Fishing Guides Doing Their Share

[wolf]

@%) k wow where do i sign up for that kind of money FRACK if we all made that everyone would want to be a quide oh wait thats where it comes from THATS what you think we make...... well ill tell you now THIS IS NOT what we make after expenses about 1/10 of that good try though....

I too donate trips every year to good causes and ill hate to say its a pain in the arse I spend more time with these people then anyone else have had people cancel last min, sick ,etc etc had one guy book 3 times one year and cancelled them all and then wanted me to take him out 2 years past the expiry date.

BUt id really like to have what I said a box and a pamphlet explaining where the monies will be going to etc THEN its on the client to decide if he wants to not me forcing them and asking them to put money in......I said this last year to SVIAC and sell them memberships too .

But im not going to force people on it ill suggest but not going to cram it on them i want them to return....

 

[fishin_magician]

Well, at least in my part of the world where I guide, charter operating costs are the highest on the coast due to the cost of Moorage. Moorage for guide boats, depending on where you are moored... Authorized commercial Moorage starts at $6000 per year---and if you have a larger boat much more $$$$. Depending on the cultural values of the clients on board....there are some ridiculously oblivious clients out there who don't know skill, hospitality, expertise, knowledge and professionalism from a pothole on a country road. I can tell you with a large degree of accuracy who is going to leave a gratuity and who is not. Gratuities are NOT guaranteed. At the going hourly rate for guides in my area, the donation of $5 per charter would mean that I work to donate to a cause which is less my own and more of someone else's.

Since guides are on the front line, we are already the most valuable ambassadors for the industry than anyone else----yet freelance guides and many owner/operators are far from earning a decent living.

The guide rate in my area is far from generous. If I add up my cost of gas, insurance, parking, real time, taxes and other incidentals I end up working for barely 20 percent of my compensation at my real job.

We already have way too many people begging and marketing for charitable $$ in this industry. It's time the government step up instead of putting an onus on those who generate the $$$ for them. If our charitable donations aren't doing enough as it is, putting guides closer to the poverty line isn't going to help the situation at all.

Money isn't the issue, POLITICS is.

 

[Whole in the Water]

If folks carefully read Rollie's first post on this you will see that his main point is asking local Victoria-Sooke area guides and charter outfits to ask clients to donate $5. So if your outside this area you don't need to support this revitalization project, if you don't want to. The idea is to ask the clients for a very small donation, not the guides as they have enough expenses already. We need to keep this idea focussed and within scope to make it feasible and to make it turn into some tangible results that all in the Victoria-Sooke area can benefit from in the long term.

Rollie's suggestion to encourage others to do this in their local areas is just that, a good suggestion that can make a difference in the long run that hopefully many will realize and act upon.

A growing number rec anglers and local business leaders are coming to realize that if we want to see positive changes made to our fisheries, we the local citizens are going to need to come together in our communities to make it happen. The last 20 years has clearly shown us is that recreational fisheries (especially saltwater) is not a priority for the Provincial and Federal governments. It has been shown time and again that their priority is to larger, corporate, commercial interests, not the local recreation angling sector.

The whole point of Rollie's suggestion is for concerned local citizens organize and focus our resources to make things better for our fisheries. Seems like a win-win situation to me.

 

[wolf]

I couldnt agree more there are plans ongoing with sooke to enhance more and more WE have to take control....DFO sure wont

 

[GLG]

There is a movement to increase the cost of the salmon stamp with all funds to go to enhancement.
That would go a long way in helping from those that "reap the benefits" from our local projects.

I support you folks 100% and would gladly kick something in when on a charter.

GLG

 

[Cuba Libre]

$5 is peanuts to someone who can afford to charter... But the "discussion" that this idea has generated here, is symptomatic of the bigger problem we have as sport fishermen. We cant agree on ANYTHING. I hope that Victoria guys give it a try. As far as Wolfs idea about a box--- forget that UNLESS there is a info sheet. Just think back how easily people in BC can walk past a Salvation Army kettle , avoid eye contact, buy a whole bunch of stuff and still not leave a nickle in the box. An info sheet handed to the clients is ESSENTIAL. And i am willing to bet that MANY guests will donate more than $5 too.

 

[Aces]

$5 is peanuts to someone who can afford to charter... But the "discussion" that this idea has generated here, is symptomatic of the bigger problem we have as sport fishermen. We cant agree on ANYTHING. I hope that Victoria guys give it a try. As far as Wolfs idea about a box--- forget that UNLESS there is a info sheet. Just think back how easily people in BC can walk past a Salvation Army kettle , avoid eye contact, buy a whole bunch of stuff and still not leave a nickle in the box. An info sheet handed to the clients is ESSENTIAL. And i am willing to bet that MANY guests will donate more than $5 too.

Agreed. We had decals for the boats made up with an info sheet explaining what our program was for the clients.

 

[calmsea]

Great idea! I encourage the local guides to jump onboard with this! Me and a bunch of buddies (some of the them out of province) go on at least 2-3 charter trips per year between Victoria, Sooke, Renfrew, Bamfield and last year Nootka. Love the socializing part of charter trips and not having the responsibility for once. We will gladly chip in an extra $5 each for a good cause. In fact, from now on we will look for charter operators that offer this option.

And I think some writers here before me are bang on that waiting and calling on the government to drive important fisheries projects, forget it! It's on us.

