halibut "sustainable"

[juandesooka]

I think this qualifies as good news. I find the average person lumps halibut in with all the other endangered fish, when talking about fishermen raping the ocean. This helps highlight how all the protest about halibut IS an allocation issue, not conservation.

And another happy thought...looking back at all the doom and gloom over the winter, halibut season seems to have worked out pretty well in the end...at least for me. Had some fun days catching them and have some white fish in the freezer for winter.

http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=7e8c6be4-14db-46ed-8716-d4194eec144b

Halibut fishery nears certification as 'sustainable'
Larry Pynn, Canwest News Service
Published: Saturday, September 26, 2009

B.C.'s lucrative Pacific halibut fishery is close to being certified as sustainable by the London-based Marine Stewardship Council -- a first for a commercial fishery in the province.

A report posted on the council's website states: "The determination reached by the certification body is that the Canada Pacific halibut [British Columbia] fishery should be certified in accordance with the MSC Standard."

The report cautions that the fishery must produce a plan to "understand and mitigate" risks to non-target species and commit to regular inspections by the non-profit council to ensure continued compliance.

"It's very good news," said Christina Burridge, executive director of the B.C. Seafood Alliance. "This levels the playing field with the Alaskans."

Certification is viewed as key to maintaining markets in North America and expanding markets in Europe as consumers increasingly demand fish caught sustainably. Alaska's halibut fishery became certified three years ago and has the right to sell its products with the MSC-eco label.

Formal certification is the next step in the process. That could be delayed if anyone launches an objection to the council, but Burridge said she doesn't expect that to happen.

B.C. has 435 commercial halibut fishing licences. The annual harvest from March to November is typically 4.5 million kilograms, with a landed value of $40 to $50 million. Catches are monitored at dockside as well as by video cameras on the vessels at sea.

The International Pacific Halibut Commission, representing Alaska, B.C., Washington and Oregon, conducts scientific research into halibut stocks and sets quotas for each country.

 

[fish4all]

Just a point of clarification. MSC means the "commercial" way of fishing with 100% monitoring is certified as sustainable.

 

[Governor]

JDS

(This is not intended to diss you) but I can't help but respond that you are now somehow unwittingly a part of the problem in the halibut issue with comments like this ....


... "And another happy thought...looking back at all the doom and gloom over the winter, halibut season seems to have worked out pretty well in the end</u>...at least for me. Had some fun days catching them and have some white fish in the freezer for winter."

You make a very accurate observation that this IS as many have been stating all along only about allocation! We must keep our eye on the ball though.

You and every other Canadian should be absolutely furious </u> with your government, the Fisheries Minister and DFO. As I am sure you know that in 2002 your government GAVE AWAY AS A FREE GIFT 80% of Canada's catchable pacific halibut to 435 commercial fishermen. In doing so the government has effectively trampled on you right to your historic allocation of two halibut per day with a three halibut possession limit on a season that starts on Feb 1st and ends December 31.

This year your season opened late AGAIN and was cut by 50% on the daily limit for most of the season. You can now only have two in possession. And worst of all ... money, hundreds of thousands of dollars, was given to commercial quota holders, who now hold the sport fishery at ransom, to allow you to have that restricted season. [V]

Yes, the fishing was great for me too this year. I am really very glad you had a good season for halis. I too have halibut in the freezer for the winter. There were tonnes and tonnes of halibut out there. Better fishing than many other years.

BUT, my comments on the internet will never give commercial fisherman or any government flunky trolling this site any comfort that this fight for our access rights is over! Or that I have somehow succumbed to accepting the governments terrible mistake (the Thibeau 80/20 disaster) of giving halibut, Canadians common property, to a select unworthy few. Groundfish allocation is happening as we read this site and the new ITQ fisheries for salmon imply allocation of pacific salmon is next. There are many out there that do not agree with priority access for Canadians to chinook and coho in the public fishery.

It is genuinely good news that the commercial halibut fishery is close to being given MSC certification. IPHC does a great job of managing the stock. Sustainable commercial fishing is critical to conservation. But I do note the article writer points out it is the ONLY certification so far of a commercial fishery in BC? How many will never get MSC status and thus are deemed by the world as unsustainable?

All anglers MUST relentlessly continue our fight against unfair allocation policy regardless of how good the fishing is.





God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling - Izaak Walton

 

[juandesooka]

Gov: no diss taken, I understand healthy debate.

My point was that on a micro scale (my own situation), the halibut wars had pretty much no effect this year. The season was open when I wanted to fish, I caught some fish for my fun and personal use, and if the quota had been 2 per person, it would not have affected how many times I went fishing or how many fish I brought home. When I talk about "doom and gloom", I meant the *assurances* given on this forum of mid-season closures and seriously restrictive measures, that did not come to pass this year. Much ado about nothing, for 4 or 5 months of the year here...

