucus and a strong advocate
>> for
>> hunters and anglers.
>>
>>
>> SOME POINTS OF INTEREST AN INFORMATION THAT YOU MIGHT WANT TO USE.
>>
>> We were forced into a joint agreement with the commercial sector that
>> proposed the Federal Government would advance $35 million to buy out 8%
>> of
>> the commercial Halibut TAC and transfer this to the recreational sector.
>> The
>> recreational sector would repay the Federal Government over the ensuing
>> years through the imposition of a Halibut stamp on the recreational
>> fishing
>> licence.
>>
>> We then moved into the management of the 2008 fishery. In order to keep
>> within our quota it was necessary for us to lease Halibut quota from the
>> commercial sector. For various legal reasons the approximately $2 million
>> dollars was and is being held in trust by the Pacific Halibut Management
>> Association, (PHMA), the commercial sector. The SFAB gave out
>> instructions
>> throughout the season to release the money required to lease the needed
>> quota to keep our fishery within their allocation. The PHMA released an
>> initial amount but adamantly refused to release any further money causing
>> us
>> to exceed our quota. DFO, who was supposed to be coordinating these
>> transactions, took the unprecedented action of closing the recreational
>> fishery. This closure was put in place in spite of the written commitment
>> from the Minister that there would be no "in-season" closures of the
>> recreational fishery. This action was also taken in spite of the fact
>> that
>> Canada left more Halibut in the water unharvested at the end of the 2008
>> season than the total overage of the recreational sector.
>>
>> Simply put, there was no conservation concern, Canada did not harvest
>> its'
>> Total Allowable Catch for Halibut, DFO simply decided that those fish
>> were
>> the property of the commercial sector and shut us down.
>>
>> So we have ourselves entering into an agreement with the commercial
>> sector
>> as the Minister and DFO demanded of us. We then have the commercial
>> sector,
>> acting in breach of trust and negating that agreement and one year later
>> on
>> February 12th of 2009. we finally received a letter from the current
>> Minister of Fisheries and Oceans rejecting our proposals out of hand.
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> Shea.G@parl.gc.ca
>>
>> MacAulayL FishCritic, The Ho...
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> MacAulay.L@parl.gc.ca
>> Mr.MacCaulay is the Liberal Fisheries Critic
>>
>> Mr. Randy Kamp, M.P.
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> Kamp.R@parl.gc.ca
>> Randy Kamp is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries
>> and
>> lives in Maple Ridge
>>
>> Mr. Peter Arend Stoffer, M.P.
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> Stoffer.P@parl.gc.ca
>>
>> StofferOfficeHalifax, Peter
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> stoffp1@parl.gc.ca
>> Peter Stoffer is the NDP Fisheries Critic and a hard worker for our cause
>>
>> SultanL, Ralph
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> ralph.sultan.mla@leg.bc.ca
>> Ralph Sultan is an MLA on the Steelhead Committee and also on the Outdoor
>> Caucus
>>
>> KruegerL, Hon Kevin
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> kevin.krueger.mla@leg.bc.ca
>> Keven Krueger is also an MLA who has an interest in fisheries issues
>>
>> GordonPremier, Campbell
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> Officeofthepremier@gems9.gov.bc.ca
>> No explanation needed
>>
>> AustinN, Robin
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> robin.austin.mla@leg.bc.ca
>> Robin is the MLA for the Skeena and well versed in fisheries issues
>> BennettL, Bill
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> bill.bennett.mla@leg.bc.ca
>> Bill Bennett is the chair of the B.C. Provincial Outdoor Caucus
>>
>> StGermainSenator, Hon Gerry
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> stgerg@sen.parl.gc.ca
>> Gerry is a B.C. Senator with a long history of involvement with fisheries
>> issues.
>>
>> Dan Cody
>> CodyD@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.
>> Dan Cody is the Special Assistant for the Minister of Fisheries on the
>> West
>> Coast, his messages do not get filtered by the Mandarins
>>
>> Mr. Garry W. Breitkreuz, M.P.
>> E-mail Address(es):
>> breitg1@parl.gc.ca
>> Garry is the chair of the Federal Outdoor Caucus and a strong advocate
>> for
>> hunters and anglers.
>>
>>
>> SOME POINTS OF INTEREST AN INFORMATION THAT YOU MIGHT WANT TO USE.
>>
>> We were forced into a joint agreement with the commercial sector that
>> proposed the Federal Government would advance $35 million to buy out 8%
>> of
>> the commercial Halibut TAC and transfer this to the recreational sector.
>> The
>> recreational sector would repay the Federal Government over the ensuing
>> years through the imposition of a Halibut stamp on the recreational
>> fishing
>> licence.
>>
>> We then moved into the management of the 2008 fishery. In order to keep
>> within our quota it was necessary for us to lease Halibut quota from the
>> commercial sector. For various legal reasons the approximately $2 million
>> dollars was and is being held in trust by the Pacific Halibut Management
>> Association, (PHMA), the commercial sector. The SFAB gave out
>> instructions
>> throughout the season to release the money required to lease the needed
>> quota to keep our fishery within their allocation. The PHMA released an
>> initial amount but adamantly refused to release any further money causing
>> us
>> to exceed our quota. DFO, who was supposed to be coordinating these
>> transactions, took the unprecedented action of closing the recreational
>> fishery. This closure was put in place in spite of the written commitment
>> from the Minister that there would be no "in-season" closures of the
>> recreational fishery. This action was also taken in spite of the fact
>> that
>> Canada left more Halibut in the water unharvested at the end of the 2008
>> season than the total overage of the recreational sector.
>>
>> Simply put, there was no conservation concern, Canada did not harvest
>> its'
>> Total Allowable Catch for Halibut, DFO simply decided that those fish
>> were
>> the property of the commercial sector and shut us down.
>>
>> So we have ourselves entering into an agreement with the commercial
>> sector
>> as the Minister and DFO demanded of us. We then have the commercial
>> sector,
>> acting in breach of trust and negating that agreement and one year later
>> on
>> February 12th of 2009. we finally received a letter from the current
>> Minister of Fisheries and Oceans rejecting our proposals out of hand.
Sushihunter
Active Member
Here is a list of all federal Members of Parliament with email addresses:
http://www.yayacanada.com/MPs.html
Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
http://www.yayacanada.com/MPs.html
Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
Red Monster
Well-Known Member
I went to top and just wrote an email to Harper. [}
]
It's easy to do and I suggest everyone start contacting politicians to let the know how you feel.
Remember, it's called "fishing," not "catching."
]It's easy to do and I suggest everyone start contacting politicians to let the know how you feel.
Remember, it's called "fishing," not "catching."
Islandgirl
Well-Known Member
Just cc them all to let them KNOW we are p*ssed!
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