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[troutbreath]

"A couple dozen people stung is all it would take."


Gives a whole new meaning to the term "baitfish"

[Gooey]

I follow an american fishing site and they have a problem right now too that is getting a lot of coverage: sealions at bonnaville dam.

One of their members was making a point about these sealions being a natural salmon predator and suggested they should not be exterminated.  He said "the only difference is that the indians most likely harvested the sealions too and ate them along with the salmon"

I see a HUGE win/win here!

Just yesterday, Ernie Crey, said  "There's a great dependence on the annual sockeye run," Mr. Crey said. "The principal dietary source of protein relied upon by these 94 communities is quickly vanishing and it's alarming that there are no alternatives at hand to replace this food source."

We have hungry indians...they have too many sealions...sounds like a match made in heaven!

[TrophyHunter]

Until the river is comletely shut down to " ALL " fishermen , including sport , FN and Comm nothing is going to change !! taking away Sporties right to fish for these salmon is going to make NO difference to the run of Sockeye, there will just be a few more fish for the FN to rape from the river and sell out of their Pickups... this whole situation makes me sick !! Shut the damn river down for two or three years, let the numbers build naturally and then re evaluate the situation, it isn't that hard to see what needs to happen, just have to take the Rose Coloured glasses off
TH

[Old Black Dog]

MP swims up stream on fisheries
RICHMOND NEWS
Jessica Kerr
Canwest News Service
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
John Cummins is concerned there are not going to be enough fish in the Fraser River for everyone, however the federal fisheries minister does not share his concern.
The Delta-Richmond East MP first voiced his concerns about salmon allocations for First Nations bands along the river last November in a letter to Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn. The letter was accompanied by a report, Review of Commercial Salmon Allocations: Impact Analysis Applying Tsawwassen Benchmark to the Fraser River Fishery, Cummins compiled.
The minister recently responded and his reaction has the veteran MP concerned. Under the treaty, which is still waiting for final approval from the House of Commons, Cummins said the Tsawwassen First Nation would be allowed more than double its current salmon allocation.
Cummins said by his calculations, if all other aboriginal claimants were given the same allocation as the TFN, it would amount to 177 per cent of the total salmon catch in the Fraser River. If that is the case, Cummins said, there would not be enough sockeye to even fulfill the First Nation allocations, let alone leave some for other commercial and recreational fishermen.
In his response, Hearn calls Cummins' analysis an overestimation and says, "Actually, the treaty process will provide certainty and predictability for all harvesters."
"It's the same old line -- there's enough fish there," said Cummins, who believes Hearn and his ministry do not understand the implications of the TFN treaty salmon allocations.
"How are you going to deny other bands?" he questioned. "There's going to be a demand for fish."
Cummins is also concerned about the whole treaty process.
"Who cut the deal? The government did not cut this deal, the negotiators did," he told the Delta Optimist last week.
He said none of the negotiators approached him, or any other elected officials, to ask their opinion or what they were hearing from their constituents. "I think that that's wrong," Cummins said.
The MP sent a letter to Hearn earlier this month, voicing his concerns about the minister's response to his analysis of the impact of the salmon allocations. In it he continued to highlight his opposition to a practice he believes will exclude other fishermen from harvesting Fraser River salmon.
"The Tsawwassen treaty and other such treaties now in negotiation segregate the fishery based on racial lines," Cummins stated in the letter to the fisheries minister.
"I know that you do not wish to be the minister responsible for setting a precedent that will exclude every Canadian except treaty signatories from access to Fraser River salmon."
© Richmond

[Fish Assassin]

I think DFO needs to seriously increase fines for buying fish, and get some surveillance going in conjunction with the RCMP and Municipal police forces to nail and close down restaurants buying fish illegally...

10,000 fine per fish purchased. Keep liquidating your assets until the fine is covered.

Something has to be done, unless it is indeed legal for people to buy fish from the natives... I think a media campaign is in order this summer... Long overdue!!

Cheers,
Nicole

There ought to be a crackdown on the Bands selling the salmon as well but I don't think DFO has the guts to do that.

[Riverman]

I find it telling that Foc does not  designate this as a fishery that needs closing due to conservation concerns.If they did that they would have to do their job and stop all forms of fishing.I find it telling that even though most people with any common sense could see this during the last few years,they  did not recognize the obvious.Quite the contrary they were too busy authorizing "test commercial sales of fish normally allocated for food,social and ceremonial purposes.The poor excuse for this blatant law breaking was fobbed of on the rest of the public as"the fish are being sold anyway so why not legitimize the practice".I am for conservation.The law protects fish that are threatened.If there is a legitimate concern,then shut it down period and stop giving in to the blackmail.Bring some respect for the law back and have it apply to everyone before the fish are gone here too. 

