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[nosey]

  I just picked up on this article on the internet today, I thought everyone might want to have a look at it. Here's the link, looks like it might be too late to point fingers.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/hopestandard/news/14999681.html

Salmon outlook spells trouble
January 31, 2008

Being relegated to sharing the meagre salmon returns between First Nations on the Fraser River and those along the coast could mean no fishery openings at all for recreational anglers this summer, warned Sto:lo Tribal Council grand chief Doug Kelly.

That was the upshot of the meeting that brought DFO and native leaders together on Jan. 16 to discuss the Fraser salmon forecast for 2008. In response, the STC grand chief fired off a letter to the Fraser Valley Salmon Society about the situation.

“The forecasts offered by DFO are disconcerting and point to limited fishing opportunities for First Nations,” Kelly wrote.

Because of the “extremely poor” outlook for both chinook and sockeye runs, native reps will continue to meet with DFO to tackle the challenge of sharing the salmon to meet the food, social and ceremonial needs of First Nations this summer, he said.

“The majority of the 94 aboriginal communities in the Fraser watershed are small and impoverished,” Kelly underlined. “Salmon is central in both the diet and ceremonial life of these communities.”

DFO officials confirmed with native leaders that this summer’s decision-making around openings will be guided by the constitutionally protected priority access of the aboriginal fishery, he added.

“Honouring the aboriginal priority will be crucial this coming season,” Kelly said. “With this in mind, we will be advising DFO to close all recreational fisheries that target both Fraser bound sockeye and chinook in order to address the FSC needs of First Nations.”

Fraser Valley Salmon Society president Frank Kwak said his initial reaction to the

letter was, “Thanks for the heads-up.

“We understand that this is going to be a tough year, however we hope there can be some sharing agreement of some sort,” he said. “We’ll have to work that out in the days that lie ahead.”

[Jet]

Ouch!!!!!!   That doesn't sound too good.

[brood dude]

yup no fish ,and they still have to give the Indians their openings so they can sell off their catch $10 a head for a "chilliwack turkey" .

if ,and i do mean if, these people actually did eat the fish and use them for "ceremonial purposes" fine no problem. but they don't they sell them when they are not supposed to and it seems dfo does very little to do anything about it.

 between crap like this and fish farms its no wonder that the runs are in such bad shape! makes me sick!

[CHUMHUNTER]

My first post so hope that this gets through as I am beyond technologically challenged. This is not good. I know that there will be no sockeye this year but now no springs. Seems like fish always lose to these huge interest groups that do not care about them.

[Every Day]

This sucks. Not only are sockeye getting depleted drastically but now so are the springs. It seems all the salmon stocks are returning in lower numbers every year whether that has to do with loss of habitat, global warming or overfishing, but something needs to be done. Every one seems to be trying to ignore this but the government or fisheries need to get together and start putting together a plan to reverse what is happening. Personally I would like to see a rotational fishery introduced. For example on years the pinks are running close down sockeye and Springs completely and only keep chum and pinks and coho open. The next year open up Sockeye and Springs, and not chum and pinks or coho. and keep rotating it like this, or something like this every year. Even if you only close one species of fish down every year that still leaves 4 other species open for retention and allows partially for that one species to recoup for one year. There would still be hookups into the fish that are closed but maybe people would try not to target them if they are closed and there would also be no retention so hopefully more would be able to spawn if proper catch and release is done. Any other ideas out there?

[nosey]

