Sushihunter
Active Member
http://www2.canada.com/westerly/news/upfront/story.html?id=4f9a3ec5-0fae-45ad-9f37-548a214430da
Stop proposed change in halibut allocation
Westerly News
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Dear editor,
What will it be?
Last year, tourism started to fall off in our fine village, mostly due to a shortfall of our American friends visiting us. A portion of this shortfall was made up by our new Texans, but the oil rich-Albertans may not be coming in droves again this summer as Canada now follows our friends into financial turmoil.
As you may know, a great deal of our tourists come here for the sport fishing. On any given day during the summer there are around 300 to 500 visitors just here for the sport fishing.
We really are the Fishing Capital of B.C. and it is about time we worked together to build on this or, as needed now, just protect what we have. All these tourists spend millions of dollars in our town.
This year, the Canadian Princess is opening later than normal. Obviously this will mean less work for people in Ucluelet, which directly affects all our stores and shops and housing markets. The bookings for my company are down this year and I am sure the motel owners I share my customers with have also noticed this.
To the point; we are the Sport Fishing Capital of British Columbia and over the years we have seen some changes in the limits of fish we can retain.
For pleasure and charter companies the limits are the same as for the individual.
Some of this change has been needed as with Chinook salmon. Who needed to bring home four huge Chinook salmon per day?
Since these changes we have been marketing our amazing halibut fishery which is unsurpassed around the Island, but last year we were cut back from the three fish possession limit over two days to a one per day for two days for a total of two possession.
This upsets our customers and our personal fishing. Two halibut is the bare minimum our businesses can cope with. They are now proposing to lower this again this year to only one halibut per person.
This will mean we have been cut back by 66 percent in two years. Bye, bye fishing tourists.
Who is going to travel to our beautiful village and stay in our motels and charter our fishing guides for one halibut?
Every time these changes are announced, another knife goes in our backs. The general public thinks -- oh, the fish are drying up in Ucluelet.
The politics are very complicated to try to keep it short -- the halibut commission is an international group that really serves the commercial halibut fleets. Yes, they were cut back last year, but they did not even catch their new quotas. This left as many halibut in the water as the entire sport fishing quota had in 2008.
It makes no sense to cut the sport fishing industry down any further, when the total allocation is under fished.
If you think you are feeling a downturn now, if they cut back our halibut, you may see it go from recession to depression fast.
The District of Ucluelet needs to work together to encourage this industry, what do we have left?
It's up to us now.
Please write to our new mayor and council. Write to Gail Shea, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans in Ottawa. (Min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca) This office can stop this disastrous change in the allocation for us all.
Paul Grimston, Castaway Charters
© Westerly News 2009
Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
Stop proposed change in halibut allocation
Westerly News
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Dear editor,
What will it be?
Last year, tourism started to fall off in our fine village, mostly due to a shortfall of our American friends visiting us. A portion of this shortfall was made up by our new Texans, but the oil rich-Albertans may not be coming in droves again this summer as Canada now follows our friends into financial turmoil.
As you may know, a great deal of our tourists come here for the sport fishing. On any given day during the summer there are around 300 to 500 visitors just here for the sport fishing.
We really are the Fishing Capital of B.C. and it is about time we worked together to build on this or, as needed now, just protect what we have. All these tourists spend millions of dollars in our town.
This year, the Canadian Princess is opening later than normal. Obviously this will mean less work for people in Ucluelet, which directly affects all our stores and shops and housing markets. The bookings for my company are down this year and I am sure the motel owners I share my customers with have also noticed this.
To the point; we are the Sport Fishing Capital of British Columbia and over the years we have seen some changes in the limits of fish we can retain.
For pleasure and charter companies the limits are the same as for the individual.
Some of this change has been needed as with Chinook salmon. Who needed to bring home four huge Chinook salmon per day?
Since these changes we have been marketing our amazing halibut fishery which is unsurpassed around the Island, but last year we were cut back from the three fish possession limit over two days to a one per day for two days for a total of two possession.
This upsets our customers and our personal fishing. Two halibut is the bare minimum our businesses can cope with. They are now proposing to lower this again this year to only one halibut per person.
This will mean we have been cut back by 66 percent in two years. Bye, bye fishing tourists.
Who is going to travel to our beautiful village and stay in our motels and charter our fishing guides for one halibut?
Every time these changes are announced, another knife goes in our backs. The general public thinks -- oh, the fish are drying up in Ucluelet.
The politics are very complicated to try to keep it short -- the halibut commission is an international group that really serves the commercial halibut fleets. Yes, they were cut back last year, but they did not even catch their new quotas. This left as many halibut in the water as the entire sport fishing quota had in 2008.
It makes no sense to cut the sport fishing industry down any further, when the total allocation is under fished.
If you think you are feeling a downturn now, if they cut back our halibut, you may see it go from recession to depression fast.
The District of Ucluelet needs to work together to encourage this industry, what do we have left?
It's up to us now.
Please write to our new mayor and council. Write to Gail Shea, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans in Ottawa. (Min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca) This office can stop this disastrous change in the allocation for us all.
Paul Grimston, Castaway Charters
© Westerly News 2009
Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
