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[GENERAL-SHERMAN]

keepers of the land more like reapers of the land.  

[BwiBwi]

Drift netis it's less of a problem releasing non-targeted fish. But setnets, is totally different.  Especailly left over a long time.  Fish would have sufficated and died.

[Geff_t]

Nice too see the Katzie band will find another food source other then sockeye.

Katzie to respect fish ban, says chief
Danna Johnson, The Times; With files from The Province
Published: Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Katzie First Nation Chief Diane Bailey is not interested in having the last of the Fraser River's sockeye.

While the Cheam First Nation conducted a protest fishery between Mission and Hope over the weekend, Bailey said the boats of her band members remained idle, and all members were instructed to respect the ban.

About 6.3 million sockeye were expected to return to the Fraser this year, and so far only 1.6 million have shown up. As a result of the devastating return, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans banned natives from fishing sockeye and Chinook in the lower Fraser, but permitted recreational sports fishermen on the water until midnight Sunday. Sports fishermen are also banned from reeling in sockeye, but according to Ernie Crey, a senior advisor to the Sto:lo Tribal council which represents several bands along the Fraser, those sports fishermen are illegally "catching and killing sockeye."

It really is bad news," he said. "Most of the aboriginal communities along the Fraser are small and impoverished and they really depend on sockeye to maintain themselves through the winter."

While Bailey admits salmon is a staple for many of her band members, they can make do without if it means preserving the sockeye run for future generations.

"A lot of people think we as natives live on fish. We don't," she told The TIMES.

"It is a high part of our diet, and commercial-wise, it has been the livelihood of this band," she said, but those times are long gone.

Several years back when the runs were strong, Bailey said there were more than double the number of fishing boats attached to the Katzie wharf, both in Pitt Meadows and on Barnston Island, has shrunk by half.

"I've got four sons, and thank God that's not all they depend on," Bailey said, though she added fishing is difficult to give up. Her father was a fisherman, she said: "It's something that's in you."

But no matter how much they may want to be out on the water, Bailey said she has told her members of the ban and they are respecting it.

"There is no fishing. I can't see going out there and killing off what little there is coming back."

[Fish Assassin]

"There is no fishing. I can't see going out there and killing off what little there is coming back."

Glad to see other First Nations realize the predicament that all user groups are in.

[fishonsteelheader]

I am so sick of this crap every year the natives say that it is there wright to fish for food!!   but then they sell them 
They are all about there rights but what about are rights you think the government cares about us NO the natives take and take and never think about conservation if they keep going like this they will run out of fish and then what we will have to give them more money    Its time the government got some balls and said if you want to live in this country then pay taxes and follow the laws and live like the rest of us. don't get me wrong I know that not all natives are like this but come on enough is enough

[chris gadsden]

The SDA is meeting in a few days as they continue to work for a level playing field.

With the currant situation the hope is to attract more directors, help and financial support.
Some of us old directors are getting tired and would like to have more time to get away and fish instead of attending meetings, holding fundraisers etc.. It not only takes a fair amount from ones pocket book attending meeting, going to and preparing for events like the Abbotsford Sportsman show and other SDA duties. Of course lots of people do the same for their clubs but a lot of people do not and sit behind a computer and complain what should be done. Now is the time to help out in one way or another

The SDA's lawyer will be giving an update on the current court cases and those that lie ahead. Of course the current closure on the Fraser will be on the agenda.

I can not attend this one so I will not be able to report first hand to you on the out come as I have some other meetings I have to attend that are happening at the same and that  I was committed to before this one was called.

[Griz]

Well it looks like in D.F.O.' great wisdom they have given the natives another opening this weekto catch sockeye. So instead of making sure the bump of fish that have come in makes it to thier spawning ground's they letting the natives catch them. I hope D.F.O.'s  fish manegment dept has made the right desicon on this one by letting this run be caught..

[Nicole]

I got a report of someone close to me being offered sockeye for sale over the last two days...

Ceremonially stupid.
Nicole

[Geff_t]

hey Nicole did they report it. If not did they get info so that they can.

[glx]

Just a question, didnt some of the native bands in the last few years negoiate with the government to be able to sell their catch?  I thought I heard something but do not know for sure.  Thanks

[Nicole]

hey Nicole did they report it. If not did they get info so that they can.

