The Future, by Bob Hooton

OldBlackDog

Well-Known Member
The Future?
The highly predictable outcome of any call for improved accountability with respect to the conduct of fisheries by First Nations fishers arrived shortly after my last post. The choice of labels was rather impressive – ignorant, biased, highly inaccurate, racist……. All that for daring to imply that what happens out there on the water does not reflect landmark courtroom decisions or closed door boardroom discussions and agreements between senior government officials (i.e. top guns in our Department of Fisheries and Oceans) and FN leaders. The DFO folk clearly have their reconciliation marching orders but neither the mandate nor the resources to judge the efficacy of those orders once implemented.

An example of the absurdity of present circumstances is the endless stream of Fisheries Notices being issued by DFO (“normal” commercial gill net and seine openings, demonstration fisheries, economic opportunity fisheries and, of course, the Food Social and Ceremonial fisheries that take precedence over all others). Never before has there been such a plethora of fisheries at the same time we are hearing repeatedly about the conservation problems faced by Fraser and Skeena chinook, Skeena sockeye (now completely dominated by a single stock of fish produced by artificial spawning channels on tributaries to Babine Lake), upper Fraser coho, numerous upper Fraser sockeye stocks, Sakinaw and Cultus sockeye, etc. Weren’t those endangered, chinook starved, southern resident killer whales supposed to be the primary beneficiaries of all the chinook conservation measures imposed on recreational and commercial fishers? No doubt DFO is breathing a sigh of relief that, for reasons yet to be understood, Skeena steelhead rebounded very unexpectedly this past July. The most endangered fish of all, those iconic Interior Fraser steelhead are still to come but you won’t hear them mentioned unless and until the least influential group of all – anglers – are instructed they are not allowed to cast a fly……….again.

Conservation is always touted as the underlying principle for any fishery that impacts multiple stocks and species co-mingling in the fishing areas. But, how is that term applied between different locations and for different fishing groups along the coast and in major rivers such as the Skeena and Fraser?

Steelhead have been a driver in measures taken by DFO to lessen the harm done to non-target stocks and species by gill nets. Much of that relates to the Skeena where gill nets choked the mouth of that river for more than 100 years before enough noise was made by steelhead advocates that commercial fishery management began to change. I emphasize began because it is tokenism, naivete, deception, window dressing………… take your choice, to talk conservation of any stock or species of fish exposed to a gauntlet of gill nets. Nonetheless, DFO has all sorts of rules around the use of gill nets in some times and places while others are under no such rules. If conservation is really the objective it will only be achieved by closing fisheries, not by tweaking application of the most destructive harvesting method known to Pacific salmonids.

Consider examples of the differential, nonsensical net fishing rules. Up Skeena way, gill net fishers in tidal waters are supposed to be bound by a series of rules clearly identified in the Fisheries Notices published by DFO. The interesting thing is how the rules change as of August 1 and, more importantly, how there are no rules for FN gill net fishers on the upstream side of the tidal boundary. Prior to August 1, its business as usual for gill net fishers, regardless of which group they may belong to. Non-target species are supposed to be released “immediately and unharmed” but there isn’t exactly any serious attention paid to compliance. Come August 1, (the time when target sockeye immigration is slowing down but steelhead are mostly yet to arrive in an average year) we have a thoroughly described list of conditions such as half length nets, 20 minute soak times and mandatory revival boxes with circulating water systems applicable to every fishing opening in the tidal approaches to the Skeena. The same rules are supposed to apply to exclusively FN fisheries that have now become common in these same tidal areas. Upstream, though, there is no closed season unless it is mandated by an individual FN (when has that ever happened?), no restriction on net length or how long it can be deployed, no rules around release of non-target species or stocks. Monitoring and compliance are non-issues if there are no rules.

To those who claim I’m making this stuff up I say put aside what the learned judges have decreed and what the boardroom junkies in DFO and representatives of an ever increasing number of FN groups have signed off behind closed doors. Get out there on the water and witness reality.

Fig.-45.jpg

FN fishers deploying a gill net from the Suskwa bridge crossing on the lower Bulkley. The only species likely to be caught at that time and location was the fish FNs claim to have no interest in eating – steelhead.
RSH-Documents419.jpg

The deadliest in-river set net site I ever observed on the middle Skeena not far from Kispiox. This one net caught a tremendous number of fish every season. I never saw it attended. The inspection of the catch on this day revealed dozens of fish, including chinook, chum, coho and steelhead.
RSH-Documents420.jpg

A sample of the catch of the above net. This from a very short section mid-stream.
The Fraser is no different. In fact it is probably worse in that there are so many FNs no one can keep track of what really happens. Check out those DFO notices for any fishery in or near the Fraser, whether applicable to FNs or others. Compare one or two of those with a notice of the next fishery at the mouth of the Skeena. All those conservation measures that are supposed to apply up Skeena way come August 1 are a complete unknown for Fraser bound stocks. Yes, non-FN commercial fishers are still supposed to release non-target stocks and species “with the least possible harm” but not even that watered down condition applies to any gill net fishery conducted by FNs in or near the Fraser. I see no evidence of it for any FN fishery further afield either (e.g. Johnstone Strait, the migration corridor for a multitude of Fraser stocks supposedly in peril).

Ultimately there must be a balance between supply and demand. With the fastest growing segment of British Columbia’s population granted the rights they now have to harvest what remains of salmon and steelhead resources, we’re in a different era than ever before. How does this manifestation of reconciliation serve those overworked concepts of conservation and sustainability? How long will the fish supply hold up under such a regime? Who will be responsible and accountable if/when it doesn’t? Then what?
 
Great article! I know of 4 steelhead that were killed in the commercial opening this week. Just tossed back overboard dead. One of the boats a friend was working on didn’t have revival tanks and all the springs that were taken in the nets were tossed back dead because they couldn’t keep them. 40+ springs tossed back into the Fraser . Weren’t we supposed to protecting these for the killer whales?
 
Great article! I know of 4 steelhead that were killed in the commercial opening this week. Just tossed back overboard dead. One of the boats a friend was working on didn’t have revival tanks and all the springs that were taken in the nets were tossed back dead because they couldn’t keep them. 40+ springs tossed back into the Fraser . Weren’t we supposed to protecting these for the killer whales?


Thats fked up and its not going to get better anytime soon I'm afraid
 
Proof in the pudding...... Yet so many turn a blind eye to it all.

Nets crossing rivers every access pt Possible. Pathetic waste ! With Zero consequences. Terrific .

No surprise here. Way to go Government of Canada and DFO

Shame on those raping and destroying the future of fish on our coastlines
 
So With the record amount of food and economic openings that FN have gotten for springs and sockeye this season, will it continue this fall for chum? Endangered interior coho and steelhead are migrating through the Fraser now and will get hit with a double punch this year with the following chum roe fishery?
What does the return for steelhead have to be before this waste fishery is shut down? 50 interior steelhead? 100?
Pretty safe to say with the way our government is managing things this stock is already gone.
 
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