Federal all candidates meeting in Whistler- question on support for Mark's Selective Fishery for Chinook in Howe Sound?

More of the same old, same old me thinks. That is why we in the public fishery need to get united, organized and political (like the other sectors do) and pressure to start to do more to support the public fishery!
 
More of the same old, same old me thinks. That is why we in the public fishery need to get united, organized and political (like the other sectors do) and pressure to start to do more to support the public fishery!
Couldn't agree more. I've already reached out to my MP post election.

Would be good to see a west coast Fisheries Minister. We have to get the new Minister and they're staff engaged and aware what the issues are facing the public fishery. I'm holding out. Hope that we may see some better engagement under Prime Minister Carney than we did under Trudeau.

It would be great to see more Sport Fishing BC Forum participants joining the Public Fishery Alliance. Here's their membership link https://publicfisheryalliance.ca/membership-sign-up/
 
I think it's great we have so many groups representing specific areas. At a higher level as an angler I continue to support the SFI as it represents the entire province as well as the guides and industry.

From my experience I would say that most groups are organized and working on a common goal. My only opinion is we tend to spend a lot of time fighting for leadership instead of recognizing that each area is unique.

Not organized/united? Not seeing it in all honesty. Have you heard anything from SFI? That usually means things are getting worked on quietly with the right people engaging. If things go sideways I expect you would here alarm bells on this one.

What has happened to all fisheries on mainland and the island is brutal. It simply doesn't work.

The biggest challenge I feel is not the groups and who leads what it is lack of participation. We see it everywhere. From salmon enhancement projects to joining some kind of advocacy group.

The facts are if fishing closed today there are great deal of anglers that will sit quietly and move on to something else.

Quite sad actually....

Good work @cohochinook keep fighting for that Howe sound fishery. Like Nanaimo we have tons of DNA data that show limited impacts on stocks of concern.
 
Last edited:
I think it's great we have so many groups representing specific areas. At a higher level as an angler I continue to support the SFI as it represents the entire province as well as the guides and industry.

From my experience I would say that most groups are organized and working on a common goal. My only opinion is we tend to spend a lot of time fighting for leadership instead of recognizing that each area is unique.

Not organized/united? Not seeing it in all honesty. Have you heard anything from SFI? That usually means things are getting worked on quietly with the right people engaging. If things go sideways I expect you would here alarm bells on this one.

What has happened to all fisheries on mainland and the island is brutal. It simply doesn't work.

The biggest challenge I feel is not the groups and who leads what it is lack of participation. We see it everywhere. From salmon enhancement projects to joining some kind of advocacy group.

The facts are if fishing closed today there are great deal of anglers that will sit quietly and move on to something else.

Quite sad actually....

Good work @cohochinook keep fighting for that Howe sound fishery. Like Nanaimo we have tons of DNA data that show limited impacts on stocks of concern.
The Sport Fishing Institute does an excellent job representing us and is critical in the role that they play carrying our message to Ottawa. They have key meetings with the Minister and their advisors. I am member of the SFI.

It's good to be a member of both SFI and the PFA!

Your 100% correct that one of the biggest challenges is getting people involved and volunteering. A good friend of mine compared organizing sport fishermen and women to "Herding cats that are chasing butterflies."!

If you can't volunteer, then you should donate to either the PFA or SFI or even better both!
 
I think that while important to facilitate thorough scientific investigation to inform and better plan all fisheries (not just recreational) to better avoid stocks of concern while establishing a balanced and sustainable fishery opportunity - the bigger focus should be on; 1) building relationships with all communities - in particular First Nations constructed from a position of collaboration and support for our mutual fishery interests; followed by; 2) working constructively with this new government to explore ways to optimize the significant social and economic benefits that Canada currently enjoys (with no government subsidization) from the recreational fishery on the Pacific coast.

All this talk about MSF fisheries is just noise - the real focus should be on optimization of social and economic benefits that can be realized from supporting sustainable recreational fisheries.

Unlike the East Coast of Canada, we have something very special, under valued, and not understood by eastern politicians that contributes annually over $380 million in real GDP, 5,000 jobs and attracts international tourism dollars to our economy.

Under the current crisis brought about by Trump's ambitions for Canada, we need to optimize the benefits to every extent possible that help Canada realize as much economic benefit from our natural resources. The recreational fishery on our Pacific coast is a net revenue generator.

Every one of those recreational vessels, every vessel trip out on the water represents economic and social expenditures - and benefits.

It is a fact, that the recreational salmon fishery alone has eclipsed the commercial salmon fishery by over 25 times the economic GDP contribution from a rare fishery resource. This underscores that creating a regulatory environment that supports recreational fisheries is the wisest use of our fishery resource after of course upholding First Nations FSC rights. Investment in terms of allowing recreational opportunity that fires up this revenue generator comes at no cost to Canada other than allowing access and opportunity to the fishery.

Don't take my word on it. The economic business case is found here:

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/f...r-reports/four_sector_report_2022_edition.pdf
 
Back
Top