F
Fog Ducker
Guest
I Just have to say a few things here.
I have worked in many sectors of the fisheries off the BC coast from commercial observing, creel surveying, as well as as a fisheries biologist for both private and gov't. first things first, everyone gets checked, sporties, commercial and first nations, I have Seen it all first hand. Whether or not the fines or whatever hold up in court is not the faults of the fishery officers, you have to remember that many of the officers are fishermen themselves hate it just as much as anyone when certain groups fish illegaly and there is little they can do about it because they know their efforts will be nulled by the higher power. And another thing there are millions of dollars spent each year on spawning, rearing channels on vancouver island alone. Last summer i worked for a small (4ppl) private company, we spent over $300K on fisheris restoration projects most of which was funded by the logging sector, this is just a drop in the bucket. As well you cant just pump rivers full of eggs and expect a bunch of fish to return, it just doesn't happen, there are numerous limiting facotrs that control the number of salmon that are around each year that are beyond our control, believe it or not the salmon stocks are somewhat limited by the amount of food in the ocean (among other things). There are definately problems with the system, but bashing the field crews will not solve anything, they are just trying to do their jobs with limited resources and authority.
I have worked in many sectors of the fisheries off the BC coast from commercial observing, creel surveying, as well as as a fisheries biologist for both private and gov't. first things first, everyone gets checked, sporties, commercial and first nations, I have Seen it all first hand. Whether or not the fines or whatever hold up in court is not the faults of the fishery officers, you have to remember that many of the officers are fishermen themselves hate it just as much as anyone when certain groups fish illegaly and there is little they can do about it because they know their efforts will be nulled by the higher power. And another thing there are millions of dollars spent each year on spawning, rearing channels on vancouver island alone. Last summer i worked for a small (4ppl) private company, we spent over $300K on fisheris restoration projects most of which was funded by the logging sector, this is just a drop in the bucket. As well you cant just pump rivers full of eggs and expect a bunch of fish to return, it just doesn't happen, there are numerous limiting facotrs that control the number of salmon that are around each year that are beyond our control, believe it or not the salmon stocks are somewhat limited by the amount of food in the ocean (among other things). There are definately problems with the system, but bashing the field crews will not solve anything, they are just trying to do their jobs with limited resources and authority.
osted - 07/11/2007 : 21:01:42 
