SVIAC
Active Member
PLEASE CONSIDER ATTENDING - IMPRTANT MEETING!
Subject: Invitation to join SVIAC and MP Mel Arnold at a Town Hall Meeting on Wed June 6th in Sooke
South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition cordially invites you to attend our important upcoming meeting!
WHAT: SVIAC Town Hall Meeting w/ Mel Arnold MP about Fisheries Issues
WHEN: Wednesday June 6th, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Prestige Oceanfront Resort (Orca Spirit Room) 6929 West Coast Road, SOOKE
Meeting Purpose: Following the recent negative DFO announcement regarding SRKW fishing closures and extra fishing restrictions, SVIAC has arranged a town hall meeting for fishery stakeholder organizations, local fishermen and the Community of Sooke to share their perspectives and voice their concerns about the implications of the new restrictive measures. This meeting will also serve as a first step toward organizing a coordinated response campaign to DFO and the government about their decision to unfairly victimize the public fishery.
About Mel Arnold: Mel is the Member of Parliament for North Okanagan - Sushwap. He serves as the Conservative Deputy Shadow Minister for Fisheries, Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard and as a member of the Standing Committee on Fisheries. He also served as president of the BC Wildlife Federation and understands our BC salt water fishery.
Note: If you are unable to attend I ask that you arrange for alternate representative from your organization to be there.
Please feel free to contact me directly prior to the meeting if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing you there,
Kindest regards,
Chris
____________
Christopher Bos
President, South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition
PH: (778) 426-4141, CELL: (778) 967-2363, EMAIL: Chris@AnglersCoalition.com
View attachment 38179
Friday May 25th, 2018
South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition Society Unit #3 – 774 Bay Street, Victoria, BC V8T 5E4 (778) 426-4141 info@anglerscoalition.com www.anglerscoalition.com
Page: 1
Honourable Dominic LeBlanc Sent via Electronic Mail Only Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Dear Minister LeBlanc,
I am the president of South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition (SVIAC), an independent 900+ member strong non-profit angling advocacy organization. Our efforts and initiatives are dedicated exclusively to ensuring there will be abundant fish, healthy productive habitat and thriving public fisheries in our region for generations to come. SVIAC supports conservation initiatives, enhancing Chinook salmon stocks and the recovery of our endangered SRKW. This letter is to share my deep concern and to provide your department important eleventh hour advice in hopes you avoid a self-inflicted catastrophe.
Yesterday, a press release was made public; outlining actions your government intends to take to assist Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW). The press release provided general details, but few specifics about the impacts to salt water anglers in the Salish Sea.
However, it has been reported to me that a fisheries notice from your department will be circulated to the public in the near future. This notice, I understand, contains two particular measures for Fisheries Management Areas 19 and 20 that will have a severe negative impact to the South Vancouver Island angling community who traditionally fish for salmon in those waters. They are:
Implementing a closed area in the Juan de Fuca Strait from June 1st to September 30th that is dedicated as "No Fin Fish Fishing" with an eastern boundary at Otter Point or Race Rocks;
(1) Making the eastern boundary of any proposed closure at Otter Point or heaven forbid at Race Rocks and not at Fossil Point as the SFAB Main Board recommended is a catastrophe for the whole area, especially the community of Sooke. This is a small coastal community that depends heavily on the public salmon fishery and contains a First Nation that relies on anglers for their marina. The salmon fishery is a significant part of the local economy, garnering income from both resident anglers and angling tourism. Implementing such a closure is essentially window dressing in the scheme of SRKW recovery and will not save a Friday May 25th, 2018
South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition Society Unit #3 – 774 Bay Street, Victoria, BC V8T 5E4 (778) 426-4141 info@anglerscoalition.com www.anglerscoalition.com
Page: 2
single whale, yet these measures would be a nail in the coffin to Sooke. SVIAC continues to strongly recommend Fossil Point as the eastern boundary of the closure; and,
(2) - "No Fin Fish Fishing" blocks innocuous halibut fishing opportunities in Juan de Fuca Strait, which have NO IMPACT on SRKW, yet your department will continue to permit a large and disruptive commercial crab fishery to operate in the very same "closed" area. If your department, while closing access to the public fishery through "No Fin Fish Fishing" measures, allows all other boaters and ship traffic including the commercial fishery to take place in these closed areas, you are victimizing the angling public. This is hypocrisy and blatantly unfair! Please make the closures no salmon fishing and if you implement closures do not just pick on the Canadian public fishing from boats.
Extending the existing 45 cm to 67 cm hybrid marked selective slot fishery on Chinook salmon from mid-June to the end of June in FMAs 19-1 to 19-4 and 20-5.