[Geff_t]

I think DFO needs to seriously increase fines for buying fish, and get some surveillance going in conjunction with the RCMP and Municipal police forces to nail and close down restaurants buying fish illegally...

10,000 fine per fish purchased. Keep liquidating your assets until the fine is covered.

Something has to be done, unless it is indeed legal for people to buy fish from the natives... I think a media campaign is in order this summer... Long overdue!!

Cheers,
Nicole

There ought to be a crackdown on the Bands selling the salmon as well but I don't think DFO has the guts to do that.

Well I think it would be money well spent to take out adds in the papers where they know the fish are being sold to remind the public that the sales are illegal.

[bcguy]

Just yesterday, Ernie Crey, said  "There's a great dependence on the annual sockeye run," Mr. Crey said. "The principal dietary source of protein relied upon by these 94 communities is quickly vanishing and it's alarming that there are no alternatives at hand to replace this food source."


This is such a croc of s**t, how about this, take the money you have worked for and earned (it's called a job) , like the rest of us, go to Save-on foods, go to the meat section....

[TrophyHunter]

Just yesterday, Ernie Crey, said  "There's a great dependence on the annual sockeye run," Mr. Crey said. "The principal dietary source of protein relied upon by these 94 communities is quickly vanishing and it's alarming that there are no alternatives at hand to replace this food source."


This is such a croc of s**t, how about this, take the money you have worked for and earned (it's called a job) , like the rest of us, go to Save-on foods, go to the meat section....

Amen !!

[CHUMHUNTER]

BCGUY says it all . It is not hard in this economy to get a job but wait now. As long as I can sell fish from the back of my truck and CO's turn away ,  I have a job and only need to do it a few months a year . the whole thing is sickening . Mark my words when there are no Sockeye left they will net the lakes (if they are not already)and say thats their right too and there will people who will still buy fish from them . Shut the river down for EVERYONE!!!!!

[Fish Assassin]

Shut the river down for EVERYONE!!!!!

We're all in this together. No special interest group.

[nosey]

    I'm fully behind Nicole's idea on this one, make it a $10,000 penalty not just to buy a sockeye illegally but to possess an illegal sockeye that way it would look after any poachers too, also suspend or eliminate the business license of any restaurant or store or fish packer caught possesing contraband sockeye. Advertise this in the paper at least once a week during sockeye season so everyone knows about it and the market would dry up completely.
   Also reading these forums I keep hearing of sockeye being sold out of the backs of pickup trucks, while I'm not denying that  this goes on I've never heard anyone mention that they took the license number down and reported them, really the RCMP can charge people with fish and wildlife violations too in case you can't get hold of a DFO officer. If they're openly selling out of the back of a truck you could even go over there and my smelly socks the people a little and get their names. Tell me, just how many of you that have witnessed this behavior have made an effort to report it? I'm just asking this because I live within 5 kms. of a reserve in a rural area and I haven't had anyone approach me or come to my door with fish for about 8 years now and sometimes I find it a little hard to believe when I hear these reports of brazen law breaking going on in the city.

[chris gadsden]

     I'm just asking this because I live within 5 kms. of a reserve in a rural area and I haven't had anyone approach me or come to my door with fish for about 8 years now and sometimes I find it a little hard to believe when I hear these reports of brazen law breaking going on in the city.

They don't dare do that near your area as they know you are watching.

[nosey]

   You could be right Chris, usually anyone within 5 km. of me is  fairly aware of my opinions,    how about you, have you had anyone come to your door with fish for sale like they used to in times past?
   This could be a sign that there is more of a trend of sales to commercial buyers, even more reason to shut down businesses that buy illegal fish.
    Someone once said that the definition of insanity is to keep doing things the same way over and over and expecting to get different results, well ever since I was a kid in the 50's the DFO has been charging First Nations peoples with catching fish illegally and selling fish illegally and instead of it achieving the results they have desired it has resulted in long lost court battles and the FN's taking more fish, yet I still see people on this forum screaming for more charges to be laid.
   It's time we took a different approach to this matter, go after the buyers, increase the penalties charge the people that are creating the markets, like I said before make possesion of illegally caught fish the crime  so unethical people fishing with sporting gear wouldn't be exempt either.
  Hope to see you in the middle of June in some tight fishing spot where we can't escape each others opinions Chris.

[typhoon]

It's not all that different than the lower east side. Target the johns vs the hookers.