if ,and i do mean if, these people actually did eat the fish and use them for "ceremonial purposes" fine no problem. but they don't they sell them when they are not supposed to and it seems dfo does very little to do anything about it.
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   Sad quote bd actually the salmon still do play a substantial  role in the diet and ceremonial purposes of all the bands up river, go to any native wedding and you'll be served fish go to any native funeral and fish is meat that is being served. l personally have witnessed canning bees where 10 or twelve native families were getting together and putting a weekends catch into bottles five or six large canners going people butchering, people stuffing bottles, people looking after the canners, no booze, no drugs just a bunch of elders and young people working together putting away enough fish for winter. NONE of that fish was for sale. Go up to Lytton in the summer what wtf do you think all those dry racks are for, those fish are for consumption not for sale.
    Unfortunately where ever there is room for profit there is greed, some natives sell fish, some non natives poach there is no denying it, because you probably live in the lower mainland you are close to the biggest and highest profile abusers of the current system and the fish you see in a urban enviorment are being sold illegally, but that  doesn't mean natives don't eat fish, give me a break, the fish are still as much a part of their diet and culture as can be possible and they have constitutional rights guaranteeing them them the first harvest of the fish after conservation needs are met.
    Just because some bands and some individuals abuse these rights doesn't mean you can shut the others out of the fishery, no more than you can close sport fishing and hunting because some non natives poach and  hurling out vieled racists comments on internet forums will do more to fuel the fire of dissention than solve the problems. When you talk about $10.00 "Chilliwack chickens" you are basically talking about 2 or 3 abusive high profile bands and there are still 95 other bands along the river that have a share in this resource too.

[brood dude]

you might be right nosey. i think thats great if you see all the old folk doing what they are supposed to with the fish.

i personally know of one guy who goes out in his boat does three or four sets, gets on the phone while he is on his way back to his dock and then goes on to sell hundreds of fish. this one guy is doing more harm to the runs they a bunch of guys snagging and retaining more then their limit.

this is the point that i was really getting at. one person gets 300 fish =$3000 cash no tax in one day! mighty tempting for somedon't you think? this is where dfo needs to pay a little more attention in my book.if it is like you say with 2 or 3 abusive bands how many people are we talking about 10 ? 30?

i never said that they don't eat them or any other thing about drugs or booze, you brought that to the conversation.further more i feel i made no derogatory or racist remarks. (i have friends that are Indians) i apologize if you feel that this was a blanket statement, it was not intended to be.

[Salmonsmoker]

It is very sad, to see the fish runs declining!

As an avid fisherman, with a teen who is very passionate about the sport and the conservation of our fish stalks, the future does not look too promissing.
That said, I don't think we can "Paint everyone with the same brush".  Yes, there are definitely some who abuse the rules and laws, but isn't this the case with everything in society?
I too have witnessed the selling of native caught salmon, more so from Port Alberni, but also from the Fraser River.  I agree with Nosey, most of the bands do use the fishery for it's intended purpose, but there is the greed factor that does manage to sway some people.  I know of a few families that count on this extra money, as part of their yearly income.  I am not saying that it is right, just acknowledging the occurrence.  It's a very difficult problem to solve, where there's money, there are people trying to get their share of it.  I am not sure what the answer is, but something definitely needs to be worked out.

I applaud all those who "put the time in" to help combat the issues.  It is really something that all sport fishing enthusiasts should do, but I think one of the main issues is enforcement of the regulations.  There are just not enough resources to allow the DFO or others to enforce the laws.  Using the Vedder as an example, if there were more Fisheries Officers on the river during the salmon season, would we see less abuse of the fishing regs.  IE: spend the day at the limit hole and police the way the fishermen conduct their fishing. I understand that this is impossible, but there has to be a way that we(all of us) can help alleviate the problem - aside from throwing people in the river! 

[nosey]

   I'm not denying that there are huge abuses of the Fraser River sockeye but just the fact that these fish are being called "Chilliwack Turkeys" shows where most of the problems are coming from. The fish are being legitimately used by bands all the way to the other side of Quesnel and this is the no BS a lot of those people up there are dirt poor and do genuinely need this resource, to lump all the native bands along the river into one target is doing an injustice to quite a few that don't deserve it.
   Try this if you are genuinely concerned, the next time you see someone selling a sockeye illegally report the BUYER to the dfo, it's way easier to make charges stick against a non native business or individual than it is to charge someone that has a right to have that fish in their possesion. It worked in Hope where they charged damn near every cafe in town a few years ago and all the charges resulted in conviction without hundreds of thousands of dollars in prosecution costs.
  As for the natives crimes being worse than some non native taking over his or her limit, I don't see it that way, poaching is poaching plain and simple, that's just like saying if you only murder one hooker you shouldn't get as much jail time as Willie Pickton does.