Sto:lo seize rare chance to fish for Fraser salmon

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080718.BCSALMON18/TPStory/National

Sto:lo seize rare chance to fish for Fraser salmon

MARK HUME

July 18, 2008

VANCOUVER -- Native fishermen on the lower Fraser River got their first opportunity to set nets for sockeye salmon last night amid concerns that the run might be so small there will be few other openings.

"It's our first chance and it could be our last," Grand Chief Clarence Pennier of the Sto:lo Tribal Council said yesterday as community members prepared to go out on the river.

The first opening was for elders, who will be allowed to fish for two weeks in the Fraser Canyon, where strips of salmon are set on traditional racks to dry in the hot summer winds. Only a few dozen families are involved in the elder's fishery. A 48-hour opening for the broader native population is set to begin on the lower river, starting tonight.

Mr. Pennier said people were glad to get an opportunity to fish after early projections suggested so few salmon might be coming back that no fishing would be allowed this summer. But there are fears the catch will be minimal.

There have been widespread commercial and sport fishing closings along the coast to allow as many salmon as possible to return to the river.

On Wednesday, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans advised natives that a sharing plan has been decided on that will allow small catches for food, social and ceremonial purposes.

"I know on the one hand that we have to be prepared to help out with conservation concerns, but on the other hand we also need to be able to take some fish for our ceremonies," Mr. Pennier said. "Right now, we don't know how many fish that will be. I guess that will depend on how things go ... how strong the run is," he said. "This opening is welcomed because it gives people an opportunity to go and put some fish on the dry racks."

The current openings apply only to the lower Fraser River, but other tribes farther upstream are expecting to get fisheries later in the summer.

Pat Matthew, conservation and stewardship co-ordinator for the fisheries commission of the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council, said his communities were hoping to get an opportunity to fish in early August.

"I understand that on the middle part of the Fraser they will open on about July 25 and after that we should get a chance to go," he said.

Mr. Matthew said he hasn't seen the sharing plan worked out by DFO yet, but understood it to be similar to one used last year, in which one-third of the native catch was allocated to coast regions, one-third to the lower Fraser and one-third to the middle and upper reaches of the river. "I believe we will get a chance to fish, but I guess it's really too early to say for sure," he said.

Mr. Matthew said early projections were so poor that native fishermen have been expecting limited, or perhaps no opportunities to fish. "We have sort of braced ourselves for the worst," he said.

Mr. Matthew said so few fish were caught last year by the Shuswap that it averaged out to half a salmon for each person.

He said people are worried this year could be even worse.

In a letter that went out to the leaders of Fraser River tribes this week, DFO officials said conservation of salmon is the first priority, but wherever possible aboriginals will be given a chance to fish for food, social and ceremonial purposes. "Harvestable surpluses of Fraser River sockeye stocks are determined by DFO staff and the Fraser River Panel based on in-season information on abundance, test fishing catches, environmental conditions and escapement targets," the letter states.

The letter cautioned that there would have to be salmon in excess of spawning goals for there to be any openings for food, social and ceremonial fisheries.


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