JDF Derby Shutdown

[scott craven]

Chest beating demands are seldom met with any enthusiasm.
Over time, cool calm heads will prevail.
Our position as sports fishermen/women must be viewed by the general public
as a group who not only enjoy the sport, but are willing to make some concessions
for the long term good of the salmon.

just my 2 cents

 

[lorneparker1]

how many concessions are we supposed to make exactly?,lol....al we ever do is make concessions, when is it going to be enough?, there are others that can be making concessions also.....holmes*

x2

Lorne

 

[wolf]

x3 x4 x5 there was only 144 fish caught that were registered that weekend out of 750 entrants fn gets close to 500 a day do the math.......

 

[scott craven]

how many concessions are we supposed to make exactly?,lol....al we ever do is make concessions, when is it going to be enough?, there are others that can be making concessions also.....holmes*

Holmes, our area 19/20 has been hit harder than any other.
If i'm ready to concede until a better resolution to the problem is at hand, then i think
you can too.


P.S. I'm almost done on this one.

 

[xavier]

Holmes, our area 19/20 has been hit harder than any other.
If i'm ready to concede until a better resolution to the problem is at hand, then i think
you can too.

I just think DFO recognizes we are really proficient sportfisherman here on the south end of VI.

 

[xavier]

My skepticism is that the Senior Bureaucrats felt the relative economy related to sportfishing on southern VI is a drop in the bucket compared to the other areas of our province --- no lodges, a few independent guides, marina's that make most of their money off pleasure craft (with the exception of PR). And while the Derby kicks a great deal of money into enhancement, the voting masses won't sympathize with a fishing derby being shut down. They likely felt the JDF is largely comprised of independent contractors, which is a vote they already have.

NOT MY THOUGHTS, JUST MY GUESS... as to how it went down.

 

[the rook]

craven like reading your posts, cant agree on this one though. the derbys not the problem, sportys arent the problem, when the river is netted dry over and over illegally and the rcmp stand by and do nothing, i caught 4 chinooks last year, (i suck) wow thats going to make a big difference!! anyway hope something positive comes out of all this as i just got back into it last year. thanks for all the interesting reads boys!!

 

[ReelAffair]

ROOK i agree that we are not the problem but the FN are made to seem like the good guys, look at some of the TV media where the FN say "we are willing to working with people", then you get the media saying the fisherman have stepped down and are not taking any more cuts......I COULDNT AGREE MORE THAT WE ARE NOT THE PROBLEM, but look at what people are seeing that dont fish. They make us look like the bad guys. I dont think we should get any more cuts, but we do look greedy in the average persons eyes.

WHAT PISSES ME OF IS I WAS BORN HERE, SO IT IS MY RIGHT TO FISH HERE AS WELL, IF WE GET CUTS AND THERE ARE STILL NETS ON THE RIVER....WHY THE F ARE WE GETTING A@$ F#@@ED

ITS MY RIGHT TO HUNT, IF I WERE TO BLOCK ROADS I'D BE LOCKED UP

EQUAL RIGHTS

 

[scott craven]

We must be seen as a conservation minded group willing to do what it takes for the betterment
of the salmon.
With all the media coverage over the disappearing sockeye, the starving whales , the low Chinook stocks
etc. we can't paint ourselves as greedy fishermen out to take as much as we can.
The general public will not support our issues.

 

[ReelAffair]

The average people NEED to be educated, But it is a delicate situation and we need to TREAD LIGHTLY WHILE DOING IT, so we dont look like the bad guys


DONT THINK I LIKE WHATS GOING ON

 

[profisher]

Craven and striperjack are bang on. Wolf...we all feel and understand your frustration and your math is correct comparing our catch to the FN's. However if I were one of the uneducated non-fishers listening to you I would probably think "typical...they both kill fish and they blame each other for being the problem". I would also think the one side that bangs their chest the hardest and seems the most defiant is probably the guiltier party. It doesn't get us anywhere and it hasn't all along. The FN groups are winning this fight because when they speak around the media they don't even talk about their right to fish...they talk about conserving fish. (we know a lot of it is propaganda) But it is working. I'm also not saying we should just start talking conservation without being serious about it. We are on the right side of this issue...so lets win this and save the fish. Then we can all go fishing!!!

 

[chris73]

I suspect that the "average person" will get educated pretty quickly when salmon stock will tumble and disappear because sportfisher efforts in salmon restoration and enhancement wind down. Make no mistake, there is NO ONE else prepared to step up to compensate the lost effort. Are you prepared to compensate for the JDF derby? I thought so. No one will because no one else cares like we do. But if they dont let the sportfishers fish for a few salmon, why would they still spend all those efforts? Once actively contributing anglers without angling opportunities will become nothing more than "average persons" being ignorant to salmon. And who could blame them. This is about way more than public perception. Public perception will not save the salmon. Boots on the ground did save them in many watersheds over the last decades. Lose the boots and we will lose the salmon.

 

[profisher]

Chris..you are right that if fishing were taken away so would a lot of the interest being put in by volunteers to save fish. Let me give you an example of how we as a group can do better at getting our message across. The other night one of the local news stations carried the story about the derby being canceled. They interviewed Ward Bond in his store for his opinion. Ok, so uneducated watching that might think ...hmm local business person who is worried about his business. So how could it have been done better. Insist that the media meet Ward at one of the locations where the derby money is given, to do the interview. Say the Sooke Hatchery and have the reps from the Pink Salmon Festival there with him. (they get money donated from the derby) Just to be clear I'm not being critical of the interview...just want to convey how I think we have to be smarter and think about what message we are sending out there. We should be using every opportunity to reinforce this message of how much good our sector does to conserve and build salmon populations.