(1) - Extensive restrictions have been in place on this public fishery for over 10 years to protect Nicola 4-2 Chinook that commence on March 1st each year. This area has already made huge sacrifices to conserve Nicola 4-2 Chinook; the angling community wants your department to find savings elsewhere and leave us some semblance of a viable salmon fishery; and,
(2) - Marked select fisheries are practical only when there are marked fish to catch. The marked Chinook around the south island are from Puget Sound US hatcheries and they move away in June. Anglers do not want to cycle large unmarked fish they can’t keep in an effort to retain a keeper. Implementing the 85 cm slot during low abundance in mid-June addresses this reality and was done for a valid reason and with broad SFAB consultation over several years; changing to the end of June will be perceived as yet another disingenuous move by your department. Therefore please DO NOT extend the slot fishery of 67cm until the end of June, but switch to 85 cm slot on June 16th as normal under Zone 1 management.
If this information reported to me is true, then DFO is clearly and very unfairly discriminating against the small coastal community of Sooke and the Canadians of South Vancouver Island who fish for salmon. By implementing these measures as described above, the department would be completely disrespecting the Sport Fishing Advisory Board (SFAB) that at short notice and in good faith undertook extensive consultation that reached out to over 500 south island anglers in-person and formed a consensus on advice to your department. Friday May 25th, 2018
South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition Society Unit #3 – 774 Bay Street, Victoria, BC V8T 5E4 (778) 426-4141 info@anglerscoalition.com www.anglerscoalition.com
Page: 3
Punitive measures as laid out above are essentially window dressing and will not save a single endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale. Conversely, they will dramatically harm the very people who love those whales, want to be part of the solution not the victims and are already involved in an important Chinook enhancement initiative aimed at providing the starving whales extra preferred prey food.
It really looks to me as if there is no actual defensible scientific rationale to these measures, but the political optics of this seem clear and are dreadful. These regulations if implemented look like they are solely to placate special interests. Additionally, anticipate that the angling community would view these measures as punitive. In my humble opinion, if you proceed as described above; the whole south island angling community and the hundreds of businesses who provide services to anglers will rightly be furious.
Please do not make a huge mistake. In the strongest terms possible, I recommend your department adopt the consensus advice of your respected Sport Fishing Advisory Board related regarding SRKW closures and Fraser Chinook management this year. Let me state this clearly, if I can be of any assistance in guiding your department through this challenging time, please reach out to me as soon as possible, I really do not want to witness any unnecessary unrest.
Sincerely yours
Christopher Bos President
Subject: Invitation to join SVIAC and MP Mel Arnold at a Town Hall Meeting on Wed June 6th in Sooke
South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition cordially invites you to attend our important upcoming meeting!
WHAT: SVIAC Town Hall Meeting w/ Mel Arnold MP about Fisheries Issues
WHEN: Wednesday June 6th, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Prestige Oceanfront Resort (Orca Spirit Room) 6929 West Coast Road, SOOKE
Meeting Purpose: Following the recent negative DFO announcement regarding SRKW fishing closures and extra fishing restrictions, SVIAC has arranged a town hall meeting for fishery stakeholder organizations, local fishermen and the Community of Sooke to share their perspectives and voice their concerns about the implications of the new restrictive measures. This meeting will also serve as a first step toward organizing a coordinated response campaign to DFO and the government about their decision to unfairly victimize the public fishery.
About Mel Arnold: Mel is the Member of Parliament for North Okanagan - Sushwap. He serves as the Conservative Deputy Shadow Minister for Fisheries, Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard and as a member of the Standing Committee on Fisheries. He also served as president of the BC Wildlife Federation and understands our BC salt water fishery.
Note: If you are unable to attend I ask that you arrange for alternate representative from your organization to be there.
Please feel free to contact me directly prior to the meeting if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing you there,
Kindest regards,
Chris
____________
Christopher Bos
President, South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition
PH: (778) 426-4141, CELL: (778) 967-2363, EMAIL: Chris@AnglersCoalition.com
View attachment 38179
Friday May 25th, 2018
South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition Society Unit #3 – 774 Bay Street, Victoria, BC V8T 5E4 (778) 426-4141 info@anglerscoalition.com www.anglerscoalition.com
Page: 1
Honourable Dominic LeBlanc Sent via Electronic Mail Only Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Dear Minister LeBlanc,
I am the president of South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition (SVIAC), an independent 900+ member strong non-profit angling advocacy organization. Our efforts and initiatives are dedicated exclusively to ensuring there will be abundant fish, healthy productive habitat and thriving public fisheries in our region for generations to come. SVIAC supports conservation initiatives, enhancing Chinook salmon stocks and the recovery of our endangered SRKW. This letter is to share my deep concern and to provide your department important eleventh hour advice in hopes you avoid a self-inflicted catastrophe.
