Here is a portion taken from today's SFI-BC newsletter. These regulation changes depending on what DFO does, have the potential to have some
very serious negative impacts for the SVI recreational fishery and in the long term for the entire coast!
Good to know that SFI, SFAB and SVIAC are already working on this. Like this article implies we may very soon need to have a big letter writing and lobbying campaign to try to avoid some possible very negative reg. changes for areas 19 and 20 this summer!!!
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April 29, 2016
Chinook, Fraser River and Juan de Fuca
The SFI is actively engaged on behalf of Southern Vancouver Island anglers in convincing DFO to stick to its guns regarding maintaining access to Chinook in Juan De Fuca Strait recreational fisheries. We believe that the 2012 policy which creates 3 zones of abundance (zone one being the lowest) based on test fishery results, and corresponding management measures that affect all 3 sectors is the appropriate path forward. Abandoning the abundance-based approach would be a fundamental policy change that could undermine both domestic fisheries management and Canada’s position as we begin renegotiation of the chinook and coho portions of the Pacific Salmon Treaty.
Management scenarios currently proposed by DFO and First Nations include a full closure of the Juan de Fuca and Georgia Strait approach waters to the Fraser and in River salmon fishery in May, June and July and/or keeping only recreational and commercial fisheries at zone 1 management measures. This closure and zone 1 management scenario would continue even if test fishery results indicate a zone 2 or even 3 level of abundance.
While the impacts to the recreational sector would be very damaging and severely limit opportunity in either scenario, the proposals would provide for a doubling or even tripling of First Nations impacts on the stocks in the Fraser River. This is not a conservation based proposal, effectively represents a reallocation of fish between sectors and provides a gift to the United States of marked hatchery fish Canada is entitled to catch under the salmon treaty. Early Fraser Chinook stocks are predicted by the Pacific Salmon Commission Chinook Technical Committee to return at 258,000 fish in 2016. This is the highest predicted return since 1979, and almost 4x the brood year! It seems hard to conceive of a serious conservation based argument based on a prediction like this.
We sincerely hope that the DFO understands the need for a clear and transparent science based approach to this issue which respects the value and needs of all sectors. To do otherwise will surely lead to a very long hot summer on the Juan de Fuca Strait.
SFI in Ottawa
As we head into May, we’d like to take this opportunity to update you on our recent mission to Ottawa to meet with representatives of the new Government including the Minister of Fisheries, Hunter Tootoo.
A joint team of SFI, SFAB and BCWF leaders comprised of Owen Bird, Gerry Kristianson, Martin Paish, John Mcculloch and Ted Brookman headed to Ottawa for 4 busy days of meetings.
In addition to meeting with the Minister, we met with the Deputy Minister of Fisheries and many of her senior staff and also had one on one sessions with BC MP’s Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, Mel Arnold, Elizabeth May, Mark Strahl, Ken Hardie, Gord Johns, Jati Sidhu, Larry Bagnall, as well as Fisheries Parliamentary Secretary Serge Cormier and BC Senator Larry Campbell.
The primary topics of discussion included:
An overview of the social and economic values of the sport fishery;
- An introduction to the Vision Implementation Program and its benefits including;
- Improved Catch Monitoring;
- Collaborative work on items including the Fishing App;
- Measures to protect and improve funding for the SFAB process;
- The significance of the looming Fraser River Chinook decision on not only Juan de Fuca rec fisheries but the precedent that it would set for all fisheries.
