June 8, 2020
Further into June and well into the season, we all transition through Phase 2 and look forward to Phase 3 of BC's Restart plan. It is now possible to be out fishing locally and with a guide and to be making plans to visit places in BC you may not have in the past or expected to before the Covid pandemic hit.
FISHERY DECISIONS IN BC DURING COVID - TAKING TOO LONG
We continue to wait for a decision regarding south coast Chinook retention opportunity. Opportunity and access remain uncertain and yet reports from those who are on the water now are that abundance is high and fishing is good. SFAB proposals, submitted April 9, offer a balanced and responsible approach to addressing conservation concerns, acknowledging First Nation food, social, and ceremonial requirements, and allowing opportunity for residents, small communities, and businesses to harvest Chinook salmon in a sustainable manner with no additional impacts to Fraser Chinook stocks of concern. The proposals have elements that should have been reasonably and responsibly implemented in April, yet we continue to wait. The impacts to small communities, to businesses and to expectations and planning for all looking to fish in BC are significant. The effects of the pandemic in combination with the unnecessarily broad restrictions to access and opportunity on an activity that touches the lives of hundreds of thousands of British Columbians make unnecessary delays inappropriate and unacceptable. The waiting and uncertainty simply add to the damage already ready inflicted by a roll over of last year's measures and the unprecedented effects of the pandemic.
CHINOOK PROPOSALS
The decision regarding Chinook fishery management continues while the 2019 interim measures are still in place. As noted, the delay continues to create an atmosphere of uncertainty which hampers general planning and for Covid19 recovery too. This
linked brief details the issues and reiterates the urgent and immediate need for a balanced decision and sustainable opportunity and access to Chinook salmon.
THE EXPERIMENTAL RECREATIONAL HALIBUT PROGRAM - XRQ - TIME TO GO
While delays that have been attributed to Covid are unwelcome, the postponement of the XRQ, the deeply flawed experimental recreational halibut program, is. Surely this could be a time to finally dismantle and eliminate the XRQ permanently.
Many may have forgotten about this program that formalizes allocation transfer from the commercial fishery to individuals in the public fishery. The program was flawed from the start and while it was intended to address a Ministerial requirement to allow for transfer of quota between sectors, the XRQ was implemented not between sectors but between individuals. This XRQ has been a failure, with few participants, few fish recorded and with widespread acknowledgment from the department that it lacks the staff and resources to police or effectively monitor the program in any meaningful way.
We believe that the program is unnecessary and divisive. It attempts to create user-group distinctions within the recreational fishery. The recreational quota leasing program is inappropriate as it turns recreational fishing into a quasi-commercial harvesting activity; it seeks to create different classes of recreational anglers when all recreational anglers should have equal access to a Canadian public resource; it unjustly enriches a small number of commercial quota holders; and, it distracts anglers from government’s error which was granting private property rights to a Canadian public resource.
Ultimately we remain firm in our belief that a fixed number allocation system or some method to permit the entire recreational sector to acquire certain and stable access to halibut for a full and predictable season should be employed.
BIG SPRING RAFFLE - A SELL OUT!
On a lighter note, the Big Spring raffle has sold out! Thank you to all ticket buyers and raffle prize contributors for your support. Good luck to all at the prize draw 12:00 pm. on June 22. The prize winners will be announced live on the SFI Facebook page on location at G.A. Checkpoint.
For those that missed this raffle or who don't win a prize this time - stand by for the
Summer Run Raffle starting in July. We are happy to announce that our next raffle will include a Kingfisher and Yamaha boat package grand prize and other great prizes too.
FISHING BC APP - NEW FEATURES AND CATCH DATA COLLECTION POTENTIAL
And with a view ahead and for activity on the water this summer, the Fishing BC app has had a major overhaul since last season. Enhancements and new features, including a guide log, are available now. Free to everyone, check it out on
Apple or
Android devices.
Until next time, tight lines,
The SFI Team