Yesterday, a press release was made public; outlining actions your government intends to take to assist Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW). The press release provided general details, but few specifics about the impacts to salt water anglers in the Salish Sea.
However, it has been reported to me that a fisheries notice from your department will be circulated to the public in the near future. This notice, I understand, contains two particular measures for Fisheries Management Areas 19 and 20 that will have a severe negative impact to the South Vancouver Island angling community who traditionally fish for salmon in those waters. They are:
Implementing a closed area in the Juan de Fuca Strait from June 1st to September 30th that is dedicated as "No Fin Fish Fishing" with an eastern boundary at Otter Point or Race Rocks;
(1) Making the eastern boundary of any proposed closure at Otter Point or heaven forbid at Race Rocks and not at Fossil Point as the SFAB Main Board recommended is a catastrophe for the whole area, especially the community of Sooke. This is a small coastal community that depends heavily on the public salmon fishery and contains a First Nation that relies on anglers for their marina. The salmon fishery is a significant part of the local economy, garnering income from both resident anglers and angling tourism. Implementing such a closure is essentially window dressing in the scheme of SRKW recovery and will not save a Friday May 25th, 2018
South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition Society Unit #3 – 774 Bay Street, Victoria, BC V8T 5E4 (778) 426-4141 info@anglerscoalition.com www.anglerscoalition.com
Page: 2
single whale, yet these measures would be a nail in the coffin to Sooke. SVIAC continues to strongly recommend Fossil Point as the eastern boundary of the closure; and,
(2) - "No Fin Fish Fishing" blocks innocuous halibut fishing opportunities in Juan de Fuca Strait, which have NO IMPACT on SRKW, yet your department will continue to permit a large and disruptive commercial crab fishery to operate in the very same "closed" area. If your department, while closing access to the public fishery through "No Fin Fish Fishing" measures, allows all other boaters and ship traffic including the commercial fishery to take place in these closed areas, you are victimizing the angling public. This is hypocrisy and blatantly unfair! Please make the closures no salmon fishing and if you implement closures do not just pick on the Canadian public fishing from boats.
Extending the existing 45 cm to 67 cm hybrid marked selective slot fishery on Chinook salmon from mid-June to the end of June in FMAs 19-1 to 19-4 and 20-5.
(1) - Extensive restrictions have been in place on this public fishery for over 10 years to protect Nicola 4-2 Chinook that commence on March 1st each year. This area has already made huge sacrifices to conserve Nicola 4-2 Chinook; the angling community wants your department to find savings elsewhere and leave us some semblance of a viable salmon fishery; and,
(2) - Marked select fisheries are practical only when there are marked fish to catch. The marked Chinook around the south island are from Puget Sound US hatcheries and they move away in June. Anglers do not want to cycle large unmarked fish they can’t keep in an effort to retain a keeper. Implementing the 85 cm slot during low abundance in mid-June addresses this reality and was done for a valid reason and with broad SFAB consultation over several years; changing to the end of June will be perceived as yet another disingenuous move by your department. Therefore please DO NOT extend the slot fishery of 67cm until the end of June, but switch to 85 cm slot on June 16th as normal under Zone 1 management.
If this information reported to me is true, then DFO is clearly and very unfairly discriminating against the small coastal community of Sooke and the Canadians of South Vancouver Island who fish for salmon. By implementing these measures as described above, the department would be completely disrespecting the Sport Fishing Advisory Board (SFAB) that at short notice and in good faith undertook extensive consultation that reached out to over 500 south island anglers in-person and formed a consensus on advice to your department. Friday May 25th, 2018
South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition Society Unit #3 – 774 Bay Street, Victoria, BC V8T 5E4 (778) 426-4141 info@anglerscoalition.com www.anglerscoalition.com
Page: 3
Punitive measures as laid out above are essentially window dressing and will not save a single endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale. Conversely, they will dramatically harm the very people who love those whales, want to be part of the solution not the victims and are already involved in an important Chinook enhancement initiative aimed at providing the starving whales extra preferred prey food.
It really looks to me as if there is no actual defensible scientific rationale to these measures, but the political optics of this seem clear and are dreadful. These regulations if implemented look like they are solely to placate special interests. Additionally, anticipate that the angling community would view these measures as punitive. In my humble opinion, if you proceed as described above; the whole south island angling community and the hundreds of businesses who provide services to anglers will rightly be furious.
Please do not make a huge mistake. In the strongest terms possible, I recommend your department adopt the consensus advice of your respected Sport Fishing Advisory Board related regarding SRKW closures and Fraser Chinook management this year. Let me state this clearly, if I can be of any assistance in guiding your department through this challenging time, please reach out to me as soon as possible, I really do not want to witness any unnecessary unrest.
Sincerely yours
Christopher Bos President