Yep they did... Cheam band... SUPRISE!!

Cheers,
Nicole

[glx]

Thanks

[Geff_t]

hey Nicole did they report it. If not did they get info so that they can.

Yep they did... Cheam band... SUPRISE!!

Cheers,
Nicole

Tell them great job on the reporting Nicole.

[Geff_t]

This is from my local paper and it shows that it is not just the cheam band that defied the fishing ban. This article shows which bands got ticketed.

Illegal fishery nets charges

By Jeff Nagel
Black Press

Aug 22 2007


Aboriginal fishermen from three different bands now face charges of illegally fishing after heading out on the Fraser River to catch sockeye salmon over the weekend in contravention of a fishing ban.

Protest fisheries were conducted by the Musqueam, Chehalis and Cheam bands that stretch from Vancouver to Chilliwack. Charges were laid against about 35 native harvesters, mostly Musqueam members, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

DFO acting area director Mel Kotyk said the bands took only a token number of sockeye and seemed mainly intent on triggering charges to push the issue before the courts.

“They have a message they’re trying to deliver,” he said. “If they decide to go out and do more protest fisheries we’ll continue on with our enforcement action.”

Aboriginal leaders on the lower Fraser are angry sports anglers were permitted to keep fishing for chinook salmon – and potentially hooking sockeye as well – until Sunday night while their people were to be sidelined.

“We’re out of the water and we’re looking at anglers killing sockeye,” Sto:lo fishery adviser Ernie Crey said, noting that after conservation, aboriginal bands have first priority to salmon ahead of all other users.

Federal fishery officials, who announced the sports fishing shut-down late Thursday, had said a delay was needed to get out word of the angling closure.

Some aboriginal boats headed out on the river Friday evening and caught sockeye or chinook over the weekend until the sports fishing ban took effect.

Commercial fishing was ruled out this summer because just a quarter of the 6.4 million sockeye expected to return are showing up.

The angling shut-down applies between Mission and Hope but may be lifted around Labour Day after most sockeye have passed.

Native bands have already caught 100,000 Fraser sockeye in their constitutionally protected food fisheries.

DFO has determined there’s another 80,000 sockeye that can be safely caught while ensuring enough spawn, but they will be allocated to other bands upstream of Hope.

Aboriginal food fishing normally nets a million Fraser sockeye in a more typical year. Crey said some bands may go out again.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if some of the bands planned another fishery,” he said.

Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn appealed for calm on the river, while vowing DFO will take “appropriate enforcement action” if there’s more illegal fishing.

“It is very important for all groups and individuals to respect the fishery closures,” he said. “We are all troubled by low numbers of sockeye returning to the Fraser this year.”

Sports fishery pegged at $20M


Angling guides say they’re increasingly worried their industry is getting squeezed off the water by aboriginal pressure.

“We believe we’re off the river due to the demands of First Nations,” said Rod Clapton of the BC Federation of Drift Fishers.

“We’re concerned this is a precedent being established for the future.”

He was reacting to the closure of sports fishing on part of the Fraser as of Sunday night, and aboriginal protest fisheries staged over the weekend because some bands were angry anglers didn’t have to stop sooner.

Anglers were fishing for chinook, but concerns had grown that some were catching too many sockeye as well.

Clapton said any sockeye that die after being caught and released are minimal, amounting to at most five per cent. The sport fishing industry is worth more than $20 million a year on the lower Fraser, he said.

“To shut down a multi-million dollar industry and trade that off for a very, very miniscule number of sockeye doesn’t make sense. For many of our members, it’s their livelihood.”

[Rodney]

hey Nicole did they report it. If not did they get info so that they can.

Yep they did... Cheam band... SUPRISE!!

Cheers,
Nicole

See, what they should have done was, to arrange a delivery/meeting, and had the fish delivered either to an MP's residence, or to their place and have video cameras set up to film the entire exchange for the media.

Defying closures? Silly them... They should have not wasted their time for that, since the return estimates have been upgraded and they are out happily fishing today. I had the best seat in the house today while watching one guy drinking away during the net soak time, and tossing every can into the drink so there was a line of these shiny metallic floats drifting away with the tide. I thought everyone knows that one should not pee in the water that you drink?