22savage
03-17-2012, 10:16 AM
Fishermen in Greater Victoria are reeling after being told the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is looking at "draconian" restrictions on the summer chinook salmon fishery in Juan de Fuca Strait.
Members of the Victoria-South Island Sport Fishing Advisory Board and industry representatives, who took part in a conference call with DFO Friday, say plans to further restrict or even close the chinook fishery in the peak season of June, July and August could cause the collapse of the southern Vancouver Island sports fishing industry.
"Our backs are against the wall. Any more cuts will be the death of our fishery," said Martin Paish, general manager of Pedder Bay RV Resort and Marina.
The value of the chinook fishery in the areas from the mouth of the Fraser River, through Sidney to Jordan River, is millions of dollars, said Christopher Bos, chairman of the local Sport Fishing Advisory Board.
"The moment they start messing with the economic driver to the point that opportunity and expectation [of catching fish] are gone, they will destroy that economic driving force," he said.
The spinoff effect would take in fishing lodges, about 50 fishing charter operations, marinas, campgrounds, tackle shops and hotels, Paish said. "It would have a huge impact on Sooke and Metchosin. The sports fishery drives tourism in this area."
No one from DFO was available to talk about the proposals Friday, but Tom Cole, assistant chairman of the advisory board, said DFO representatives will be at a meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Langford.
"We are expecting about 700 or 800 people at that meeting," Cole said.
The issue revolves around some Fraser River chinook runs with poor returns. Those chinook turn up in Juan de Fuca Strait in the summer at the same time as chinook from more abundant runs.
Two years ago, the recreational fishery, which takes only a fraction of the threatened stocks, agreed to catch limits in an effort to conserve those stocks, even though most chinook caught in the fishery come from the abundant runs, Paish said. The complicated rules now allow fishermen to take two chinook a day in the summer, with varying size constraints.
Instead of targeting sports fishermen, when further restrictions would have no effect on conservation of the stocks, DFO should be looking at the commercial or First Nations fisheries, which take many more fish, and its own allocation policy, said Bos and Paish.
Root causes are habitat loss and water extraction from the Fraser, but DFO has done little to address those problems and seems focused only on ratcheting down the sports fishery, Bos said.
"DFO has suddenly set its hair on fire and said they need more restrictions and they have put a bull'seye on our back," he said.
"We have already done our part to reduce the impact on these stocks."
jlavoie@timescolonist.com
© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist
Members of the Victoria-South Island Sport Fishing Advisory Board and industry representatives, who took part in a conference call with DFO Friday, say plans to further restrict or even close the chinook fishery in the peak season of June, July and August could cause the collapse of the southern Vancouver Island sports fishing industry.
"Our backs are against the wall. Any more cuts will be the death of our fishery," said Martin Paish, general manager of Pedder Bay RV Resort and Marina.
The value of the chinook fishery in the areas from the mouth of the Fraser River, through Sidney to Jordan River, is millions of dollars, said Christopher Bos, chairman of the local Sport Fishing Advisory Board.
"The moment they start messing with the economic driver to the point that opportunity and expectation [of catching fish] are gone, they will destroy that economic driving force," he said.
The spinoff effect would take in fishing lodges, about 50 fishing charter operations, marinas, campgrounds, tackle shops and hotels, Paish said. "It would have a huge impact on Sooke and Metchosin. The sports fishery drives tourism in this area."
No one from DFO was available to talk about the proposals Friday, but Tom Cole, assistant chairman of the advisory board, said DFO representatives will be at a meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Langford.
"We are expecting about 700 or 800 people at that meeting," Cole said.
The issue revolves around some Fraser River chinook runs with poor returns. Those chinook turn up in Juan de Fuca Strait in the summer at the same time as chinook from more abundant runs.
Two years ago, the recreational fishery, which takes only a fraction of the threatened stocks, agreed to catch limits in an effort to conserve those stocks, even though most chinook caught in the fishery come from the abundant runs, Paish said. The complicated rules now allow fishermen to take two chinook a day in the summer, with varying size constraints.
Instead of targeting sports fishermen, when further restrictions would have no effect on conservation of the stocks, DFO should be looking at the commercial or First Nations fisheries, which take many more fish, and its own allocation policy, said Bos and Paish.
Root causes are habitat loss and water extraction from the Fraser, but DFO has done little to address those problems and seems focused only on ratcheting down the sports fishery, Bos said.
"DFO has suddenly set its hair on fire and said they need more restrictions and they have put a bull'seye on our back," he said.
"We have already done our part to reduce the impact on these stocks."
jlavoie@timescolonist.com
© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist