Here's the correspondence with DFO, I'm going to keep this thread going as things develop. I encourage any of you to please also post your own correspondence here as well!
Here's my first letter -
Dear Hon. Gail Shea,
As a fourth generation fisherman in my family I have spent my life guided by the movements of fish around this country, and the men and women who endeavour to catch them. From humble commercial beginnings in my pre-teen years, I have learned about the delicate balance of the eco-system, and the need for sustainable fishing practices if we are to maintain the viability of this extremely important resource.
In the past twenty three years since I began fishing commercially with my family as a young child, I have seen this province grow and the popularity of sport fishing grow along with it. I now make my living as a professional sport fishing captain, for a myriad of reasons. The first and foremost being that I truly believe that a sport caught fish is worth tremendously more to the people of this province than a number of commercially caught fish, and that the long-term effects of the sport fishery are far healthier than a large-scale commercial effort on many levels.
What worries me most, is that the current halibut allocation regulations favour commercial fishing so heavily, that the sport sector, including families like mine who are dependant on sport-caught halibut to survive, is suffering.
Currently, 88% of the total allowable halibut catch is allocated to 436 commercial license holders thanks to an outdated mandate from 1991. Many of these license holders do not even fish anymore! They are allowed to "lease" out their allocation to other boats while they sit at home and collect a check. To me this kind of system is more than inherently wrong. Why is the government allowing a minority of license holders to continue to monopolize the majority of the quota?
Recreational halibut fishermen, myself included, number in the hundreds of thousands and yet are allocated only 12% of the total allowable catch of halibut. Considering the amount of revenue that sport fishing generates, particularly when compared to that of the commercial sector, it seems silly that these 436 commercial license holders should be allowed to control the majority of the halibut quota. It would seem to me that in terms of broad economic effect, and perhaps political influence, that hundreds of thousands of residents and visiting sport fishing anglers are more deserving of a fairer share of quota than 436 commercial license holders, many of whom never physically fish for halibut anymore!
Please help me understand how we can work to achieve a more viable distribution of the halibut quota, as families and fishermen like myself are seriously concerned with the direction that this issue is headed. I would like to offer my time and experience with regards to this issue, and will gladly participate in meetings, forums, or any such medium where discussions of this matter are apt to surface. I am happy to cover my own travel, time, and expenses at no cost to the government in hopes of conveying the seriousness with which I, and others like me, regard this very pertinent matter.
In closing, I appreciate you taking the time to consider this letter, and look forward to your response.
Regards,
Capt Josh Temple
Tofino, British Columbia
Here's my first letter -
Dear Hon. Gail Shea,
As a fourth generation fisherman in my family I have spent my life guided by the movements of fish around this country, and the men and women who endeavour to catch them. From humble commercial beginnings in my pre-teen years, I have learned about the delicate balance of the eco-system, and the need for sustainable fishing practices if we are to maintain the viability of this extremely important resource.
In the past twenty three years since I began fishing commercially with my family as a young child, I have seen this province grow and the popularity of sport fishing grow along with it. I now make my living as a professional sport fishing captain, for a myriad of reasons. The first and foremost being that I truly believe that a sport caught fish is worth tremendously more to the people of this province than a number of commercially caught fish, and that the long-term effects of the sport fishery are far healthier than a large-scale commercial effort on many levels.
What worries me most, is that the current halibut allocation regulations favour commercial fishing so heavily, that the sport sector, including families like mine who are dependant on sport-caught halibut to survive, is suffering.
Currently, 88% of the total allowable halibut catch is allocated to 436 commercial license holders thanks to an outdated mandate from 1991. Many of these license holders do not even fish anymore! They are allowed to "lease" out their allocation to other boats while they sit at home and collect a check. To me this kind of system is more than inherently wrong. Why is the government allowing a minority of license holders to continue to monopolize the majority of the quota?
Recreational halibut fishermen, myself included, number in the hundreds of thousands and yet are allocated only 12% of the total allowable catch of halibut. Considering the amount of revenue that sport fishing generates, particularly when compared to that of the commercial sector, it seems silly that these 436 commercial license holders should be allowed to control the majority of the halibut quota. It would seem to me that in terms of broad economic effect, and perhaps political influence, that hundreds of thousands of residents and visiting sport fishing anglers are more deserving of a fairer share of quota than 436 commercial license holders, many of whom never physically fish for halibut anymore!
Please help me understand how we can work to achieve a more viable distribution of the halibut quota, as families and fishermen like myself are seriously concerned with the direction that this issue is headed. I would like to offer my time and experience with regards to this issue, and will gladly participate in meetings, forums, or any such medium where discussions of this matter are apt to surface. I am happy to cover my own travel, time, and expenses at no cost to the government in hopes of conveying the seriousness with which I, and others like me, regard this very pertinent matter.
In closing, I appreciate you taking the time to consider this letter, and look forward to your response.
Regards,
Capt Josh Temple
Tofino, British Columbia
