2018 Oak Bay Marine Group Juan De Fuca Fishing Tournament

I'm in, and 2 buddy's spread the word so we can help with the net pen.
 
We are only a couple days away from our t-shirt deadline. In the past this deadline brings on a spike in ticket sales as those who know they will be participating want to get their included t-shirt and be eligible for the draw prize given away to those who attend the awards banquet wearing both. To date ticket sales have been very poor and the t-shirt deadline has only brought has a handful of ticket sales. We are confused by this and so on Monday (the deadline) we will have to make a decision. Do we call off this years event and take a $10,000 hit to SVIAC or do we risk not reaching our break even ticket sales mark of 250 tickets and risk going backwards financially even more. This tournament costs over $40,000.00 to put on and so far we have sold less than 70 tickets. We have sold that many at the Victoria Boat show in February in past years. In the past we have sat at 200 tickets sold by the t-shirt deadline and we continued thinking we could at least break even with last minute sales. This year there is huge risk as we are realistically 200 tickets away from making this event worth continuing. This is our last call to the public. On Monday the SVIAC board will have to decide on the future of this event. We hope you make it a tougher decision than it stands now.
 
Come on people. I read lots of whining on this forum about how no one is doing anything to protect our awesome sport. Well, here’s your chance. It takes MASSIVE man hours to put on something like this. Now is the time to put your money where your mouth is - even if you have no plans on actually participating. Buy a ticket. Rant over.
 
This absolutely baffles me. Given an opportunity to help support/enhance our ‘dying’ salmon fishery, spend a weekend with friends and/or family on the water, have a chance to win an amazing prize and be on the same playing field no matter what the regs. are!! Come on people get it together for f$&k sakes!
 
I'm in and hoping there is enough interest to go forward.

With less tickets sold, this will be your best odds at winning $20,000 0r a real nice prize.
Get your tix fast so the organizers can put together the final planning needed.
 
Wow, summer is flying by, I'v been away and busy, - i will get my ticket today!! i will also poke a couple of buddies and get them to get there's!!
 
NOTICE OF CANCELLATION

It is with regret we announce that the 2018 Oak Bay Marine Group Juan de Fuca Fishing Tournament will not take placeas scheduled/planned.

This annual celebration of saltwater angling has historically served as a prominent event on the fishing calendar and an important fundraiser for SVIAC’s Sooke Chinook Enhancement Initiative. Very low ticket sales at this late stage have prompted the SVIACBoard of Directors, the event organizers, to cancel the event in order to avoid incurring a significant loss.

DFO’s ill-advised and clumsy handling of Southern Resident Killer Whale recovery and closed areas this spring have hurt the local salmon fishery and all those who rely on it. Having the media chatter about fisheries being closed has also negatively influenced angler sentiment. In addition, the extension of Chinook management measures to the end of July has caused many to opt to go fishing where there are no restrictions. SVIAC’s Board of Directors is of the opinion that our event is a victim of these factors too and damage to our fundraising efforts for rearing 1,000,000 juvenile Chinook in the Sooke Basin in 2019 is but one example of this.

Ticket purchasers and event sponsors will receive a refund. A small fundraiser will be set up soon in an attempt to generate money to fill the void the fishing tournament profits would have provided to the Sooke Chinook Enhancement Initiative.

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to all involved for their generous support and help make the Oak Bay Marine Group Juan de Fuca Fishing Tournament a success in the past. Please know we are extremely disappointed we find ourselves in this unfortunate position and apologise for any inconvenience that may arise from cancelling the fishing tournament.
 
More news to come about ticket refunds and some other options for prizes we have purchased.
 
I am very disappointed to here this long running derby was not able to make a go of it this year. I have been in the derby from the early years when it was still a Father’s Day thing. This was the only derby I have gone in to for the last 10 or so years. It has been a chance to fish with great friends and a chance to see friends from Alberta that come out every year just to fish this derby. Again very sad to see it come to a end. I would like to thank all the organizers and their helpers for putting on one of the best fishing derby’s.
 
