Eco Groups Want Emergency protection for Resident Orcas!

From 1973 to 2016, the resident orca population showed periods of both growth and decline. When the first population census was conducted in 1973, 66 whales were sighted. Their population increased by 48% to a high of 98 in 1995, then dropped 16% to 82 individuals between 1995 and 2003, prompting governments to list them as endangered species. As of December 2016, there are 78 Southern Resident Killer Whales in the Salish Sea.

Appears SRKW population has varied lots over the last 40 years. Yes it's a concern but restricting fisherman isn't going to solve anything. Total commercial and recreational catches of 400,000 chinook in 1980 have declined to around 30,000 in marine waters in recent years.

In 1970, harbor seals were eating about 1.1 million chinook of all sizes, or 13 times more individual fish than killer whales. In 2015, that number had grown to 8.6 million for the seals, or 104 times the number of chinook taken by killer whales.

Shutting down all fishing won't save the whales...
 
Ever see the episode of that whale protest show where the crew of the sea Shepard’s watch a killer whale pod hunt, play and kill a seal on an ice float.

They all started to cry
 
The SRKW are already showing signs of changing their fishing habits by shifting most of their summer Chinook fishing efforts to coastal and offshore waters between Port Renfrew and Nootka Sound. In 2017 a few pod members made overnight scouting trips into JDF Strait for a quick look and just as quickly left and rejoined the rest of the pod. It is almost a joke that there are groups looking to have the traditional SRKW feeding grounds inside JDF Strait and the Salish Sea designated as no fishing areas. If their are no fish the whales aren't even going to show up so its accomplishes nothing .....fix the problem....MORE FISH!!!!
 
More restrictions on South Island sport fishers probably wouldn’t help the Orcas either as they are already cruising up the coast to find fish.
I’ve seen them more the last few years than ever


If they close the southern part of WCVI to fishing (any area for that matter) you'll soon see more than the Orcas up your way IF your local area stays open.

The "sportfishers" (not a fan of "our" name) from a closed area will just move to other open areas to pursue the past time of fishing that we all love and want to continue to do.

I believe most on this site know closing the area in question down will NOT help these smart? Orcas that are supposedly on top of the food chain in the chuck AND starving but are still not willing to eat something,anything other than spring/chum salmon.

Short term..
Curtail the whale watching harassment.
Then
Pump out springs all along the SWCVI like Alaska does with their salmon ranching..and cull just a few(lots) seals/sealions along the way, sounds like the science is proven it would help, and maybe short term cuts to daily/yearly limits of spring salmon on "our" sector up AND down the west coast of BC.

I think if we have a voice and my 2cents being out on the water and having the opportunity to catch and keep 1 fresh spring is better than not having any chance as we all know its cheaper to go buy the fish at any grocery store.
yes im fortunate to live on the mid island and fish/cruise all parts of it.
 
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I found the comments of Profisher very interesting as we have a property on the bluffs at Pender and spend a lot of time there from May through October.Over the last four years there has been a noticeable decrease in the sightings of killer whales, culminating in this Summer when they were absent until August when, a few times, were spotted traveling North up Swanson Channel probably towards Active Pass. The fishing at the bluffs has been marginal at best the last few years and I fail to see how shutting down five miles of beach to all fishing from May-November when the area is barely frequented by the whales and is only fished occasionally by a handful of locals and the odd visitor from the Sidney area, could have any perceptible effect on the survival of the SRKW . I hope a bit of sanity will prevail in this process...
 
The SRKW are already showing signs of changing their fishing habits by shifting most of their summer Chinook fishing efforts to coastal and offshore waters between Port Renfrew and Nootka Sound

Maybe there just trying to flee the whale watching fleet that is launched every 4 hours from Victoria and Vancouver. (me being silly.....sorta.)
 
one of the very last few still standing (troller).
Nog

To clarify, I have huge respect for the troll fleet, which produce the highest value per fish and do way more then the large corporations to keep the value in the coastal communities.

On the corporate side of commercial fishing I'm not a huge fan of seeing the disturbing images we saw a few years ago from sein boats with their Chinook bi-catch. I know there are monitoring requirements but still not a big fan of harvesting fish at low value just before they spawn.

Kelly, I think we can engage in dialogue with some of the organizations and I have reached out to Watershed Watch to ask them to clarify their position on recreational fishing, since they started a web page on it and then never finished. I will let you know if they respond.

DS and RC have taken square aim at recreational fishers, guides and the businesses that support fishing. The David Suzuki foundation runs Seawise Choice and has been engaging actively with large corporations that harvest and sell lots of salmon and haven't spoken out against their harvest in what looks like over 5 years. I hope the David Suzuki foundation has success with Seawise, but I am troubled by their focus on one of the three harvesting groups.

Rain coast says "55,000 boat trips a year by recreational fishing vessels that are targeting Chinook and the boats are so dense that the whales can’t access the fish".
 
Rain coast says "55,000 boat trips a year by recreational fishing vessels that are targeting Chinook and the boats are so dense that the whales can’t access the fish".

wonder where they get that number from ?
more voodoo science.
 

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wonder where they get that number from ?
more voodoo science.
Doesn't matter , right or wrong,once it's thrown out the faithful will assume it's correct. Even if you prove it wrong, they will never accept it. I'm sure some realize their spokespeople embellish, but it's ok because it's for the cause! For some of these folks it's a religion and faith based rather than fact based. What bothers me most is how quick the media jumps on these type of sound bites without ever doing even rudimentary fact checking.
 
