I agree with Fishtofino when he says "the survival of the salmon trump the investment that we all have in our boats/ gear and the pastime we all love". That's why all this talk about persuading DFO that limits and closures should be avoided because of all the jobs created by the investments in sport and even commercial fishing is wrong. That type of thinking means that we keep exploiting the fish because the economic benefits are more important than the fish. But it is contradictory and self defeating because once the fish are gone "forever", so are all the economic benefits, "forever". And there is so much more to the fish than their economic value as a commodity. So it's a question of whether we care about the meaning of the fish (economically, socially, as a community value etc.) enough that we are willing to sacrifice our enjoyment of them now for the chance that future generations may do so.
Once the salmon reach the point where they are truly at risk of disappearing forever - and I think that is closer that we all think - then the conservation principle will trump everyone's claim to any salmon, and that includes Indigenous claims, which are limited where conservation is necessary.
Like I said in another thread, self-examination by everyone of how we live is necessary, or the salmon (and other species) are doomed. Combustion engines, pollution, global warming are things we don't want to confront and DFO can't ever fix. Only we can. But instead, we want the "wealth" of modern existence but at the same time touch nature's bounty. We now know that big houses, big motor vehicles and rampant consumerism come at a staggering environmental cost. But people just keep wanting more and bigger. Unless we can find ways of living with less stuff, or figure out how to make the stuff without killing the environment, the environment will lose.
Hard choices will need to be made. Think hard about this when you want a bigger truck, another car, a bigger house, more stuff. Even if all of us went with a bit less, it would help. But if we keep going the way we are, the salmon and other species are gone, sadly.
This is what needs to be confronted. So difficult, but utterly necessary. The rest of what's going on is just fighting over who gets the last salmon.
