Sportsfishers rights in jeapordy

[drhook]

Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQ's) are eroding our rights to fish for a resource that belongs to the general public. Recently, 88% of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) has been arbitrarily awarded to the commercial fleet. Now the groundfish TAC off the west coast might be 100% awarded to the commercial fleet. Read the following that I have come across:

AN URGENT MESSAGE

An issue has arisen this past weekend which must be explained and must be acted upon by individual sport fishers in Canada.

The new Minister of Fisheries, Loyola Hearn is about to sign a document which will give the Commercial Industry Caucus (CIC) the rights to 100% of the groundfish on the west coast of Canada. Salmon will soon follow. Each commercial fisherman is going to be deeded a right toharvest in what will be referred to as an ITQ (Individual Transferrable Quota).

We, in the fisheries committees system in BC, the Fly Fishing Federation, Drift FishersFederation, BC Wildlife Federation and other non-governmental groups (NGO’s) includingAboriginals will have to buy quota (fish) from the commercial quota owners. The only availableoption for sport fishers will be increased cost on their recreational fishing liscenses.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this issue as our fundamental rights are beingstripped away. I give you a quote from the minister who is from Newfoundland:
“Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are sick and tired of seeing their resources beingdeveloped for the benefit of others. From now on, we must assure theat the primebeneficiaries are the people of our great province.” If the Minister truly believes this, why is henot making the people of British Columbia the beneficiaries of their own resources?

Will you timidly accept this loss of your Constitutional rights or will you protest vigorously bywriting, emailing of faxing the Minister, his Pacific Region Director General, the oppositionFisheries critics, your own MP and the media objecting to this destruction of your Canadianheritage? Register your objection to ITQ’s and privitazation of your resource. Maybe ifenough of us do so, we might be able to restore a bit of sanity to this situation.

A list of contact information is appended for your convenience:

Hon Loyola Hearn Minister Fisheries and Oceans Canada
MINISTER'S OFFICE, CENTENNIAL TOWER
200 Kent Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E6
Telephone: (613) 992-3474
hearnl@parl.gc.ca

Paul Sprout Regional Director General
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Suite 200 401 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 3S4
Telephone: (604) 666-6098

Jean Crowder Local MP
NDP Deputy Whip
111 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 943-2180
crowdj@parl.gc.ca

Peter Stoffer NDP fisheries critic
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Tel: (613) 995-5822

More info can be had by visiting BC Wildlife Federation's site and by contacting Paul Rickard or Wayne Harling.
http://www.bcwf.bc.ca/
We're already behind the 8 ball regarding ITQ's but its never to late to make noise.




Edited by - drhook on 04/06/2006 16:34:47

 

[Riptide2]

Wow I really hope you are joking here. I wrote the minister and will post his response if his office replys.

I am assuming we are not just talking Rockfish here and that this would include Lingcod and Halibut.

 

[IronNoggin]

NOT a Joke, deadly serious, and with long term consequences we, as sportfishers, will NOT like!

Loads of info:
http://forum.fishbc.com/index.php?showtopic=32357

Time to drag out the pens 'n paper! Somewhere we better start drawing The Line Folks, or risk it all!!

Worried yet again.
Nog

 

[OldBlackDog]

On this, to date the Minister has not made a decision, due to the e-mails he is getting on this from sportsfishermen.
So, yes write to him now as every e-mail counts.
Also get to your MLA and tell him as well.

This is a very slippery slope and Salmon are next ( no joke ).

 

[drhook]

I've written Loyola Hearn and Jean Crowder already. Everyone, please, if you love fishing its high time we come together and act as one voice. Get involved, get informed and write the people in charge!

 

[Riptide2]

Below is a response I got from Jean Crowder, MP
NDP Deputy Critic for Pacific Fisheries. I still have heard nothing back from Minister Hearn.

Thank you for copying me on your message to Minister Hearn regarding the Pacific ground fish fishery. Here is a copy of a reply I have been sending out to people concerned about the privatization of this public resource:

Dear Friend,

Thank you for your letter regarding the Department of Fisheries and Ocean’s proposal to extend the Individual Transfer Quota program to the Pacific ground fishery. I would like to take this opportunity to explain the NDP position on this issue.

The NDP has opposed the use of ITQs for any fishery. We do not believe they lead to a fairer system or help us better manage our fishery. ITQs make it easier for corporations to control the public resource and leave it open to eventual foreign ownership. In an ITQ system, those who have the financial means are able to secure a large concentration of quotas. Smaller operators, crewmembers, or family members who simply do not have the financial resources to buy quotas are essentially shut out.

I also feel that an ITQ system would do little to promote conservation or encourage more efficient use of the resource. If a company has invested heavily in quota, the desire exists to bring in the best species or quality of fish. While high grading and discarding at sea happens in both ITQ and non-ITQ systems, it may be more common in the former.

Rather than promoting ITQs, DFO should work towards a community based, co-operative, co-management fisheries management system. People who live near and use the resource must be part of the decision-making regardless of whether they are commercial operators, First Nations fishers or recreational enthusiasts. This is the direction our government should be taking.

My colleague, Peter Stoffer, the NDP Fisheries Critic and myself as deputy critic for Pacific fisheries, will continue to press the new DFO Minister to stop the implementation of ITQ management on the Pacific Coast.

Yours truly,

Jean Crowder, MP
NDP Deputy Critic for Pacific Fisheries

 

[IronNoggin]

Been outta the loop of late, so... where DO we sit today???

Wonderin'[?]
Nog

 

[drhook]

I don't have any info specifically on the groundfish ITQ's but the halibut ITQ's and some other interesting stuff is addressed in the April report of the SFAB.
http://www.bcwf.bc.ca/documents/s=231/bcw1178857145569/

 

[Mornin Chubby]

What should I right in the email? if some one could could provide me that I will send it off right away.

 

[Rum Buddies]

absolutely if someone has written and email that they feel covers the right points please post it here.

The average fisherman is not going to be comfortable writing their own email as they may feel they won't cover the issue correctly and also most are lazy. If we can simply copy it and send you will get hundreds of more more emails sent out.

 

[Mornin Chubby]

quote:Originally posted by Poppa Swiss

absolutely if someone has written and email that they feel covers the right points please post it here.

The average fisherman is not going to be comfortable writing their own email as they may feel they won't cover the issue correctly and also most are lazy. If we can simply copy it and send you will get hundreds of more more emails sent out.

Yes Exactly! For me I just lack the confidence in what I should exactly be saying

 

[rainbow one]

If this proposal does go through and is made law and the sporties are stripped of our sportfishing rights then we need to band together and pay no attention to it and keep fishing the same way as we have been. There is power in numbers and it would be very hard to enforce 300,000 individuals that simply are not going to go along with it. The hardest part is getting everyone to do just that, not go along with it! However,we can start with the lawful approach to get it stopped.

RO

 

[alley cat]

The Romans after many centuries in developing a system of Government found that the one basic corollary was never make a Law that the general populace will not obey !
I have always followed the bounds of the Laws in this country and served in its Armed Forces to ensure we had the right of self determination ; I am to the point of defiance over this issue and have remained silent to date.
This attack by a Government Agency and its allocation to the Ministry devoted to Parks leaves me cold.
The gnomes who work industriously in the caves for Par\ks have no basic grasp of the Fisheries and Sports fishing protocols ,ergo mindless and senseless rules which will allow active and detrimental use by powerful special interest groups, for every communique to your MP , they have devised that this represents 100 who will not write...............WRITE to your MP NOW !!!!!!!!

AL