Seal/Sea Lion Problem On The West Coast!

[alley cat]

Fisherman 14 do you have proof positive of this or graphic photographic evidence of the statement you just made ?
This is a forum for fishing and an arena supposedly for airing debate on how to alleviate fishing issues or techniques ; I didn't think it was a forum for spreading rumours and denigrating other people.

AL

 

[fisherman14]

i don't care what kind of forum it is.
i'm stating facts. i didn't take pictures. but already this year, some sockeye have been caught in a native net.

 

[alley cat]

No your not stating facts , you are stating your unproven opinions , a big difference in statements.
Should you voice these statements in a public forum without proof you would be liable for slander or defamation of character, you do it here hiding behind your email handle , instead of beating your chest here go to the authorities and prove your case , I for one would then applaud you but as it stands right now all you are doing is mud slinging without verifiable facts , not very conducive to any sort of problem solving only pissing in the wind !

AL

 

[Charter Tofino]

Salmon are facing many problems right now and i doubt natives are the biggest. Fisherman14 your lookin like a goon. One thread its the seals the next its the natives? whats your next idea?

 

[fisherman14]

just stating some problems y there is a decline in salmon.
indians fishing the river and sea lions. theres many problems. but i just focused on the 2 i hated the most.

 

[cohochinook]

I heard over 100 sea lions had died this year trying to get into fish farm pens in Tofino. Is this a new occurence related to the lack of food as Nog points out in his post?

 

[ratherbefishing]

First let me state that this is a great forum with great info and contributors but...

With all due respect to fisherman14 and whatever his 'feelings' are the tone wrt to First Nations is totally inappropriate and as much as you may believe what you say, speaking like this on a forum of sportfishers gives us ALL a bad reputation. If you have proof (although I doubt "pretty positive" is anything much more than bar talk), step up and show us, DFO, the media, etc...quit prodding the fire from the safety of your computer.

And seals...if you honestly think that seals are the primary reason that salmon stocks are on the decline you are getting your information from the wrong place. As much as we'd all like to think otherwise, humans are the only ones to blame - overfishing, habitat destruction, total habitat loss, pollution etc...a person just needs to sit and THINK about it for a few minutes.

I applaud all of those that write letters, attend meetings, join clubs/associations/boards etc...that is the only way that things are truely going to change for sportfishers, not writing notes in a forum...and I will state that as MY</u> opinion.
That is my rant.
Cheers

 

[bent rod69]

HERE!! HERE!!

 

[bent rod69]

Well spoken!

 

[MyEscape]

Fisherman 14 Last and final warning Your posts are slanderous without proof and again you are posting questionable almost racist remarks WE ALL KNOW</u> your serious dislikes but you have to either change your ways or you will have to find another forum to post on as you are starting to rub many members here the wrong way. Although I also have my dislikes and total disagreements with many things that go on in life I know that it isn't always the right thing to post them on a fishing forum wether the be related or not.

Sportfishingbc Moderators

 

[yammy5]

Check the post dates. Fisherman14's comments were from May 13th and they may have been mis-interpreted as more recent. I believe he was warned after that post already. I believe we have revived an old issue here.

 

[Tips Up]

Delete the whole thread and move on. Nothing worth reading.

Tips

 

[roscoe-pco]

STOP FISH FARMING just my two cents.

 

[Little Hawk]

Howdy!

Been following and watching this Forum (and this thread) for a while now. Finally got off my duff and joined. There's a lot of good people exchanging plenty of useful and helpful information and ideas here.

There's also a few who've got no business being here.

I will try to (and I encourage all others to do so) remain focused on the real 'Bigger-picture' with respect to purpose of this forum - sharing our love and experiances of this great sport and expressing our conservation concerns and ideas around the resource.

What really irks me to no end is listening to people rant and rave about this or that, then sit back and do nothing about it. As a result, idiot politicians and self-serving special-interest groups have their way with us, and decisions are made - and become law - that both affect our individual rights, and the management of important resources like our wild-salmon.

As RBfishin' and many others have pointed out, there are many issues affecting/contributing to the status of our beloved Pacific Coast sport-fishery. In the 'Bigger-picture', seals, sea-lions, and the First Nations people's fishing practices are minor issues.

Populations of critters that prey on salmon will fluctuate and we - at the top of the food-chain - can easily deal with it if and when it becomes neccessary.

With respect to our Native brothers, lest not forget: they never had a problem with resource availability till the 'White-man' showed up with his destructive logging practices and huge nets that could scoop a whole school of salmon in one pass. Sure, there are incidents where they run afoul of the 'Law' (same as us 'White' people do) and indeed they should be subject to the same penalties we are.

But the reality is - getting back to the 'Bigger-picture' - the Indian's also want to see fish left for their children and future generations, same as us White-folks do.

In my view, the most significant 'Clear and present danger' to our resource is - and in fact has always been - GOVERNMENT MISMANAGEMENT!</u>

Historically, bureaucratic-bungler's in Ottawa - people clueless as to the real issues affecting West Coast salmon - have dealt more 'death-blows' to our salmon stocks than all the seals, sea-lions, sport/commercial fishermen, and Native people's combined.

Today, in my opinion, the most significant issue of late that poses the greatest threat to our 'Wild' salmon stocks and our sport-fishing livelihood is - FISH FARMING</u>. Not only is our Government 'in-bed' with the fish-famrers - a mostly foreign owned/controlled industry - but they have promoted/supported the establishment of this 'filthy' industry on a platform of lies and misinformation.