On a macro scale, I understand where you're coming from...all those other possible sporties who aren't fishing this year, but could have been, and if they did, would then limit my own fishing. The people most directly hurt by the quota changes this year are the charter sportsfishing boats...with customers who decide not to pay that kind of money if they can't put some serious meat in the freezer. But that's a complicated issue too...because as some here suggest, perhaps that should be considered part of commercial fishery too? Thought it is individual non-commercial anglers that are taking these fish home to eat, so perhaps not.

Anyways, no question the allocation issue remains worth fighting for. In the end, the "good news" of this article is that it offers further proof that this is purely an allocation/political/economic issue NOT a conservation issue. With Joe and Jane Public's opinion, that is a major detriment to this fight -- because I can tell you with certainty, from first hand conversations, that the average person does not understand this distinction, and sees us all as a bunch of rapists of the ocean fighting for the last scraps of a dying resource. With "sustainable" on those shrinkwrap packages in the supermarket, this distinction will hopefully become more and more obvious, and the discussion back on reasonable terms. It is not an emotional or ecological discussion, it is about economics.

 

[Governor]

JDS You get it. That's really great! Let's hope all the others on SFBC that read this get it too. Then they pass it on to all those outside our sport that need to understand the injustice that is taking place.

We can't continue let DFO create this terribly uncertainty that they did over the sport halibut fishery just before the opening of the season in 2009 without there being serious push back from us. And I mean serious. There must be consequences.





God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling - Izaak Walton

 

[IronNoggin]

quote:Originally posted by juandesooka

..."Formal certification is the next step in the process. That could be delayed if anyone launches an objection to the council, but Burridge said she doesn't expect that to happen."

Just an idle (and perhaps addled?) thought here...
What if the recreational sector posted notice of an objection - based of course on the current allocation process? Would put the ball firmly in their court to deal with the issue...

Thoughts?

Wondering, and perhaps well off base with this one...
Nog

 

[Little Hawk]

Good point Nog, but who will step-up and represent the sporties?
The SFAB won't get political (or rowdy enough) to make sufficient waves to change DFO policy. (And this is not at all intended to diss all the Governor's excellent work)

That's the problem with the rec-fishery, we are too fragmented and 'cliquey' and many of the groups which have made great contributions have certain 'political' alliances that they won't tread on.

One that could show some promise is the newly created arm of the BCWF (Resident Priority). This particular battalion is gearing-up specifically to fight such battles as this one. Might be worth looking into and (IMHO) is certainly worth donating to if you hunt or fish.

My 2-bits...

 

[Governor]

Nog: Certainly an interesting twist to post a notice of objection based on the unfair allocation policy. I do not know what criteria the MSC accept objections based on though? Worth checking and even getting a legal second opinion perhaps. If it was valid, I bet you the PHMA (commercial halibut gang) would be back at the table wanting to get the inter-sectoral allocation issue sorted like a shot out of a gun. HA!

LH: We know the SFAB is simply an advisory process where we can only present concerns and suggest change. This is no diss to me at all and I do not take it that way. I am happy to work for my fellow anglers to seek better opportunities and try to get DFO to manage fish with our interests in mind through the SFAB process. But that only goes so far and DFO has taken a tack recently where they simply do not listen or act on our advice.

Right now there are really only two practical options province-wide that can lobby for us. I know us guys/gals can organize a small hornets nest on south Vancouver Island to keep DFO honest and we must keep doing that! But the two biggies are the Sport Fishing Institute and the BC Wildlife Federation.

In my opinion, the BCWF a few years ago had all but become a hunting lobby group exclusively eventhough many members were involved in fishing. Virtually no lobbying was being done on behalf of the ocean fishery in BC. But today they are emerging again as a group who is concerned about the tin boat angler and have made some steady steps forward to get tidal fishing back on the lobbying radar for us all. This is great news! Teddy Brookman, Wayne Harling, Paul Rickard, Bryan Allen have all put a lot into seeing the BCWF mothership come around. When Otway dropped the Sport Fishing Defence Alliance a couple of years back I thought we were going to lose out big time. He did much yeomans work facing off against those who sought to take our fishing opportunities and rights away. Happily the new BCWF led Resident Priority Protection Fund is just the ticket for us tin boaters. They want to raise enough dosh to challenge the Thibeau Halibut Allocation policy in court, amongst many other things. That needs big dollars. So if you see them raising funds give generously, we need groups helping keep us on the water!

God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation than angling - Izaak Walton

 

[fisher69]

Gov;

Have you ever been on a commercial halibut boat?