Important Chinook Information - Feedback Required
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TipUp
Well-Known Member
"Dear DFO,
I am writing to inform you of my feedback on pending management actions regarding the 2019 Fraser River Chinook recreational fishery.
I believe that option A in the proposed management actions (i.e. zero retention of chinook salmon April to July 31st) would be detrimental to the economy of coastal BC. A variety of businesses rely on the sportfishing sector, namely the chinook fishery; charter operators, tackle shops, fishing lodges, motels, aviation companies, restaurants, and campgrounds all rely on the seasonal input of sport fishers into the local economy. I strongly suggest that option A is not pursued for the 2019 chinook fishery.
My family's contribution to the local economy, through sportfishing, is significant. I estimate that on average, we purchase the following good/services related to sportfishing:
Tackle: $1000
Fuel: $5000
Lodging: $700
Boat maintenance: $1000
These costs are just a fraction of the total economic input that sport fishers contribute to the regional economy. Not only is there a major sector of the economy directly employed by sport fishing but the spin-off effects are significant.
As a life-long resident of coastal BC, I am very concerned about the decline of Fraser River Chinook as a reflection of the health of our overall environment. I do strongly believe, however, that continually reducing fisheries is not a solution to the problem. A multi-faceted approach is needed for recovery of Fraser River Chinook including habitat enhancement, hatchery investment, and most importantly research.
Thank you for your time"
Just received a response from DFO this morning, it stated: "Thank you for your email. Please note that your feedback has been received and all emails regarding the 2019 Fraser River Chinook Conservation Measures will be reviewed and considered by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans."
I hope this is a genuine response (sure doesn't sound like it)
I am writing to inform you of my feedback on pending management actions regarding the 2019 Fraser River Chinook recreational fishery.
I believe that option A in the proposed management actions (i.e. zero retention of chinook salmon April to July 31st) would be detrimental to the economy of coastal BC. A variety of businesses rely on the sportfishing sector, namely the chinook fishery; charter operators, tackle shops, fishing lodges, motels, aviation companies, restaurants, and campgrounds all rely on the seasonal input of sport fishers into the local economy. I strongly suggest that option A is not pursued for the 2019 chinook fishery.
My family's contribution to the local economy, through sportfishing, is significant. I estimate that on average, we purchase the following good/services related to sportfishing:
Tackle: $1000
Fuel: $5000
Lodging: $700
Boat maintenance: $1000
These costs are just a fraction of the total economic input that sport fishers contribute to the regional economy. Not only is there a major sector of the economy directly employed by sport fishing but the spin-off effects are significant.
As a life-long resident of coastal BC, I am very concerned about the decline of Fraser River Chinook as a reflection of the health of our overall environment. I do strongly believe, however, that continually reducing fisheries is not a solution to the problem. A multi-faceted approach is needed for recovery of Fraser River Chinook including habitat enhancement, hatchery investment, and most importantly research.
Thank you for your time"
Just received a response from DFO this morning, it stated: "Thank you for your email. Please note that your feedback has been received and all emails regarding the 2019 Fraser River Chinook Conservation Measures will be reviewed and considered by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans."
I hope this is a genuine response (sure doesn't sound like it)
spring fever
Well-Known Member
That's the same response I got.!! Is it possible they didn't read them?? Surely not!! Next you'll try to tell me it is an automated response!! Next I'll get an autographed selfie from Boy Blunder extolling the value of transparent dealings in GOV'T and offering Reconciliation if the fishing all goes bad. LOL Wait--that's not really laughable!!
The DFO person or people in charge of the 2019 Fraser Chinook Conservation Measures will have a mailbox set up and yes you will receive an automated response. That same DFO person then has a clerk that works for them that will have instructions to read the emails for certain content. If that clerk finds the content then the DFO person or persons will read it. So yes every email sent to DFO is read.
casper5280
Crew Member
Received the same horseshit response. This is the same response I get everytime I write. I sometimes wonder why I even bother, At least I know I did my part.
Cuba Libre
Well-Known Member
Never got a response to my salmon regs letter or to my shellfish letter. And I did ask for a reply.
This is why I posted, you will get the same response everytime because of the way the DFO person has the email box set up. The clerk is supposed to scan then forward the email to person in charge. The letters and emails are supposed to all get read so don't feel like you wasted your time its just the way the system works.