I wonder how much money Eco groups put into salmon enhancement. I know all sports fisherman both fresh and salt water contribute a significant amount of money. They survive on donated money but what do they do with that money? They spend it on narrowly focused research projects that DFO and others are already doing. Great way to generate jobs and income for themselves.
 
Yes they survive on donated money (make no mistake it's and industry)and in order to ensure cash flow they need to find issues they can convince their donors are major, yet easy for them to show progress on. Recreational Fishing is one of those, you'll never see them critique First Nations because the public out cry would crush them like bugs. You'll never hear them address the impact of seal predation, because that would alienate some of their donors.

So what's left? Mount a media blitz to halt recreational fishing! Convince people who know no better, but are well intentioned, that this will "save the whales". Doesn't matter that it's BS, it's an easy group to attack and blame, a group that can't or won't punch back. The government knows this as well and will no doubt fall in line because it's the path of least resistance.

At the end of the day,the enviros industry is fueled by more donations because they stopped the wall of 55,000 boats that was wiping out the whales,the government looks good because it saw the light,and everyone keeps their jobs and pay cheques. The only ones not happy are the rec fishermen, marinas, guides, marine mechanics, tackle manufacturers, boat sales etc. But as small groups they'll never be heard, heck some don't even realize their livelihood is on the line here.
 
This 65 page ( https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/petition-for-srkw-emergency-order_2018-01-30.pdf ) dossier is a direct attack on all "recreational fishers."

These 5 groups

"David Suzuki Foundation, Georgia Strait Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council, Raincoast Conservation Foundation and World Wildlife Fund Canada (the “Petitioners”)"

They want to

" Implement commercial and recreational fishing restrictions to increase
the terminal abundance of Chinook in habitats identified as critical to
Southern Residents and in other important Southern Resident feeding
areas, and of other Chinook populations known to be important in the
diets of Southern Residents."

For the next 25 years!!!!

" Because Southern Resident recovery is expected to take longer than one generation (25 years), reviews of the recommended
management measures are unlikely to confirm the likelihood of recovery if conducted more
frequently than once every five years."

The first thing I plan to do today is to write to each individual "Petitioner" and try to explain a balance approach is needed and get clarification on their stances. This effects us all but will have the greatest impact on those that fish these areas!!!

"These areas include the Southwestern shoreline of Vancouver Island
through Juan de Fuca, extending westward to Pachena Bay; Boundary Pass to southwest North
Pender Island and to East Point on Saturna Island; and approaches to the Fraser River (Figure 5)."

Not only do they want to stop Chinook fishing in these areas but they also want to stop all hook and line fishing!!!!!!

"DFO may deem it preferable to extend the restrictions in the refuges to prohibit not only salmon
fishing but all hook and line fisheries
, in order to support enforcement and to increase confidence
that disturbance is adequately reduced."
 
[QUOTE/] "So what's left? Mount a media blitz to halt recreational fishing! Convince people who know no better, but are well intentioned, that this will "save the whales". Doesn't matter that it's BS, it's an easy group to attack and blame, a group that can't or won't punch back. The government knows this as well and will no doubt fall in line because it's the path of least resistance."[/QUOTE]

An accurate description of what has happened in the rec sector in the past and will happen again if we just talk and postulate how bad things good get regarding this serious situation.

What can we do? We do what the eco groups and other sectors do - we unite and get organized and push back and no longer act link the weakest sector that is easy to push around.

How do we do this? Support an existing group with some volunteer time and/or paid membership/donations, etc.. Any lobbying group needs people and money to effectively lobby - time to put our money where our mouths are!

Join an existing group like :
SVIAC: - https://anglerscoalition.com/
SFI-BC: http://sportfishing.bc.ca
BCWF: http://www.bcwf.net/
Local SFAC: http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/consultation/smon/sfab-ccps/index-eng.html#south-loc
etc....
Don't like these groups then form you own.

Time to get active and exercise our free speech rights - write letters to our MP's, DFO, Fisheries Minister, Prime Minister tell them why this is wrong. Let's talk/write to our local city councils, mayors, chamber of commerce, tourism assoc, business assoc, etc., tell them that restrictions and closures are not a solution and how much closures are going to hurt local businesses, tourism and the local economy.

I say the time for the rec sector to continue to just talk and end up getting the shaft again is over - the time to put actions to our words is now!
 
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Doesn't matter , right or wrong,once it's thrown out the faithful will assume it's correct. Even if you prove it wrong, they will never accept it. I'm sure some realize their spokespeople embellish, but it's ok because it's for the cause! For some of these folks it's a religion and faith based rather than fact based. What bothers me most is how quick the media jumps on these type of sound bites without ever doing even rudimentary fact checking.


Reminds me of pretty much everything else these groups oppose. So many on here were lined up right beside them a month ago. Comic gold.
 
I wonder how much money Eco groups put into salmon enhancement. I know all sports fisherman both fresh and salt water contribute a significant amount of money. They survive on donated money but what do they do with that money? They spend it on narrowly focused research projects that DFO and others are already doing. Great way to generate jobs and income for themselves.

The same amount they spend on alternatives (or putting their money where their mouths are) to Canadian energy, mining, forestry etc..... I’m happy people are finally figuring it out.

Edit; they’re not my or your friends, they’re self serving.
 
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Waste of time IMO to find fault amongst ourselves, just unproductive negativity. Now is the time to support each other in the rec sector, unite, get organized, pool our resources and lobby our case to the politicians like the other sectors are doing against us.
 
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Not Directly related to the thread, but some cool video taken of some whales who I assume are SRKW rubbing on the beach in sechelt a few days ago only feet away from the guy filming it. .
 
Not related at all, definitely not SRKW

SRKW are far to lazy to make there way that far up the inside to look for food.
 
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