Sushihunter
Active Member
http://www2.canada.com/westerly/news/upfront/story.html?id=e276fdc3-945e-4040-b160-b6cdf3717eba
Sport fishermen want larger piece of existing quota
Westerly News
Published: Thursday, January 27, 2011
Dear Editor,
I must take exception with Mike Wright's letter published in the Westerly News January 13, 2011 -- Conservation must trump all other halibut concerns.
He says "conservation must trump all other concerns." Very admirable.
The problem is that if Mr. Wright had done a little research he would have understood that the recreational fisher in Canada does not want to see the total allowable catch for British Columbia increased. The recreational fisher is as concerned about conservation as all other user groups.
The recreational fishers just want a larger share of the allotment of halibut to B.C. We would like to move from 12 per cent of the quota to 20 per cent.
The supreme court ruled that all Canadian fisheries belong to the people, all people -- not just First Nations people, not just the recreational fisher and certainly not the commercial fishermen that take 88 per cent of all the halibut caught in B.C. I would think that group would be more responsible for the diminishing of the halibut stocks.
In fact, the biomass is at a good level, but the reason for the cutbacks in quotas coastwide (yes, even Alaska) was to allow the average size of the halibut to grow before they are harvested.
The charter fishermen don't own the fishery, but neither do the commercial fishermen. It belongs to all the people of Canada, especially all the people that come to fish with an experienced guide to catch some halibut to eat.
I find it suspicious that there is very little mention of the commercial fisher in Mr. Wright's uninformed opinion of an issue he seems to know little about.
Shawn Hillier,
Tofino
© Westerly News 2011
Sport fishermen want larger piece of existing quota
Westerly News
Published: Thursday, January 27, 2011
Dear Editor,
I must take exception with Mike Wright's letter published in the Westerly News January 13, 2011 -- Conservation must trump all other halibut concerns.
He says "conservation must trump all other concerns." Very admirable.
The problem is that if Mr. Wright had done a little research he would have understood that the recreational fisher in Canada does not want to see the total allowable catch for British Columbia increased. The recreational fisher is as concerned about conservation as all other user groups.
The recreational fishers just want a larger share of the allotment of halibut to B.C. We would like to move from 12 per cent of the quota to 20 per cent.
The supreme court ruled that all Canadian fisheries belong to the people, all people -- not just First Nations people, not just the recreational fisher and certainly not the commercial fishermen that take 88 per cent of all the halibut caught in B.C. I would think that group would be more responsible for the diminishing of the halibut stocks.
In fact, the biomass is at a good level, but the reason for the cutbacks in quotas coastwide (yes, even Alaska) was to allow the average size of the halibut to grow before they are harvested.
The charter fishermen don't own the fishery, but neither do the commercial fishermen. It belongs to all the people of Canada, especially all the people that come to fish with an experienced guide to catch some halibut to eat.
I find it suspicious that there is very little mention of the commercial fisher in Mr. Wright's uninformed opinion of an issue he seems to know little about.
Shawn Hillier,
Tofino
© Westerly News 2011
