Squamish DFO Office Scheduled to Close in March 31, 2019!

cohochinook

cohochinook

Well-Known Member
DFO is proposing to close the DFO office in Squamish. This means the nearest fisheries officer would be Stevenston to respond to any calls. The office covers areas from Porteau Cove, Squamish, Pemberton out to Darcy and the lower Lillooet River. Response times would go up by 2.5 to 5 hours. Open season for poachers and habitat violations. The local papers had these 2 stories on it this week:

http://www.squamishchief.com/news/local-news/squamish-may-lose-fisheries-office-advocates-1.23363689

https://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/w...ffice-closure-in-squamish/Content?oid=9556525

Time to write a letter to Minister LeBlanc and MP to raise your concerns. Here's Fisheries Ministers email min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
 
Well not to be a doom sayer but I would guess with the restrictions that MAY be coming down the pipe in 2019 they might figure we could do with a few less DFO officers. You know, trying to balance the budget/trim the fat and all that.
 
Clint r said:
Well not to be a doom sayer but I would guess with the restrictions that MAY be coming down the pipe in 2019 they might figure we could do with a few less DFO officers. You know, trying to balance the budget/trim the fat and all that.
Click to expand...
There is not much fat to trim , at least with the enforcement folk. If they really wanted to make a difference they would get rid of the political appointees within management.
That aside , perhaps with a major change in policy coming down the pipe, perhaps there will be others doing the policing.
 
Our Squamish DFO office is being closed. We need to let our MP, Fisheries Minister and DFO know that this is huge threat to our local Salmon and Rockfish populations.
http://www.squamishchief.com/news/local-news/confirmed-squamish-dfo-office-to-relocate-1.23385989

Here's the contact information for the people you need to contact or call:
Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson
Jonathan.Wilkinson@parl.gc.ca
604.775.6333
min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Mike Carlson
DFO Regional Director Conservation and Protection Sector
Mike.Carlson@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
604-666-0604
 
Had a meeting with DFO staff on this closure last week. They listened to our concerns and our carrying them back to decision makers. Still appears at this point closure is moving ahead. Please continue to send your emails, letters and phone call to the above.

One thing I came across was DFO justifying the closure saying landlord was not renewing the lease, but I got confirmation from the landlord this was not true. Provided this evidence after our meeting to all who participated and made it clear we weren't going to be fooled by BS!
 
DFO needs to put more assets into the local areas to enforce regulations, instead they fill offices with staff writing new ones!
 
Never ceases to amaze me that DFO thinks about reducing staff or offices related to SEP or Fish Cops and there is a huge public outcry but they can gut environmental regulation and decimate the Regional habitat program, shutting down all Area Habitat offices so industry is free to do whatever they want throughout the province while a skeleton crew in Vancouver and Nanaimo processes paper to let it happen, and there’s barely a whimper??!!

It isn’t rocket surgery to figure out why our fisheries are hurting, particularly as pertains to stocks of Interior and Upper Fraser Chinook, coho and steelhead. Folks need to educate themselves and focus on the priorities. Some fish cops running around checking barbed hooks or a couple of fish over limit, or SEP staff playing with sticks and stones in urban streams and pretending they’re restoring fisheries productivity, is not going to slow down let alone reverse the current downward trend so long as key habitat continues to be lost!

Cheers!

Ukee
 
UkeeDreamin said:
Never ceases to amaze me that DFO thinks about reducing staff or offices related to SEP or Fish Cops and there is a huge public outcry but they can gut environmental regulation and decimate the Regional habitat program, shutting down all Area Habitat offices so industry is free to do whatever they want throughout the province while a skeleton crew in Vancouver and Nanaimo processes paper to let it happen, and there’s barely a whimper??!!

It isn’t rocket surgery to figure out why our fisheries are hurting, particularly as pertains to stocks of Interior and Upper Fraser Chinook, coho and steelhead. Folks need to educate themselves and focus on the priorities. Some fish cops running around checking barbed hooks or a couple of fish over limit, or SEP staff playing with sticks and stones in urban streams and pretending they’re restoring fisheries productivity, is not going to slow down let alone reverse the current downward trend so long as key habitat continues to be lost!

Cheers!

Ukee
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Hit the nail on the head Ukee. Please make sure you call or email the contacts higher up in the thread to express your concerns!
 
Oh, I’ve logged my concerns countless times. Despite public consultation on “restoring lost protections” the Liberals are tweaking legislation and Policy, increasing environmental staff marginally but entrenching the Conservatives move to centralize delivery of environmental regulation and oversight, with no Area office presence. Again, doesn’t take a genius to figure out how successful improved legislation and Policy will be if the staff are disconnected from the resource and located such that it is impossible to meaningfully regulate and enforce compliance!

Cheers!

Ukee
 
UkeeDreamin said:
Oh, I’ve logged my concerns countless times. Despite public consultation on “restoring lost protections” the Liberals are tweaking legislation and Policy, increasing environmental staff marginally but entrenching the Conservatives move to centralize delivery of environmental regulation and oversight, with no Area office presence. Again, doesn’t take a genius to figure out how successful improved legislation and Policy will be if the staff are disconnected from the resource and located such that it is impossible to meaningfully regulate and enforce compliance!

Cheers!

Ukee
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It's the same bureaucrats that Harper appointed that are driving the ship. Now of course the Liberals are just handing them to helm and not listening, with the exception of a few politicians. We need to get the attention of this new Fisheries Minister make him realize the importance!
 
cohochinook said:
It's the same bureaucrats that Harper appointed that are driving the ship. Now of course the Liberals are just handing them to helm and not listening, with the exception of a few politicians. We need to get the attention of this new Fisheries Minister make him realize the importance!
Click to expand...

DFO is working hard to make this one disappear. We need to keep pushing with more letters and phone calls! If you haven't written or called yet, please pitch in and do so!
 
Hey...get Pacific anglers help.
It's the least they can do for absolutely whoring out and wrecking the squamish the last 8years.
Let them use their multimedia to get the message across!
 
Spoke to Jason and he said would put it out in next week's report.

Keep the letters, emails and phone calls coming!
 
Are there not at least a dozen locations within DFO’s Pacific Region that could use an office rather than keeping an office within spitting distance of multiple other existing offices? As far as tax payer $’s and value of fisheries resource to protect, not sure how this is on anyone’s radar other than those not able to see the bigger picture outside of their personal backyard.

Just my, alternate, opinion, on this issue. I certainly don’t support my tax dollars keeping this office open in lieu of all the other priorities DFO should be funding but isn’t.

Cheers!

Ukee
 
UkeeDreamin said:
Are there not at least a dozen locations within DFO’s Pacific Region that could use an office rather than keeping an office within spitting distance of multiple other existing offices? As far as tax payer $’s and value of fisheries resource to protect, not sure how this is on anyone’s radar other than those not able to see the bigger picture outside of their personal backyard.

Just my, alternate, opinion, on this issue. I certainly don’t support my tax dollars keeping this office open in lieu of all the other priorities DFO should be funding but isn’t.

Cheers!

Ukee
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These officers cover a huge area. Not only the Squamish River but they go to Pemberton to do the Birkenhead and Lillooet rivers and out as far as Darcy to cover Anderson Lake and Gates Creek. Definitely need an office in this area.

Sorry can't support this from you Ukee, but do you agree we need offices opened in other areas as well. Harper closed a bunch of offices. Now Trudeau is following his lead!
 
Response times will be far too slow. Equipment won't be on the ground nearby. Justices to be covered from steveson or just to large. Let's quit talking about making this cut work and work on getting it reversed!
 
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