I was talking about salmon issues with a friend this weekend... the decline of salmon stocks being a primary focus of the discussion. Living in Victoria, the whole size limit for chinooks this march to save the early Fraser run was part of our discussion.
My ranting led me to the issue of river fishing... the opinion i presented was that the river fishery was a key piece of salmon puzzle. IMO, both the 'sport' fishing on the fraser and the native net fishery were as important as any other fishery, in ensuring that a the Fraser stocks would survive.
The salmon that reach the river are the ones that made it. It sounds obvious, i know. But they had the genetics to outlast, outwit and outswim all the predators (animal, human or otherwise) to make it to the mighty river and continue their journey to complete the circle. these are the chosen fish! How sad it is that these fish are not given the respect they deserve.
Thinking about it, any fish caught in the salt has a lower chance of making it to the river. Looking at in that sense, taking 1000 fish out of the ocean, who may have a 50% "river" rate, has a much less of an impact on brood stocks than taking 1000 fish from the river itself. I'm not sure what the return to the river rates actually are... but you can see what i am getting at.
My conclusions:
Any fish that makes it to the river should have a chance to spawn and continue the cycle - to me this seems of the utmost importance if want fish to sustain their own populations in the future
Natives do have a historical right to fish out from the rivers
We need to work together to save our salmon
My Proposition:
Ban sport fishing on the river where natives have historical food fisheries.
Supplement native historical food/commercial fisheries by supporting an ocean based commercial 'style' fishery for natives.
How it would work:
Its obviously less work to net a river to catch a bunch of fish... but its way worse for the stocks.
What if DFO and the powers that be supplemented the extra resources (time and money money money) it required for native bands to catch fish on the salt?
Native groups wouldn't have to reduce their keep/catch, they would just have to do it in the ocean. It might even be reasonable for them to 'legalize' some of the fish selling that already goes on.
It isn't the traditional fishing method, but all groups need to make concessions. I for one wouldn't complain if money from DFO and my licensce fees went to ending the net fishery that occurs on the fraser and other rivers/tributaries.
As a show of concession, any river where natives agreed to stop net fishing would result in a meat fishery ending... if natives stop netting the fraser i don't its fair that sporties continue to snag the fish the native peoples would be working to save.
Thoughts?
My ranting led me to the issue of river fishing... the opinion i presented was that the river fishery was a key piece of salmon puzzle. IMO, both the 'sport' fishing on the fraser and the native net fishery were as important as any other fishery, in ensuring that a the Fraser stocks would survive.
The salmon that reach the river are the ones that made it. It sounds obvious, i know. But they had the genetics to outlast, outwit and outswim all the predators (animal, human or otherwise) to make it to the mighty river and continue their journey to complete the circle. these are the chosen fish! How sad it is that these fish are not given the respect they deserve.
Thinking about it, any fish caught in the salt has a lower chance of making it to the river. Looking at in that sense, taking 1000 fish out of the ocean, who may have a 50% "river" rate, has a much less of an impact on brood stocks than taking 1000 fish from the river itself. I'm not sure what the return to the river rates actually are... but you can see what i am getting at.
My conclusions:
Any fish that makes it to the river should have a chance to spawn and continue the cycle - to me this seems of the utmost importance if want fish to sustain their own populations in the future
Natives do have a historical right to fish out from the rivers
We need to work together to save our salmon
My Proposition:
Ban sport fishing on the river where natives have historical food fisheries.
Supplement native historical food/commercial fisheries by supporting an ocean based commercial 'style' fishery for natives.
How it would work:
Its obviously less work to net a river to catch a bunch of fish... but its way worse for the stocks.
What if DFO and the powers that be supplemented the extra resources (time and money money money) it required for native bands to catch fish on the salt?
Native groups wouldn't have to reduce their keep/catch, they would just have to do it in the ocean. It might even be reasonable for them to 'legalize' some of the fish selling that already goes on.
It isn't the traditional fishing method, but all groups need to make concessions. I for one wouldn't complain if money from DFO and my licensce fees went to ending the net fishery that occurs on the fraser and other rivers/tributaries.
As a show of concession, any river where natives agreed to stop net fishing would result in a meat fishery ending... if natives stop netting the fraser i don't its fair that sporties continue to snag the fish the native peoples would be working to save.
Thoughts?
