Halibut restrictions + salmon closures = zero tourism !

[high tide]

Well it's with sadness that I am done with my TOURISM DOLLARS going to Vancouver Island! For too many years to remember I have been hauling myself, countless friends and family to the Island along with my Many boats over the years, Trucks and Camper. Paying the toll to troll so to speak, from all these years of travel have came supporting gas staions, sporting good stores, Hotels, Motels, Resorts, the list goes on and on, to big to even try to mention all the spin off dollars. Add this to the DREADFUL costs of BC FERRIES and there over paid Bosses and Past Boss with his retirement package of $300,000.00 per year. It is mostly these last Halibut restrictions and coming salmon closures that have sealed the coffin. The Resort has had it's cancellation phone call and they said I am not by any means the only one. Bookings are down some 60 % in general they claim and fear it is about to get worse. So many of you locals will be happy there will be less boats on the water but many will be sad too because of the loss of JOBS. I hope you and your families find another way to survive as DFO and GOVERNMENT DON"T GIVE A RATS butt! So I say WAY TO GO .......... DFO ........... and I must say my 2 cents the SFAB have not thought their recommendations through AT ALL ! So, you have seen the last of my support, I guess I'll sit as an Independent ....... Back too local Ling, Rockfish, and Sole and wait my turn at the local Salmon that travel these parts. Shame on you DFO and SFAB for doing your part to Drive the Nail into the Tourism on the Island!

HOW PATHETIC!

HT

 

[Charlie415]

Where I am it is actually cheaper to run the boat up to Hardy than to take the ferry. Way more scenic but weather can play a role. If you are travelling from the mainland it is probably cheaper to run across.

 

[walleyes]

I really don't think the people making these calls know the extent of how far these cuts will affect the local economies.. If they go ahead with more drastic cuts to the sport fisherman they are going to get a huge awakening. This is going to hit an already very fragile economy very hard. With out the fishing thousands will quit coming out to the island and these are the thousands that actually spend money. There is no money selling granola bars the people that spend the money are the sportsmen. personally for our family when we come out to the coast for our 2 week run in August I leave easily 7 - 8 grand in the local economy and that's just my one little family,, heck there are 3 or 4 of us families that come out together,now multiply that by the thousands,, not good.

 

[wolf]

High tide please vent your frustration to where it needssend the post you wrote and then add to it and send to the area mp and the fisheries minister and to harpor HELL send it to all the politicians involved in wherever you have gone to for fishing if enough of the "sport fishing" community do this it will make a difference.

And anyone else should do the same let these SOBs know we have had enough of it we got to stop the bleeding NOW, im writing one now and ill be sending it to every politicial i can think of ..

good luck Wolf

 

[Islandgirl]

Send it to the SFAB too!

 

[GLG]

Yup government want's to gut the fisheries act = time to give up
Halibut at 1 and 1 slot = time to give up
Fish farms want to expand = time to give up
Fraser Chinook in trouble = time to give up
Enbridge wants to ship oil to china through Kitimat = time to give up
Robo calls from the government = time to give up
MP's speak with fork tongue = time to give up
Public resource sold to private business = time to give up
economy in the dumps = time to give up
greed seems to be winning = time to give up
Decisions made that you don't agree with = time to give up

These are things that I'm not happy with.
BUT I can tell you one thing, I won't be selling my boat and joining the model railroad club

Somethings are worth fighting for and to hell with it I'm going fishing when I'm done.
GLG

 

[reelfast]

what you are seeing is the impact of a conservative government. all of them, no matter the country of origin, are all about big business and stabbing the 'everyman' for all they are worth. should my country decide to elect a conservative asshole, all bets are off as we will be in the toilet just like you folks. find an environmental group that is willing to go to court and start sending money, its the one and only way to shift your tide. worked down this way and will continue to work through the years. short of litigation, you are doomed.

 

[phishbonk]

Kind of hard to find an environmental group to climb on board when all they want is to close ALL fishing down so we can look at the fish going up the river for our FN brothers to catch.

 

[Whole in the Water]

Yup government want's to gut the fisheries act = time to give up
Halibut at 1 and 1 slot = time to give up
Fish farms want to expand = time to give up
Fraser Chinook in trouble = time to give up
Enbridge wants to ship oil to china through Kitimat = time to give up
Robo calls from the government = time to give up
MP's speak with fork tongue = time to give up
Public resource sold to private business = time to give up
economy in the dumps = time to give up
greed seems to be winning = time to give up
Decisions made that you don't agree with = time to give up

These are things that I'm not happy with.
BUT I can tell you one thing, I won't be selling my boat and joining the model railroad club

Somethings are worth fighting for and to hell with it I'm going fishing when I'm done.
GLG

Here, here GLG, I'm with you on this!!! This is too important for too many good reasons to give up. If fight we must to change things for the better, then fight we will!!!

 

[Whole in the Water]

Kind of hard to find an environmental group to climb on board when all they want is to close ALL fishing down so we can look at the fish going up the river for our FN brothers to catch.

What about getting liked minding folks like yourself and starting your own group? The more groups the more pressure we can put on to bring the changes we want to see.

 

[reelfast]

hard for me to believe you don't have any conservation groups that are concerned about fish and habitat, but what do i know.

 

[scott craven]

hard for me to believe you don't have any conservation groups that are concerned about fish and habitat, but what do i know.

I'm sure there are some, but they would rather not see us fish either...