 

[ziggy]

There is a movement to increase the cost of the salmon stamp with all funds to go to enhancement.
That would go a long way in helping from those that "reap the benefits" from our local projects.

I support you folks 100% and would gladly kick something in when on a charter.

GLG

I read in the National Post I believe, that only 20% of the money from the stamps is returned to the coast. Maybe that needs to be corrected?

 

[Whole in the Water]

I read in the National Post I believe, that only 20% of the money from the stamps is returned to the coast. Maybe that needs to be corrected?

I think that is old news and no longer correct. Dr. Brian Riddell, head of the Pacific Salmon Foundation announced at their annual fundraiser dinner at the end of Feb a week or so ago that the PSF now receives 100% of the $ generated through the stamp for fisheries conservation research and projects - approx. $6 million I think.

So by raising the stamp fee this will bring more money back to BC to restore our fisheries where it belongs. Check out the PSF's site for more info all the good work they are doing. http://www.psf.ca/

 

[ziggy]

Sounds great, they should have always returned 100%. Better late than never!!

 

[Dennis.t]

Let's say your a (non-guide) member on this website and your boosting about how much money you make.
Let's say 250K a year.... perhaps one half days pay to give something back.
That would be on average $625.....
That would make a dent for the salmon.
But then again that would be too much to ask for from some member here.
GLG

Whos making 250K a year? The guides?

 

[Gunsmith]

Wow! $250k a year? I don't think politicians will contribute to this, but the thought is good.

 

[Duffer]

Man some non guide is making $250,000 wow! I think everyone with a boat that goes salmon fishing should contribute 5 bucks to the local hatchery every trip out fishing. Same as guests on board a guide boat. Imagine the money that would be raised then !

 

[Aces]

Whos making 250K a year? The guides?

Ha Ha!! That's funny Dennis

 

[GLG]

Why not the 5 bucks comes out of the guides pocket instead of the clients pocket? You are the ones making a living off the resource.

Put back into it, what you take out of it. Why should the client pay the freight? To me its just another fee.

Whos making 250K a year? The guides?

Oh I don't know.... Perhaps the the guy that's too cheap to kick in 5 bucks for the salmon.

d.T you bring nothing to this forum of value.
You seem to be on here to cause problems... that's it.
You boast and you taunt.... is that all you got?

from another thread.......

Dirty money? Lol. You funny. slave for a year to afford a 4 day fishing trip? Are you kidding man? We earn 150 to 200 K a year working in the oil patch. There are hundreds if not thousands of us born and raised on the West Coast working our asses off in the oil patch to support our families. What u want us all to quit and pick shells and sea weed on the beaches? Give your head a shake.

 

[high tide]

Great Idea and I hope it flies, that said, Like Government always does, the Government would likely even contribute less then they already do. They DO NOT SEE THE WORTH OF THE SPORT FISHERS ! They should look at the US models for Hatcheries.

Those with passion for fishing like many of us already contribute a lot of $$ ..... its the Government that needs to close Farmed Fish NET PENS and enhance our hatcheries and wild fish support systems.

HT

 

[Optimist]

One would not have a problem contributing to this knowing there was a mechanism in place for the money to go directly towards something, just collecting money and hoping its going to the right cause is narrow minded .Until we get the green light from govnt on expansion of hatchery productions up and down this coast all we are doing is putting a band aid on a major wound.Granted its better then nothing but we need to focus on the top and work are way down,if people new there donation was going into more then a hatcheries bank account because really they cant do any more production because of DFO control ,they put out grants for funding through SFAB and get money from them ,they still have $100,000 plus dollars in bank account and now have started investing in bank stocks and not fish stocks,because there hands are tide ,its the same up and down this coast .The more the public gives the less the Govnt will contribute and yet were still all in the same boat less fish production and relying on our US friends to carry the weight.Whats the answer ,not sure but one would think it starts in Ottawa and works its way back to here ,let the pubic Joe fisherman control the enhancement side of fish production with fund raising ,ie Rollies great idea ,people would be all over it guides included knowing full well where that hard earned money was going?I know for myself and other guides that work out of Port Renfrew have contributed for yrs towards the Hatchery program there only to see there hard work at the end of the yr end with a giant seine net and gill nets across the San Juan River ,I also donate trips for for fund raising for SFAb and over 10yrs as a volunteer at a hatchery and there's countless others that do the same.

 

[profisher]

There is a local project that is just in the beginning stage with the next step being the formation of a steering committee. That is the Sooke Chinook revitalization project. We are going to succeed in getting the Sooke River Chinook juvenile numbers up to 2,000,000 fish from the 300-350 thousand at present. The difference between efforts to achieve similar things on the Sooke in the past compared to now is that DFO has been told they must produce Chinook to feed the resident killer whales. We are going to help them do it. I'm suggesting that the money raised by this effort go to this project. I've now learned that other guides from other towns have already done something similar. I'm encouraging other guides in other town to make the effort to do the same so that we have a province wide campaign all supporting local projects.

 

[Dennis.t]

Oh I don't know.... Perhaps the the guy that's too cheap to kick in 5 bucks for the salmon.

d.T you bring nothing to this forum of value.
You seem to be on here to cause problems... that's it.
You boast and you taunt.... is that all you got?

from another thread.......

Guess I should quit my job, cause you mad, I work in the patch...