So I did have a lengthy conversation with Gord Johns yesterday.
I wanted to get the firearms issue out of the way up front, and did. He noted the program was "
a disaster" and that his Party has a few things in the works that he would relay shortly.
Then onto the Salmon Allocation Policy.
Gord tried to defend what he had written, and did stick to his guns saying that some Conservatives were being "inflammatory".
I did cover a lot of the points presented here and on the SFI website and he actually agreed with some.
He stated that no-one wants to see a cessation of the recreational fleet's access, and that would be maintained regardless of how things shake out.
I then noted the comments from here regarding the Salmon Festival which did seem to give him pause.
The same for Bamfield and Ukee considerations.
Gord went on to note that he and his team assisted the Sport Fishing Institute with drafting the petition to aid in developing salmon stocks in December:
PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED
Petition to improve conservation rules for southern resident killer whales and amend associated fishing regulations
We, the undersigned residents of Canada, draw the attention of the House of Commons in Parliament Assembled to the following:
Whereas
Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKWs) move freely throughout the Salish Sea and Pacific coast, regularly crossing the Canada–United States border, an artificial boundary for marine wildlife;
Recreational fishers and coastal communities faced fishing restrictions that have not been evaluated for effectiveness or demonstrate contribution to SRKW recovery, resulting in significant socio-economic harm;
Current management measures rely on fixed spatial-temporal measures that do not adaptively respond to prey availability or highly variable SRKW forage behaviour;
SRKW presence data demonstrates that they rarely utilize areas designated for salmon fishing closures;
Alignment with Washington State’s SRKW measures would improve avoidance practices for boaters and coordinate protection across shared waters;
Therefore, We, the undersigned, Citizens and Residents of Canada call upon the Government of Canada to:
1. Direct Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Transport Canada to align SRKW vessel operation measures with those of Washington State;
2. Adopt vessel operation rules that clearly address distance, speed and underwater noise reduction;
3. Implement 400m mobile avoidance zone without exemption for all small vessels year-round, and additionally requiring recreational fishers to cease fishing when Killer Whales’ appear, and where practicable, move slowly to 1,000 m distance;
4. Establish recovery objectives and performance metrics for all SRKW proposed measures;
5. Assess all salmon stock abundance, particularly Chinook and Chum, in high-use SRKW critical habitat, and transition to adaptive management measures based on stock abundance;
6. Repeal recreational fishing closures that lack measurable objective evidence of contributing to defined recovery benefits.
.................................................................................
He also noted he was the only MP to stand up and address the soon to be extinguished Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative:
I will be taking this matter up with both Clifford Small and Mel Arnold shortly.
He noted he will soon be meeting with Minister Thompson, and stated he would be bring my (our) concerns to the table.
Gord finished off by saying that "
I can assure you that I will always stand up for the sport and recreation sector and for the continued ability of all Canadians to fish."
While the last seems out of line with what he wrote, I will reserve my judgment until after he gets back to me regarding the outcome of his meeting with the Minister.
Take this for what you will but I was somewhat encouraged that he was apparently not in ravenous support of the FN / Commercial proposals.
Cheers,
Nog