 

[knucklebuster11]

i would like to know how many fish do you need to make you happy.i have lived on the island most of my life and i have seen tourist come and go.the island is one of the most beautiful places on earth how about just enjoying fishing and the coast. how many fish do you really need.i dont need tourist but i know some people do well change. we all have to sometimes in ours lives and stop blaming the govrtment of the day.how many fish do you really NEED.JUST COME AND ENJOY ONE OF THE MOST GREATEST PLACE ON EARTH.if not just stay home and whine

 

[Englishman]

I'm sure there are some, but they would rather not see us fish either...

There are many conservation and habitat protection groups out there. They are not against recreation fishing per se but they are FOR conservation. You can be sure that if they were in charge they would do a far better job than DFO (not hard!! LOL).
So take a look around and add your voices. For example Georgia Strait Alliance has started a campaign/ petition against the weakening of the fisheries habitat protection laws recently announced. Why would we not support them on that issue??

http://www.georgiastrait.org/urgent-action-message-form.php?urgent=fisheries_act_cuts

Lots of posts one here about litigation - we either collectively or as individuals should take a look at Ecojustice.

 

[high tide]

Knucklebuster .......
ALL I ask for was an opportunity to take 2 - 30 pound Halli per YEAR ! 4 Good sized springs........ say 15 to 25 pounders ........ do ya think I'm asking to much ???
I have a family of 4. Most of the time I traveled with myself, brother, father, or friend. Some times the wife and 2 girls.
I used to travel to numerous places all over the Island from Winter Harbour to Pt. Renfrew.
I liked the Halibut at 2 per day and 3 possession. Spings at 2 per day 4 poss. If Coho were open hatch or wild it was a bonus.

ALL this said, now to TRY TO GET OFFSHORE for 1 halibut per day, spend HUGE bucks to get offshore then return the next day to do it all over for a 15 pounder ...... not likely.

My Ferry Costs are OVER $500 bucks alone ! Add gas, gear and equipment, accommodations, tune ups, bait ETC ETC ETC. I spend Thousands every year for my little recreation and the opportunity to have some good table fare. We all do this, it's called SUPPORTING the Economy !

THE DFO AND THIS GOVERNMENT CAN GET STUFFED ! THE SFAB has dropped the BALL ! HOW RIDICULOUS OF THEM ALL to even SUGGEST it's OK to KILL a BIG SPAWNING HALLI. PATHETIC ! The recommendation should have been 2 per day, 3 possession, barb-less hooks, no Halli greater then 60 pounds (what ever that measurement is).

WAY TO GO DFO !! WAY TO GOVERNMENT OF CANADA !! WAY TO GO SFAB !! BRING ON THE SALMON FARMS ! GIVE ALL THE HALLI TO COMMERCIAL AND F/N ........ WHO CARES ABOUT THE ECONOMY OF THE WEST COAST !

PATHETIC ! Those of us who have been fishing this coast all of our lives know **** RIGHT ! The DFO and GOVERNMENT is turning our coast into a copy of the EAST COAST CLUSTERF---!

I feel terrible for all of you trying to survive on our TOURISM ! YOUR GOING DOWN LIKE a pop can filled with LEAD !!

HT

 

[Gunsmith]

All comments point to one deception, the DFO has cut off 100' of fishing line off of our reels and they want us to spool it on as backing and have us believe 100' more than what we had before.

 

[Aces]

High Tide

Sorry that your summer and life are ruined.

People were going to keep the 60 + Halibut before this regulation. Just saying.

The under sized Halibut helps extend the season for all the people that can't go on their fishing trip before the beginning of August. It's only for this year.

I hope that you find a way to get out for some relaxing fishing anyways

 

[high tide]

FISHTOFINO ........
As stated earlier, for the LOCAL recreational fisher person these regulation does not mean much, because you can get out often.

May I remind you, your towns, local business etc are dependent on TOURISM.

As for the new Reg of one over 83Cm and one under ... ..... people will continue to KILL the life BLOOD OF THE FISHERY ........ the BIG BREEDERS, even more so then before does that make ANY SENSE at all ! Does it make sense to Kill a 100 pound fish and a 15 pounder, and not 2 - 25 pounders. PATHETIC DFO and the SFAB along with Canada's government are NOT SEEING THE FULL PICTURE !

I sympathize with those dependent on TOURISM ........... your days are numbered.

ALSO IF YOU THINK THIS REGULATION IS ONLY FOR THIS YEAR ........ give your head a shake ...... now thats funny ....... the only thing that MIGHT change it is a HUGE MOVEMENT by the Recreational sports fishing sector ........ ALL on the same Page ......... But these changes I am afraid will be set in stone until that point.

HT.

 

[Last Chance]

The big breeder argument is invalid, as the fleet that kills 85% of the halibut will take them. If it was coastwide, it would make a difference, but unfortunatly, it's a moot point as there is no point in letting a big animal go to wind up on a longline..

 

[Finished Business]

The only thing that changes about my trips to the island is, well nothing pretty goddamn nice over there!!!

Some of you island folk are a bit cooky haha but thats what makes it great. The people, the land, and of course the fish! About a half dozen trips, if not more last year to your beautiful rock for me, at anywhere from 2 to 7 days at length...I think our boat only caught limit ONCE, and that was for ROCK COD! haha maybe we chose the wrong days, maybe we've got a lot to learn, but this minor blip in the regulations wont stop me from coming over. If our fisheries are truly at risk then I plan to put as many days in between now and that risk, because its the fishing I love, not the politics!