Sportfishing Institute of BC January 2015 Update
Posted on January 22nd 2015, by Sportfishing Institute of BC
Halibut and the Fraser River
As January comes to a close, we thought we'd update you on some of the big issues Sportfishing Institute of BC has been working on since the beginning of the New Year.
First up, January is halibut month! Well, it is when you spend a lot of time thinking about the annual meetings of the International Pacific Halibut Commission which will hold its annual meeting in Vancouver from January 26th to the 30th. Representatives from the SFAB and SFI are gearing up for the meetings which will make recommendations of biomass, allowable catch and a number of other issues important to our fishery. Of particular interest is the renewed attention focused on the 2.5 million-pound halibut bycatch in the Alaskan Pollack fishery. A recent story in a number of BC papers outlined the extent of the problem and the challenges facing the commission and the Pollack fishers. We'll report back on the meetings in our next update.
Secondly, we'd like to highlight efforts of the BC Federation of Drift Fishers to draw attention to the proposed establishment of a hazardous waste management facility on the banks of the Fraser River. The Drift Fishers relayed the following information that we commend for your review:
Please check out petition opposing the Hazardous Waste Proposal for the banks of the Fraser River. A very serious potential threat to the world's #1 salmon river. Many of your organizations have demonstrated support for the "Protect the Fraser Coalition" Please forward to your memberships & all that would have concerns about a facility of this type. We appreciate that today's world requires facilities of this type. A precautionary approach suggests they should be located as far away as possible from any watersheds.
The position of the coalition is as follows: "We are not opposed to the facility, we are opposed to the location"
Article and petition can be found on BCFDF's Facebook page.
Until next time, tight lines!
Sport Fishing Institute of BC
