Upset about the Chinook Closures? What to do next?
- Thread starter cohochinook
- Start date
cohochinook
Well-Known Member
Rob Alcock of SFI speaks his mind on disappointment in Jonathan Wilkinson as our Fisheries Minister:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10155999443157307&id=733402306
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10155999443157307&id=733402306
Can't believe this guide blaming global warming for the decline in Fraser Chinook. He's playing right into the NGO's mantra. We are shooting ourselves in the foot. https://vancouversun.com/news/local...des-fear-for-livelihoods-amid-fishery-closure
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
Thanks for this but I don't think she has a clue about the issues still. The issues is not habitat and restoration on North Vancouver island or hatcheries on Vancouver island. The issue is 1000km away and 100km up the Fraser River and the politics that resulted in the North Island getting closed. The message from her should be the north island fishery takes almost no fraser river stocks of concern WTF are we closed. Instead she is almost repeted the
ENGO line Habitat everywhere is falling we must do something.
“So far, we’ve heard clearly from multiple sectors that the concerns are around habitat restoration, and that has been underfunded for more than 15 years,” said Blaney. “There’s a great desire to see more resources given to habitat restoration.”
“What I want to see is a strong, bold plan that this government is going to put together to support the people, however they are impacted in this area,” said Blaney. “I want to make sure we receive funding to do things like building up our small, local hatcheries, making sure we have restoration in our creeks, streams and rivers, so we don’t have to face this in the long term.”
North Island-Powell River MP prepares report on state of chinook fishery
https://www.prpeak.com/news/north-i...report-on-state-of-chinook-fishery-1.23816387
saltcod
Active Member
I should point out that the habitat that Rachel Blaney and I talked about is in the Thompson-Nicola region, where there has been accelerated harvest of pine beetle wood resulting in less shady area retaining snow pack, agricultural water extraction, sedimentation due to wildfire ash, faster run-off from the decreased ground cover. Low flows during the summer and fall, warmer water temperatures because of that. I did not talk about Vancouver Island other than to mention that most Chinook populations that are enhanced are producing a fair number of un-marked hatchery fish, and we need to start marking them asap. If we don't move to a mark selective fishery on Chinook, we may be looking at multiple years of non-retention until the upper Fraser fish have made it to the river.
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
Those are not the reason why the north island fishery is closed tho, There is no good reason why it should be closed. The Jonson strait fishery is closed over a stock that is not even caught in the Johnston Straight early upper Fraser Chinook.
Why close a fishery that has no impact on that stock? Its political, its optics for First Nations on the Fraser River. NBC and JS sport .05% and .30%.
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Do these totals reflect the unmonitored in river net fisheries that end up in the Black Market?
saltcod
Active Member
No argument here, it was a backroom deal for sure. But.. habitat degradation in the Thompson -Nicola has contributed to the poor returns, and unless something is done about it, this will never change. I know the Johnstone/Georgia Strait fisheries have an extremely low encounter rate. .7%. We got screwed because of politics, not for the impact we're having on the stocks of concern.
saltcod
Active Member
Probably not. The elephant in the room.
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
DFO has an internal estimate but they are not publicly shared or in any results. The Bio's apparently take it into consideration but its not included in any reports made public.
Has it? or are the spawners just getting caught in nets in river?
There is no such thing as not making it public unless it falls under cabinet privilege, privacy laws or other protective legislation, but that kind of data should not fall under any and assuming it exist one would think it would be subject to a Freedom of Information Request even if for political reasons they would like to keep it internal.
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
Then go get it, make the request, First Nations make Freedom of information requisitions to DFO all the time
cohochinook
Well-Known Member
Great letter on the closure in the Pique newspaper:
https://m.piquenewsmagazine.com/whi...or-for-the-week-of-may-9/Content?oid=13827008
https://m.piquenewsmagazine.com/whi...or-for-the-week-of-may-9/Content?oid=13827008
Your the one who raised the issue about its existence, if you want it request it yourself.
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
Why do I need it? I mentioned the numbers are out there and known,
Never said I need it
If the money laundering in B.C. is any example its a lot higher than they are estimating. Only way to stop it is to have DFO monitors on all in river net fisheries.
saltcod
Active Member
Except that there are no bodies to enforce that. 140 extra enforcement officers on the Fraser this spring and summer? Not a chance. political ********. I'm friends with one of the local DFO enforcement officers here in Campbell River. He says, 140 extra officers? There are not that many extra officers in all of Canada!
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
Can’t remember what year But one year in the early 2000, they estimated that over million Fraser sockeye were taken illegaly.
Even at a 1 to 10 ratio, that would be 100k chinook
Annually DFO pulls 200-300 illegal gillnets from the Fraser. Mostly from the Fraser canyon where you can use a ten foot gillnet to
Catch everything. Some corners in the canyon the stocks all migrate within 10 feet from shore. This is where they more traditionally had dip net or gaff fishery.
They sink the floats on the nets and paint them black so most illegal fishing you won’t even see unless you know what to look for usually all u can see is a poll or a tree with some rope off it going under the water.
Then there is years where some bands don’t negotiate in season with DFO and go out in fish for what ever they please. Protest fish or what ever
This usually results in other bands going to do it or someone getting pushed in the river.
The only way to really stop it is to convict individuals but these guys are like crack heads illegal fishing is all they know. Not to mention crown prosecutor don’t even want to press charges.
Some bands on the Fraser are way worse then others. Some bands are not even an issue at all.
Even at a 1 to 10 ratio, that would be 100k chinook
Annually DFO pulls 200-300 illegal gillnets from the Fraser. Mostly from the Fraser canyon where you can use a ten foot gillnet to
Catch everything. Some corners in the canyon the stocks all migrate within 10 feet from shore. This is where they more traditionally had dip net or gaff fishery.
They sink the floats on the nets and paint them black so most illegal fishing you won’t even see unless you know what to look for usually all u can see is a poll or a tree with some rope off it going under the water.
Then there is years where some bands don’t negotiate in season with DFO and go out in fish for what ever they please. Protest fish or what ever
This usually results in other bands going to do it or someone getting pushed in the river.
The only way to really stop it is to convict individuals but these guys are like crack heads illegal fishing is all they know. Not to mention crown prosecutor don’t even want to press charges.
Some bands on the Fraser are way worse then others. Some bands are not even an issue at all.