Very disheartening to see this tradition die due to illconceived fisheries politics. I am afraid this is just the beginning of a fast downward spiral for the BC sportfishing sector. In years to come we will look back and realize what a fantastic and special sportfishery we had here and how much more potential there was if politicians had only understood its potential and if only resident anglers had appreciated its specialty a bit more and had better organized to protect and even grow it. Tourists from all over the world were telling us for years how special sportfishing BC was but we took it for granted and will pay the price now.
 
The sad thing for me is the loss of the funds that would have been generated again this summer for the Sooke Sea Pen Project. Instead of potentially covering $40,000.00 of this years $75,000.00 operating costs we are now having to accept a $6,000.00 debt.
 
Very sad that there used to be a waiting list to get in this derby to the point that there wasn't enough interest to make it a viable.
 
The sad thing for me is the loss of the funds that would have been generated again this summer for the Sooke Sea Pen Project. Instead of potentially covering $40,000.00 of this years $75,000.00 operating costs we are now having to accept a $6,000.00 debt.


Rollie I would like to donate one of my entry fees to the Sooke Sea Pen Project , and Rollie I would to personally like to thank you for all the years that you donated your time and money to this great project, thanks again Colin.
 
Is it possible to auction off the prizes and use the proceeds for the project. I would think a lot of the donors would go for it.
 
All I can say is that there some things in the works. We have had a few cash sponsors who have said they don't want the cash back, that they want to donate it to the net pen project. We will work with our sponsors and ticket holders to do what ever they wish, including returning prizes and refunding tickets. Colin thank you for your generosity. We do have about 500 2018 dated tournament hats so those who did buy tickets will get a hat regardless. Give us a few days to see what rolls out from this. I have had some interesting conversations today and I'm optimistic that our sponsors are trying their best to bring this to a positive resolution. Stay tuned.
 
All I can say is that there some things in the works. We have had a few cash sponsors who have said they don't want the cash back, that they want to donate it to the net pen project. We will work with our sponsors and ticket holders to do what ever they wish, including returning prizes and refunding tickets. Colin thank you for your generosity. We do have about 500 2018 dated tournament hats so those who did buy tickets will get a hat regardless. Give us a few days to see what rolls out from this. I have had some interesting conversations today and I'm optimistic that our sponsors are trying their best to bring this to a positive resolution. Stay tuned.
Pro,
You’ve handled this tough situation with class and dignity. I would like to thank you for the work and effort you’ve put in and you should be proud of what you’ve done. I hope in the next few years real change comes to sport fishing and this event can happen again. I only wish I started fishing years ago so I could’ve enjoyed this event as much as others have!
 
We hope to see a big spike in ticket sales by the 16th

so far we have sold less than 70 tickets.

NOTICE OF CANCELLATION
Having the media chatter about fisheries being closed has also negatively influenced angler sentiment.

Sucks on the cancellation... but with the stupid slot restrictions, why not adapt the rules to make it a C&R derby? Did it have to be a biggest fish killed derby?
 
Sucks on the cancellation... but with the stupid slot restrictions, why not adapt the rules to make it a C&R derby? Did it have to be a biggest fish killed derby?
Are you serious? Over the last few years the fishing industry in Sooke has slowly been killed by DFO due to one restriction after another. This is just a symptom of poor management by DFO.
 
Ticket sales are down only partially because of the slot size extension..the main loss of sales is due to the most popular waters for the Sooke community are closed to all fishing until September 30th. People have either left and gone elsewhere or have parked their boats for the summer and are not fishing. All the marinas here have many vacant slips....something you never see in the summer months. There are so many boats that I see often in the waters from Otter Point to Point No Point that I haven't seen out once this summer. They are gone!!! Much of the fish weighed is was donated to the Sooke Food Bank for a chance at winning a digital smoker donated by Bradley. We were able to give the food bank two large coolers full of fresh salmon and halibut each year to help needy families in the local area. That has now also been lost.
 
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