If you were the new fisheries minster

RODNREEL

Active Member
If you were the new fisheries minster where would you start?
I'd start with the seal problems especially around the river mouths.
Big money for salmon enhancement and hatcheries would be a close number two.
I have a problem with spending money on hatcheries and enhancement when the fish can't get past the seals.
What are your thoughts?
 
1) Seals
2)FN fisheries. Traditional fisheries using traditional methods.
3)fish farms out of the water and on land. No new leases as of the moment I got the job.
4)big industry pays for habitat restoration up front. No more farkin **** up and leaving it for John Q Public to foot the bill. And maybe some kind of prepay towards the environment restoration program.
5)continue with current hatchery programs and study the effects of said programs.

Not popular to some but you asked what I’d do.
 
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This is one ominous position to be appointed. They are damned if they do and damned if they don't. It's not a job or position in life that myself personally would ever take. There are so many detrimental potentially damaging decisions to make. In order to be successful at anything one does, the first step is making a decision...pondering or waiting for far too long does nothing but develop fast failure. The road to success is to just do it, take the hard road, good or bad. Sustainable success is made from taking action upon solving problems that the majority will back. Always remember that all problems no matter how challenging are simply just waiting to be solved. LAW, TRUST, majority. :)
Come on your the new top dog for fisheries what would you do ???
 
1. Assesment and funding for habitat enhancement including estuary restoration.
2. Salmon water act ensuring adequate water for spawning and rearing of salmonids that BC hydro must cooperate with
3. Review and assesment of hatchery programs to limit hatchery production to protect wild fish, hatchery phaseout plans on systems where it is deemed possible and diversion of any savings to habitat enhancement
4. Increased enforcement of fishing closures and compliance esp on Fraser river.
5. Simplification of coast wide limits to one chinook per day 2 possesion
6. Elimination of fishing exclusion zones to be replaced by Coast wide bubble zones where fishermen must move when orcas are present
7. Whale watching exclusion zones
 
Some really good points being made. I would add that forage fish such as herring need to be protected better and perhaps more transparency in decision making. No minutes , no Agenda used to mean No meeting, perhaps we need to get back to that. Also at the end of each season, part of the renewal process would be to report all species that you have logged on your license.
 
1) Habitat protection, including ensuring instream flow needs are met on all fish streams, is #1 - no use throwing good money after bad trying to restore or enhance rivers and streams if we continue to allow industry and land owners to continue to destroy and degrade the habitat we already have!

2) Overhaul the hatchery system - close all those not used for strategic enhancement of critical stocks, ensure proper plans are in place to protect wild stocks and that enhancement plans have an exit strategy for when data shows the stocks are either sustainable or the hatchery enhancement clearly isn’t working.

3) invest in proper data collection for all managed/exploited stocks and close all fisheries that aren’t data supported

4) end the ITQ system and establish a fish licensing system that provides access to actual fishermen to commercially harvest fish and thus put an end to slipper skippers and monopolizers like Jimmy P.

5) Scrap the current halibut mgmt regime and replace with a system closer to Alaska’s: reasonable daily and possession limits for all do it yourself Canadian anglers and a fair split of the remaining IPHC quota btwn charter/lodge operations and the commercial sector.

6) review and revise the marine protected areas and RCAs and expand to the freshwater ecosystem to ensure all weak/endangered stocks are protected, all stocks have refuges and strongholds to ensure long-term sustainability and that these protected areas are balanced against reasonable access opportunities for all sectors and groups.


That’d get me started!

Cheers!

Ukee
 
I don’t think harvesters and business could handle the pain the would need to happen. Probably 12-20 years.

Mix stock fisheries would need to be addressed.

Without addressing mix stock fisheries and over harvesting at risk and endangered stocks:

The path to zero will continue for a lot of salmon runs.
 
1) Seals
2)FN fisheries. Traditional fisheries using traditional methods.
3)fish farms out of the water and on land. No new leases as of the moment I got the job.
4)big industry pays for habitat restoration up front. No more farkin **** up and leaving it for John Q Public to foot the bill. And maybe some kind of prepay towards the environment restoration program.
5)continue with current hatchery programs and study the effects of said programs.

Not popular to some but you asked what I’d do.

I like it Clint,, lots of solid ideas.

If I could add one. No more comercial fishing that's it. I'm sorry for those that do it for a living but it's time to move on there is just no place for that in our oceans anymore. You want to eat fish go catch it. I can't buy moose meat at Sobeys or Elk meat at Safeway why can I buy Salmon or halibut. Could you imagine if we were to stop the nets the abundance of fish we all would have.
 
I like it Clint,, lots of solid ideas.

If I could add one. No more comercial fishing that's it. I'm sorry for those that do it for a living but it's time to move on there is just no place for that in our oceans anymore. You want to eat fish go catch it. I can't buy moose meat at Sobeys or Elk meat at Safeway why can I buy Salmon or halibut. Could you imagine if we were to stop the nets the abundance of fish we all would have.

Walleyes, I see your previous post that advocated for FN groups who claim traditional fishing rights use traditional fishing methods got deleted. This is for good reason as that shallow argument has been debated ad nauseum. A tradional method is fish weirs across a river blocking all access and scooping up everything that swims upstream. Is that what you want to see? I think most people would like to see selective gill nets used, modern technology to harvest the fish that has been granted by the Supreme Court of Canada. Across all sectors. I do however see your point about the commercial sector.
 