Letters and emails are treated exactly the same by DFO. If you ask for a response the DFO employee is not under any obligation to respond same as DFO is not under any legal obligation. Your letters are going to a clerk or lower level employee and likely never seen by the person you really want. Only once a certain number complain to the clerks boss or the next boss like a director in DFO will the letter get read and possibly responded to. Its a tedious process to get your letter to the correct person by climbing the ladder and here is the site to find names https://www.canada.ca/en/shared-ser...government-electronic-directory-services.html
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
I personally email all the members of the standing committee of fisheries and oceans, Make it a formal letter , and always include my full name with my return address. Everything political I send I also always include my local MP on it as well. I will add tho that some time its taken up to 6 or more months to get a response.
I have been very successful getting responses this way.
http://www.ourcommons.ca/Committees/en/FOPO/StudyActivity?studyActivityId=10380159
I have been very successful getting responses this way.
http://www.ourcommons.ca/Committees/en/FOPO/StudyActivity?studyActivityId=10380159
Peahead
Well-Known Member
My apologies if members here have seen too many "how to write your letter" suggestions but Tourism BC came out with theirs I don't think I have seen it on here. They emphasize to not be lured into choosing either option which is exactly how I have felt about this. They also ask to send a separate copy of the letter to SFI.
Here is their suggestions which mostly matches others.....
If you are interested in sport fishing on the BC Coast or Vancouver Island, by now you’ve likely heard that DFO has given a deadline of March 1st , 2019 to respond in the form of a personal letter to their Feb 5th, 2019 document of Management Efforts for the Upcoming Season. One of these actions includes the closure of Chinook sport fishing (Option A) for the 2019 season (see PG 7 of this document). Have you written your letter yet?
When it comes to writing a letter, some people may not be sure of what to say. And while it would be easy to sign a ‘template’ letter or a petition, those are often not even acknowledged. If you cruise social media, there’s no shortage of opinion about the DFO and management practices, but when it comes to the important actions the sports fishing community can do, it’s fair to say that we are not the most organized group. Perhaps that’s why propositions are quickly passed—there’s little resistance in an effective manner. (Do you recall the closure in Port Renfrew/Sooke)? The DFO has asked for letters. If you haven’t written one yet, do you know what yours will, or even should say?
This is where the Sport Fishing Institute (SFI) has come in handy for leadership. In a recent email thread between some of the leaders of the sport fishing industry on Vancouver Island, the SFI made these following observations and specific recommendations of how to write the letter.
Over the weekend, a tidal wave of letters has been hitting the inboxes of the regional salmon manager and the DFO team, and it is making a difference. [We] believe we need to keep those letters coming until we have confirmation that Option A is off the table, and that some form of reasonable expectation and opportunity for Chinook will be provided to anglers and the businesses and communities that depend on them.
What has made this feedback campaign very powerful is that it’s organic in nature. There has been no major push or organization provided by any one group, it has been an effort that has come directly from those citizens who have a stake in the fishery, and whose towns and communities depend on it. The DFO Salmon coordinator said as much as the SFAB meeting over the weekend noting that he and the team had received “hundreds and possibly thousands of letters,” and that “none of them appear to be form letters”.
Based on the shift we are seeing in DFO’s approach to the options as a result of this powerful effort, we need to stick with the organic nature of the letter writing and avoid providing templates or form letter to people as they carry much less weight. In order to do this, here’s what people who are going write letters should consider:
- Start out describing your connection and history with the fishery. Are you a business? Local angler? Is fishing part of your family traditions? Do your children enjoy fishing? Do you fish for food?
- How does angling activity impact your life and the life of your family?
- If you are a business, how many people do you employ? How long have you been active in the community? How dependant are you on fishing?
- What will the impact of option A be on the above? Don’t be afraid to use powerful words, but never resort to foul language.
- Don’t recommend option B. Focus on the impact of option A. By choosing option B you limit our ability to improve on it. This will be important for anglers in Juan de Fuca and Georgia Strait.
- Keep it simple and stick to what you know. Leave the fishery management details and science to others who deal with these things all the time.
- You don’t need more than one page.
- Talk to your friends and associates and get them to send letters!
Send a separate copy to the SFI – info@sportfishing.bc.ca
I sent my email last week and CCd my MP on it. I received the criptic reply from the DFO yesterday and also got confirmation from my MP’s office today.
I’m going to send a follow up email tomorrow asking for a clear answer on the followings:
- DFOs ling term plan for enhancing and rebuilding the fish habitat on the BC coast line they gave me a BS letter last year indicating that the DFO is investing $xx millions in ocean protection and habitat restoration. I’m going to ask for the specifics of those projects.
