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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/government-cracking-down-on-roadside-salmon-sales-near-port-alberni/article1641783/
Government cracking down on roadside salmon sales near Port Alberni
Robert Matas
Vancouver — From Friday's Globe and Mail
Published on Thursday, Jul. 15, 2010 9:17PM EDT
Last updated on Thursday, Jul. 15, 2010 9:22PM EDT
Tseshaht First Nation Chief Les Sam has seen this before. The federal Fisheries Department has stepped up efforts to close down part of the aboriginal fishery. This year, federal enforcement officers are going after roadside sales of sockeye salmon in and around Port Alberni on Vancouver Island.
“DFO [the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans] always has charges against our people for various things,” Mr. Sam said.
“Throughout our history we have been harassed by DFO and we have been charged. In the eighties, we had 258 charges against us. Then they found it better to negotiate something with us, rather than fight us,” he said Thursday.
“But now we are back fighting again, it seems.”
In a crackdown on illegal roadside sales, the Fisheries Department brought extra staff to Vancouver Island this summer to gather evidence that would support charges in court.
The federal government has not authorized any openings for native commercial fisheries on the Somass River outside Port Alberni, said John Lewis, the department’s chief of conservation and protection for the south coast.
The salmon travel from Barkley Sound through the Alberni Inlet to reach spawning beds on the Somass River.
Authorities so far have found 32 signs on the Tseshaht reserve advertising sale of sockeye, Mr. Lewis said.
Enforcement officers have distributed “information notices” to Tseshaht fisherman, advising them that selling fish caught without a commercial fishing licence is illegal. They are collecting information about those who fish without a commercial licence. An educational campaign has also been launched to discourage the public from buying salmon from unauthorized vendors.
The fisheries office has been inundated with calls from the public expressing concerns over what they believe are illegal sales, Mr. Lewis said.
“We are very understanding and sensitive to their rights under the Constitution and under arrangements and policies we have within the department,” Mr. Lewis said. However, the department has a responsibility to manage the resource properly, he added.
Aggressive enforcement efforts had no visible impact on the native fishermen who continued to catch and sell salmon this week. Mr. Sam said they were fishing according to the first nation’s management plan for salmon that limits fishing to two days a week.
Unlike the past few years, no one this year is raising the possibility that the salmon runs are facing extinction. The sockeye are returning in far greater numbers than federal officials anticipated. The preseason forecast for salmon in Barkley Sound, which head to spawning grounds into three rivers in mid-Vancouver Island, was 600,000 but the current estimate is for 900,000.
About 419,000 sockeye could be caught without affecting the sustainability of the runs, federal officials say. So far, commercial seine and gill fishermen have taken 178,638 sockeye and sport fishermen have caught 42,700.
The Tseshaht and another native community in the area have caught 73,500 for food, social and ceremonial purposes and have not exceeded their allocation. But enforcement officers believe that a portion of those fish are ending up in roadside sales. Federal officials suspect as many 10,000 sockeye may have been sold illegally.
Federal officials and Tseshaht representatives tried to resolve their differences after B.C. Supreme Court last year ruled that natives have a right to sell fish but the number of fish has to be negotiated with the government.
“We have had a very difficult relationship with first nations in Port Alberni for many, many years,” Mr. Lewis said. The Tseshaht and the federal government worked hard to reach an accord but were unable to come to a negotiated agreement, he said. However, fisheries officials are not looking for a direct confrontation with the Tseshaht, he added.
But Mr. Sam said the Tseshaht were willing to reach an agreement, but the federal government wanted to give too large a portion to the commercial fishery.
“We were looking to negotiate some fair, equitable share of the resource that used to be controlled 100 per cent by the Tseshaht,” Mr. Sam said.
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www.JimsFishing.com
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Government cracking down on roadside salmon sales near Port Alberni
Robert Matas
Vancouver — From Friday's Globe and Mail
Published on Thursday, Jul. 15, 2010 9:17PM EDT
Last updated on Thursday, Jul. 15, 2010 9:22PM EDT
Tseshaht First Nation Chief Les Sam has seen this before. The federal Fisheries Department has stepped up efforts to close down part of the aboriginal fishery. This year, federal enforcement officers are going after roadside sales of sockeye salmon in and around Port Alberni on Vancouver Island.
“DFO [the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans] always has charges against our people for various things,” Mr. Sam said.
“Throughout our history we have been harassed by DFO and we have been charged. In the eighties, we had 258 charges against us. Then they found it better to negotiate something with us, rather than fight us,” he said Thursday.
“But now we are back fighting again, it seems.”
In a crackdown on illegal roadside sales, the Fisheries Department brought extra staff to Vancouver Island this summer to gather evidence that would support charges in court.
The federal government has not authorized any openings for native commercial fisheries on the Somass River outside Port Alberni, said John Lewis, the department’s chief of conservation and protection for the south coast.
The salmon travel from Barkley Sound through the Alberni Inlet to reach spawning beds on the Somass River.
Authorities so far have found 32 signs on the Tseshaht reserve advertising sale of sockeye, Mr. Lewis said.
Enforcement officers have distributed “information notices” to Tseshaht fisherman, advising them that selling fish caught without a commercial fishing licence is illegal. They are collecting information about those who fish without a commercial licence. An educational campaign has also been launched to discourage the public from buying salmon from unauthorized vendors.
The fisheries office has been inundated with calls from the public expressing concerns over what they believe are illegal sales, Mr. Lewis said.
“We are very understanding and sensitive to their rights under the Constitution and under arrangements and policies we have within the department,” Mr. Lewis said. However, the department has a responsibility to manage the resource properly, he added.
Aggressive enforcement efforts had no visible impact on the native fishermen who continued to catch and sell salmon this week. Mr. Sam said they were fishing according to the first nation’s management plan for salmon that limits fishing to two days a week.
Unlike the past few years, no one this year is raising the possibility that the salmon runs are facing extinction. The sockeye are returning in far greater numbers than federal officials anticipated. The preseason forecast for salmon in Barkley Sound, which head to spawning grounds into three rivers in mid-Vancouver Island, was 600,000 but the current estimate is for 900,000.
About 419,000 sockeye could be caught without affecting the sustainability of the runs, federal officials say. So far, commercial seine and gill fishermen have taken 178,638 sockeye and sport fishermen have caught 42,700.
The Tseshaht and another native community in the area have caught 73,500 for food, social and ceremonial purposes and have not exceeded their allocation. But enforcement officers believe that a portion of those fish are ending up in roadside sales. Federal officials suspect as many 10,000 sockeye may have been sold illegally.
Federal officials and Tseshaht representatives tried to resolve their differences after B.C. Supreme Court last year ruled that natives have a right to sell fish but the number of fish has to be negotiated with the government.
“We have had a very difficult relationship with first nations in Port Alberni for many, many years,” Mr. Lewis said. The Tseshaht and the federal government worked hard to reach an accord but were unable to come to a negotiated agreement, he said. However, fisheries officials are not looking for a direct confrontation with the Tseshaht, he added.
But Mr. Sam said the Tseshaht were willing to reach an agreement, but the federal government wanted to give too large a portion to the commercial fishery.
“We were looking to negotiate some fair, equitable share of the resource that used to be controlled 100 per cent by the Tseshaht,” Mr. Sam said.
Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
