Straight of Georgia

[wishiniwasfishin1]

I would like to compile actual herring harvest information for Straight of Georgia for a calendar year. Info regarding tonnage harvested and any information regarding actual costs to operate and per tonne payment info would be super useful. Also, if you are personally involved with this fishery I would love to chat. PM me if you want.

 

[capt hook]

DFO has all the info you can possible ever read.
freedom of access.
Next year will be interesting , the stocks are in fantastic shape , but there is no market.
SE Alaska destroyed the market now several yrs in a row with over abundance and dumping into Jap market.
Most guys i know involved are not even going to bother fishing next year. No money in it.
Wanna buy a cheap lic?
or if you are a good marketing businessman , go to China and set up a new market and get rich.

 

[wishiniwasfishin1]

Hey Capt,
Thanks for the info. Actually I was kind of thinking opposite of getting involved with the fishery. I have read that there is quite a bit of herring inventory in Japan and the Alsakan guys were getting as little as $100 per ton this year.

I was more thinking along the lines of what it would cost to keep the fishermen home for a few seasons. The fishing could really pick up in the Straight and with all of the economic benefits associated with a healthy fishery on the East side of the island it might be worth a try.

People have lots of different solutions to bringing back salmon in the Straight, but the simplest might just be not killing their main food supply and see what happens. It actually wouldn't cost a lot of money to try for a few years.

If the going rate is $150 a ton for herring, how much is a fisherman actually taking home? He has the cost of the license, the cost of running the boat, paying the crew and all the upkeep, etc. If for example he netted $100 a ton, the cost to pay off a fisherman @ 30,000 tons would be $3,000,000.00.

This sounds like a lot of money but spread out over all the interest groups maybe it isn't that much?

If you have guys like Pattison who own most of the fleet - can something like this be proposed? It seems like the wrong thing to do to have to pay a guy not to kill our shared resource but if he has the licenses, then maybe this is a strategy. He is worth over 6 billion - you would think at some point he has enough and would not keep harvesting the Canadian people resource for a couple extra buck. I know its not that simple, but seem like a good topic for discussion...

 

[wishiniwasfishin1]

Along those same lines...

I was at 'Finest at Sea' today and looking at the price of troll caught fish salmon. It was $27 a pound and over $28 at Granville Island for both reds and white fillets.

At that price it makes the three teenagers we caught last weekend worth well over $700.

If we left the Herring alone on the coast for a few years and the result is a huge bump in the salmon stocks, wouldn't a troll fisherman stand to make big money for his fish vs. the crappy price they are getting for the herring?

 

[capt hook]

the price of wild salmon will fall real soon as soon as the commercial stock hits market ,
and with all the fish coming this yr. the market will be flooded.
as far as herring , i dont think anything needs to be done as far as keeping us off the fish as it will happen for free.
i should not be saying this , but thats whats going to happen .....no money in it , so no one wants to fish , very simple.
no need to pay us to stay ashore , but u can if u want lol.

 

[Klob]

" i dont think anything needs to be done as far as keeping us off the fish as it will happen for free.
i should not be saying this , but thats whats going to happen .....no money in it , so no one wants to fish , very simple"

Almost sounds to good to be true. One can only hope.....

 

[wishiniwasfishin1]

the price of wild salmon will fall real soon as soon as the commercial stock hits market ,
and with all the fish coming this yr. the market will be flooded.
as far as herring , i dont think anything needs to be done as far as keeping us off the fish as it will happen for free.
i should not be saying this , but thats whats going to happen .....no money in it , so no one wants to fish , very simple.
no need to pay us to stay ashore , but u can if u want lol.

Well Capt,
I hate to say it but that is great news! I can't imagine what a few years of no fishing the Straight will do for the stocks. Could cure a lot of ills.

Maybe you could develop a Japanese market for Pacific Seal?

In all seriousness - it sucks for you and your brethren, but should be great for the province. It will be interesting to see what happens to salmon prices. It seems like a lot of it is marketing. Best case scenario if the price does come down it will drive the fish farmers into unprofitably...