Walleyes, I see your previous post that advocated for FN groups who claim traditional fishing rights use traditional fishing methods got deleted. This is for good reason as that shallow argument has been debated ad nauseum. A tradional method is fish weirs across a river blocking all access and scooping up everything that swims upstream. Is that what you want to see? I think most people would like to see selective gill nets used, modern technology to harvest the fish that has been granted by the Supreme Court of Canada. Across all sectors. I do however see your point about the commercial sector.


Yah I'm not going down the FN thing again lol,, that is what it is. Here in Alberta a few years ago they closed all comercial fishing it was something that had to be done. By no means was it the industry it is on the ocean but people moved on. I truly feel this is something that has to take place. If not completely shut down then very selective, very selective. I know this,, they should take big business out if it and put it back to a mom and pop operations with small selective contracts to local restaurants and fish mongers,, old school all the way.
 
First off, much change is needed, but in order to do so , we may have to look at revisions to the Charter, one that I think has some serious flaws.

several years ago there was much ado about the sockeye fishery, So a ban was put into effect, yet we were offered fresh sockeye for 10 bucks a piece by door knockers in Calgary, this while the closure was in effect, claimed to be bycatch during a ceremonial fishery for springs..

Everyone wants to fight for the last slice of an ever smaller pie.. no fish ..no fishery ..period. There's not much we can do to change the issues due to global change , but this does not give us the pass on making changes we can control.

Saying that were it possible :

1) Change DFO mandate, to one puts the stock first; where science based decisions are made to ensure sustainable fisheries without political interference or social consideration.

2) Make every position at DFO temporary, and institute a rehire process, where all have to reapply for the position. Hiring criteria to be based on qualification and experience in the field of work they are applying for. (social engineers and butterfly collectors need not apply)

3)Policing on Tidal water handed over to CoastGuard transfer staff to those duties, tasked with life safety and enforcement.

4) Mandate the protection and policing of rearing/spawning habitat as a priority, all Industry applications must meet a no harm barrier, final say devoid of political whim..

5 ) Mandate that fisheries be divided fair and equitably among all Canadians..

6) All catch to be reported by days end, open book online as to what was caught where, and by what category

7) issue a quarterly report on the state of fishery

8) study the marine industry's role in atual harm to the stock or risk, including cruise ships, cargo vessels and tourist enterprises.

9) open a seal hunt, as is on East Coast

9) ban gill netting in rivers. yep back to court ..

10) remote video monitoring on all but private boats

11) Budget to include education programs in all schools on sustainable fisheries ..

12) enforce regulation with heavy hand whether polluter poacher. Foreign poachers lose their ship, sink it off of the shelf.. Poachers throw everything at them including proceeds of crime and in some cases the immigration Act.

13) seriously look at banning OPEN net fish farms, and the use of Ocean caught fish meal/pellet.

14) seriously look at banning stern trawlers/draggers from our territorial waters..

15 If necessary a institute blanket ban on fishing, EVERYbody in or out..
 
First off, much change is needed, but in order to do so , we may have to look at revisions to the Charter, one that I think has some serious flaws.

several years ago there was much ado about the sockeye fishery, So a ban was put into effect, yet we were offered fresh sockeye for 10 bucks a piece by door knockers in Calgary, this while the closure was in effect, claimed to be bycatch during a ceremonial fishery for springs..

Everyone wants to fight for the last slice of an ever smaller pie.. no fish ..no fishery ..period. There's not much we can do to change the issues due to global change , but this does not give us the pass on making changes we can control.

Saying that were it possible :

1) Change DFO mandate, to one puts the stock first; where science based decisions are made to ensure sustainable fisheries without political interference or social consideration.

2) Make every position at DFO temporary, and institute a rehire process, where all have to reapply for the position. Hiring criteria to be based on qualification and experience in the field of work they are applying for. (social engineers and butterfly collectors need not apply)

3)Policing on Tidal water handed over to CoastGuard transfer staff to those duties, tasked with life safety and enforcement.

4) Mandate the protection and policing of rearing/spawning habitat as a priority, all Industry applications must meet a no harm barrier, final say devoid of political whim..

5 ) Mandate that fisheries be divided fair and equitably among all Canadians..

6) All catch to be reported by days end, open book online as to what was caught where, and by what category

7) issue a quarterly report on the state of fishery

8) study the marine industry's role in atual harm to the stock or risk, including cruise ships, cargo vessels and tourist enterprises.

9) open a seal hunt, as is on East Coast

9) ban gill netting in rivers. yep back to court ..

10) remote video monitoring on all but private boats

11) Budget to include education programs in all schools on sustainable fisheries ..

12) enforce regulation with heavy hand whether polluter poacher. Foreign poachers lose their ship, sink it off of the shelf.. Poachers throw everything at them including proceeds of crime and in some cases the immigration Act.

13) seriously look at banning OPEN net fish farms, and the use of Ocean caught fish meal/pellet.

14) seriously look at banning stern trawlers/draggers from our territorial waters..

15 If necessary a institute blanket ban on fishing, EVERYbody in or out..
I was nodding my head in agreement and hit like very early in this list and it jut kept getting better as it went.
 
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