shame on shea: B.c. Needs its own fisheries minister
d.c. Reid
did you catch the latest spin on halibut from gail shea way out there in ottawaland? “as canada’s minister of fisheries and oceans, i have been entrusted with managing our precious marine resources responsibly and sustainably.”
they are so precious she won’t get fish farms out of the water to save wild salmon, or charge them with polluting public waters. She won’t stop run of river power that is a far greater problem. She won’t help starving killer whales by putting out more chinook salmon. She won’t put proper money into habitat, science and hatcheries. One could go on for pages.
There is only one halibut problem: Dfo gave commercial guys 88 per cent of the halibut in non-returnable quota long ago. That’s it. Full stop. Not so unlikely they won’t ante it up to the public because they don’t have to — and the last time they did the price was way over what they lease it for to the few remaining boats — 140 — that actually commercially fish. That they don’t want to sell it reasonably to 300,000 sport fishermen makes you want to adopt a different approach: The public’s share should be 20 to 36 per cent, as in adjacent states.
Her response is as though the problem is just squabbling among sectors: “i’m disappointed to report that those discussions have reached an impasse and stakeholders have been unable to reach a consensus. Because of this, a ministerial decision is required to move forward for the 2011 season.” that is a sport opening season of march 1, not the usual feb. 1, a day limit of one halibut and a total of two in possession.
“many stakeholders from both sectors have clearly articulated their current positions, but i encourage continued dialogue about new approaches between interested parties and my officials. The sooner a permanent solution is found, the sooner british columbians can put uncertainty behind them and look forward to a viable future for this fishery.”
you may notice she is ignoring the only problem is dfo’s unreasonable 88/12 share ratio. It is not about conservation as the canadian allowable catch is actually up 150,000 dressed pounds. And she is ignoring that the sport industry is the biggest dollar driver on halibut and just needs a more reasonable share. And the big one shea is ignoring is the sport take will likely close on july 15, instead of dec. 31, causing huge problems for lodges and guides for many years to come. What was a $611.4-million sector in 1995 fell, after inseason chinook closures, below half the following year and did not recover for five years.
Someone on holiday from the u.s. Or europe, spending more than $5,000 for a remote lodge, as well as air fares, meals, hotels and transfers to get here, will not come back if they can only catch one measly halibut, or zero after july 15. Shea is from the east coast where there is no sport industry. Who wants to hand line a cod? She has no touch for the west and that’s why we need a minister of fisheries for b.c. Alone.
But what is the real solution? It’s achingly simple: Dfo should buy up eight per cent of total quota from commercial guys and thus bring the sport share to 20 per cent, a level that will end problems for a very long time.