As a sportfishermen and staunch opponent to fish farming, I am DEEPLY concerned about my Government's posture on this industry. After rather exhaustive research (then writing an essay on the subject followed by feature article published in BC Outdoors/Sportfishing Magazine) I remain convinced that our Government remains totally oblivious to the conservation needs of our 'WILD' Pacific Salmon.

I encourage all my fellow Sport-fishers to take a hard look at this industry, its practices, and our Governments complicity in the industry.

Then stand-up and do something about it!

Cheers,
Terry Anderson

 

[Barbender]

Terry you seem pretty rabid about this. Obviously you have done lots of research on this issue and have a background in biology. Or do you work for the Suzuki foundation?

 

[Little Hawk]

Howdy!

Barbender. No, I am not affilliated with any organization.

While working as a bartender at the old Westwind Pub in Langford, I was moved to write a few newspaper articles about issues that pissed me off. I'd send them in, and for some strange reason they'd get published. I decided it felt good to see something I wrote in print so I went back to school (Camosun/English 12/First yr. Eng.compostion) to try and improve my command of the language some.

In my First yr.Eng/comp. class we were offered a list of essay topics to choose from; this essay was a biggy, comprising 30% of the grade.
'Profiling the Canadian Fish-farming Industry' was the topic I chose.

I set to work reading/learing all I could about the industry here in Canada, and abroad.

I read books and volumes of published scientific data on the subject; I corresponded with other concerned people worldwide. The more I learned, the more disgusted and appalled I became. It became evident that people in the industry didn't want me digging into this thing. At one point I received a phone call from an executive of the largest aquaculture conglomerate on the planet demanding to know 'why' I was investigating the industry.

I wrote the essay and was graded an 'A'.

As a sportfisherman, hunter, conservationist, and true-blue lover of this magnificent Province, I was - and remain - dumbfounded why our Provincial/Federal Governments jumped into bed with this industry.

During my research stint I drove to Campbell River to attend one of the 'Leggatt Report on Fish Farming' hearings. Some may remember back in 2001 (if I've got my dates correct) when the David Zuzuki Foundation contracted the then retired Supreme Court Judge to chair a series of public hearings on fish-farming. The Government at the time was proposing to lift the moratorium on expanding the industry. The meetings open to all parties involved/concerned and were well attended by representitives of the sport/commercial fishery, First Nations, the fish-farming industry, Government, and even a few regular Joe's like myself.

In conclusion, Judge Leggatt wrote his report and basically condemned the industry. Ignoring the both Leggatt Report, and the cries of all concerned about this 'filthy' industry, our sagacious Government responded by lifting the moratorium on expansion of the industry.

At the time I wrote my essay (before the lifting of the moratorium) there were over a hundred active fish-farms on our coast; each one, dumping - daily - the equivalent 'raw-sewage' directly into our ocean as does the city of Victoria (350,000/people). If you want more dirt (irrefutable evidence) on this ecological catastrophe, I will glady share it with you. Trust me - you won't be worried much about a few seals or sea-lions if you know about fish-farming.

(If I don't repost till Sunday/Monday, it's because I'm in Seattle this weekend - Daughters soccer tournament)

Cheers,
Terry

 

[Bosinova]

Terry, it seems you choose to be part of that anti-farming bandwagon that likes to fire in every little bit garbage in about a relatively young, however necessary industry. I say necessary, because how do you propose to meet the world demand on food fish on what simply exists in the ocean? The human population is ever growing and so is this demand. Necessary also due to the fact that the industry provides jobs to coastal areas that would otherwise not provide people with many choices to live. Salmon Farming pollutes, sure there is no denying that, but the reality is every thing human pollutes. Wouldn't it be better if all the negative energy to the salmon farming industry were turned into some productive efforts to help the industry overcome the concerns? Isn't the real problem not the industry, but in fact a government that does not get behind the industry enough to help it improve its shortcomings? I'm sure when compared to other industry, the BC salmon farming industry is one of the most scrutinized. It's amazing how so many of these corporately backed organizations will dig up old facts to spread negative propaganda about this industry. The sad part is it takes so much more to disprove this with the fact as people usually tend to soak up the doom and gloom more so than the fact. Anyway, you said your bit and well there's my two sense.

As for the original topic of this forum, the seals are a big part of the problem. Take the Puntledge River in Courtenay for example. You can hardly reel a salmon in without losing it to seals half the time on the east side of the island.

 

[bradgfish]

This is a sport fishing web sit not a pro fishfarming site

 

[Klob]

Farmedsalmonfever:
First the industry is not new, It's been around long enough to screw the rivers of England, Norway, and other Scandinavian countries. Why do you think companies from those countries want to set up shop here. Also It's my understanding that it takes 3 lbs of wild fish to produce 1 lb of farmed, thank god for the herring fishery eh. As for the rest of your Farmed Salmon spin.......

By the way how is Jimmy?

 

[fishman69er]

really, has this turn into a fish farm debate? i thought the headline was "seal problem", well if anyone wants a fish farm debate, thens thats a whole diferente post, and hey i am all in,ps i have heard some of the most pathetic post i have ever heard on this thread,and on this form to this date!!