Recreational fishers raise alarm over proposed federal salmon allocation overhaul
Recreational anglers are worried about upcoming changes to salmon allocations on the West Coast.
A public consultation period by Fisheries and Oceans Canada wrapped on Friday.
Fifteen year fishing charter guide Andrew Turkstra is among those who submitted feedback on proposed changes to the federal government’s salmon allocation review.
He says he’s among those worried that Fisheries and Oceans Canada might allocate the majority of coho and chinook salmon populations to the commercial industry.
“That’s a concern for us because if it goes this route, what will most likely happen is that there will be hard caps for shares placed on the recreational industry, and that will create a lot of uncertainty,” said Turkstra.
Turkstra says any uncertainty about whether the fishing season will remain open would be problematic for charters, which are often being booked well in advance.
On Saturday, close to 1,400 people packed a North Cowichan rally concerned about proposed fishing changes around salmon allocation and Southern Resident Killer whale conservation.
The anglers fear measures will be implemented that haven’t been proven to benefit the unpredictable-moving killer whales.
As well, the BC Wildlife Federation says the salmon allocation policy should maintain Canadians’ right to fish and keep salmon classified as a resource owned and managed by Canadians.
“Now we’re going to start to engage MP’s and elected officials working with others to host town halls and really get the message out so that decision makers understand the importance of conservation and license angling in British Columbia,” said Jesse Zeman, executive director of the BC Wildlife Federation.
Conservative MP’s at the rally said they are listening and will advocate for the anglers.
NDP Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns says when he was given this invitation to Saturday’s rally, it already showed Conservative MPs would be speaking at it. He was previously scheduled at an NDP caucus retreat.
He says there’s a lot of fear-mongering.
“Recreation fishing is not being eliminated. Families will still be able to fish, and public access is not being abolished. What’s being debated is how Ottawa allocates a limited, declining resource in a way that actually follows the law, respects conservation, and finally implements court decisions that have long been ignored,” said Johns.
The 2009 Ahousaht decision, confirmed by the BC Court of Appeal in 2013 and 2021, found First Nations had a right to a commercial fishery. The ruling found DFO regulations favouring recreational anglers over these rights were unjustified and demanded a more equitable, “viable” commercial fishery for the Nations.
“The government of Canada needs to figure out where those fish are going to come from to accommodate that court decision, and from our perspective, that was pretty simple. You take it from the commercial fishing industry because it is a commercial fishery, and hand it to that fishery, and instead the minister chose to reopen this 1999 salmon allocation policy,” said Zeman.
Johns says changes to the salmon allocation policy are needed and the federal government has dragged its feet on making required changes.
“The courts have been clear in their rulings that indigenous rights-based commercial fisheries must be meaningfully accommodated and can’t be placed behind recreational fishing, so Ottawa has kept an outdated 1999 policy in place and failed to implement those rulings, allowing conflict and misinformation to grow instead of resolving it,” said Johns.
Johns says Canadians should be more concerned about program funding to protect salmon, which is scheduled to run out in March. Johns spoke to the issue in Parliament in December.
Turkstra says he hopes a shared solution for this vital resource is found so everyone will benefit, including future generations.
The BC Wildlife Federation is calling on anglers to write their MPs about coming salmon allocations, while an Island MP says there's no need to fear
cheknews.ca
Guess I have to have a chat with Gord once again...
Anyone else is encouraged to
gord.johns@parl.gc.ca
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