- majority of the BC hatchery chinook are unclipped. How will option B work if majority of tbe retained fish are going to be US bound? Sounds like we are off to a wild goose chase.
- DFOs plans for long term conservation of the interior fish and how is that plan (if there is any!) going to mitigate the risk of in-river netting?
Time is the election year. Time to keep these guys on their toes. We are all tired of Ottowa’s political BS.
I’m going to send a follow up email tomorrow asking for a clear answer on the followings:
- DFOs ling term plan for enhancing and rebuilding the fish habitat on the BC coast line they gave me a BS letter last year indicating that the DFO is investing $xx millions in ocean protection and habitat restoration. I’m going to ask for the specifics of those projects.
- majority of the BC hatchery chinook are unclipped. How will option B work if majority of tbe retained fish are going to be US bound? Sounds like we are off to a wild goose chase.
- DFOs plans for long term conservation of the interior fish and how is that plan (if there is any!) going to mitigate the risk of in-river netting?
Time is the election year. Time to keep these guys on their toes. We are all tired of Ottowa’s political BS.
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fish brain
Crew Member
I don't think they have an actual plan
Canada Nature Fund for Species At Risk – Program overview
Services
The Canada Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk (CNFASAR) is part of Canada’s Nature Initiative, launched in May 2018. The CNFASAR will provide $55 million over 5 years to support projects that help to recover aquatic species at risk, and is targeted towards two priority marine threats and seven freshwater priority places.
The objective of the CNFASAR is to slow the decline of aquatic species at risk and enable a leap forward in species recovery through the injection of targeted funding for recovery activities that address priority threats and places.
To accomplish this, the CNFASAR will seek to:
- Align with the broader integrated federal approach to conserving biodiversity (i.e. the Nature Legacy for Canada);
- Achieve protection, recovery actions and reporting that support the conservation and stewardship of species at risk;
- Promote strategic and lasting collaboration with and between Indigenous Peoples, stakeholders, and other interested parties;
- Leverage capacity, expertise and resources through collaboration and engagement; and
- Demonstrate outcomes that are transparent, measurable, timely, and align with the Government’s conservation policy priorities.
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/sara-lep/cnfasar-fnceap/overview/index-eng.html
In Budget 2018, the Government is making further investments to help grow a healthy and sustainable clean economy—one that creates growth and middle class jobs, and preserves Canada’s natural heritage for generations to come.
Protecting Canada’s Nature, Parks and Wild Spaces
Whether the place we call home is a city in Southern Ontario or a small community in Canada’s Far North, the beauty that is part of Canada’s natural landscape is a gift to us all. To ensure that our children and grandchildren can continue to hike in our majestic forests and swim in our beautiful lakes, rivers and streams, Canada has committed to conserving at least 17 per cent of its land and inland waters by 2020, through networks of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures. Both protected and conserved areas will ensure healthier habitats for species at risk and improve biodiversity.
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This investment will contribute $500 million from the federal government to create a new $1 billion Nature Fund in partnership with corporate, not-for-profit, provincial, territorial and other partners. In collaboration with partners, the Nature Fund will make it possible to secure private land, support provincial and territorial species protection efforts, and help build Indigenous capacity to conserve land and species, for our benefit and the benefit of future generations.
The remaining funding will:
- Increase the federal capacity to protect species at risk and put in place new recovery initiatives for priority species, areas and threats to our environment.
- Expand national wildlife areas and migratory bird sanctuaries.
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- Continue implementation of the Species at Risk Act by supporting assessment, listing, recovery planning and action planning activities.
- Establish a coordinated network of conservation areas working with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners.
Whales are vital to healthy marine ecosystems, and an important part of eco-tourism in Canada’s Pacific and Atlantic coastal regions, and in the St. Lawrence Estuary.
A complex mix of threats—such as the availability of prey, increased noise levels from passing ships and pollution in the water—are endangering many whale populations, notably the southern resident killer whale, the North Atlantic right whale and the St. Lawrence Estuary beluga.
To better protect, preserve and recover endangered whale species in Canada, the Government proposes to make available $167.4 million over five years, starting in 2018–19, to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Transport Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada. This includes funding for research to help us better understand the factors affecting the health of these whales, as well as actions that we can take now to help address threats arising from human activities.
https://www.budget.gc.ca/2018/docs/...otecting-Canadas-Nature-Parks-and-Wild-Spaces
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Filletandrelease
Well-Known Member
Does anyone know how much involvement the BC govt and BC First Nations has at this point ? Seems everything directed to the feds.
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