 

[profisher]

The other groups pay people to think of this **** for them. So when they have the opportunity to have a camera in front of them the visual message ties in with the words being spoken. I know what you are saying...but either we get up to speed or we will loose. It kinda reminds me of MR Nixon's first attempt at running for president down south. He didn't put on the make up to look good for the camera (didn't think he needed it) he looked pasty and it cost him that election. How you look is as important as how you sound.
Was thinking some more today about the derby. Wouldn't it be great if the derby committee would follow up and call all those who participate like they do every year to let everyone know when they can pick up their tickets. This year ask everyone to donate the money they would have normally spend on tickets to the derby so they could donate the $60,000 to local groups on their behalf. Make a story out of with the basic premise that is...."sport fishermen care just as much about the monies raised for salmon as they do about the prizes" We donated this money to support the derby's fight to continue and to also make sure that those doing good work for local salmon enhancement don't suffer because of DFO's inability to manage the resource.

 

[Foxsea]

The other groups pay people to think of this **** for them. So when they have the opportunity to have a camera in front of them the visual message ties in with the words being spoken. I know what you are saying...but either we get up to speed or we will loose. It kinda reminds me of MR Nixon's first attempt at running for president down south. He didn't put on the make up to look good for the camera (didn't think he needed it) he looked pasty and it cost him that election. How you look is as important as how you sound.

We really do need a spokes-model. A grizzly guy with a ballcap, stanfields, bib rainpants and gum boots is not the image we need to sway voters.



This girl would be good for our image - well known, respected, credible and a Mommy. Now she would look great in a ballcap, stanfields, and ... high heels - salmon optional.

 

[Deewar25]

Wouldn't it be great if the derby committee would follow up and call all those who participate like they do every year to let everyone know when they can pick up their tickets. This year ask everyone to donate the money they would have normally spend on tickets to the derby so they could donate the $60,000 to local groups on their behalf. Make a story out of with the basic premise that is...."sport fishermen care just as much about the monies raised for salmon as they do about the prizes" We donated this money to support the derby's fight to continue and to also make sure that those doing good work for local salmon enhancement don't suffer because of DFO's inability to manage the resource.

that would definitely be brilliant - especially if that message was conveyed to media properly.

 

[FISH]

I am with the majority on this one....as a guide...I have to say I am now moving north to Haida Gwaii to make my living...need I say more?

 

[Dennis.t]

Fishing Derbies are obsolete IMO.They have gone the way of the Dinosaur.In this day of depleted fish stocks and in the name of conservation it makes no sense to have fishing derbies.One by one they fall by the wayside.D.F.O should have been more forth right in thier decision to cancel this one but in the end its the right call.Fraser river chinook is in trouble. The loss of the monies raised by this fundraiser is a shame but other events should be considered to raise monies.

 

[chris73]

Fishing Derbies are obsolete IMO.They have gone the way of the Dinosaur.In this day of depleted fish stocks and in the name of conservation it makes no sense to have fishing derbies.One by one they fall by the wayside.D.F.O should have been more forth right in thier decision to cancel this one but in the end its the right call.Fraser river chinook is in trouble. The loss of the monies raised by this fundraiser is a shame but other events should be considered to raise monies.

Face it, nothing show cases the beauty and bounty of our coast better than a day on the water fishing. You will never get fishermen to donate regularly to something other than what they love most.

 

[wolf]

ITS apperent your not seeing the big picture here from my last post 144 fish weighed in with 750 entrants!! that basically 1 in 5 people even geting a fish so in another term thats 74.5 fish per day were caught and yes i know there were some that were not weighed in.... and FN taking close to 500 a DAY do you see its not US???? our take in the whole juan de fuca is about 5th down the line in the line there is the upper johnstone ,west coast.upper georgia, that has more % the last time i saw on the sheet.
THIS IS NOT about conservation if we as sportsfisherman were the bases of it all hell id be the first to step aside and say ok stop ut we are not we are sooooo small in what really happens we are restricted 100% from march 1 to ??? god only knows when. So you have to ask so if we give 100% why not other user groups??? hmmmmoh right common sense.......

When we sat in one of the many meeting I brought up a question for them DFO clowns I asked this is all good to catch hatchery fish (which is like finding a needle in a hay stack in june) how many fish get clipped in the upper thompson and area of interest??? 1 in 10 he maybe he estimated???? I then asked are they going to ramp up more fish being put back in the system aaahhhh uummm I think so.......

I then said ok so if there not going to do more hatchery fish HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO GET HATCHERY HEADS BACK WHEN YOUR NOT MAKING THEM HATCHERY CLIPPED FISH???? You should have seen the blank face????

SO does the derby hurt NOT chance it has helped in soo many ways especially for putting money back in plaind and simple this derby is/ was the best thing for helping yes we take the benifits of giving far excceed....

This derby being cancelled is the worst thing that could ever happen to area 19/20 but understand the reasons why and totally support George & Fred and the many people who helped in this fantastic event they deserve and have MY total respect as they are great ambassadors to the support of local habitat and hatcheries

I see a downward spiral that I really dont like.

wolf