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Yes!

5 (50%)

No.

5 (50%)

Total Members Voted: 9

Voting closed: October 18, 2010, 12:44:28 AM

[Rodney]

Many of you have enjoyed the Fraser River sockeye salmon fishery this past summer. During the six week opening, thousands anglers travel to the river between Mission and Hope each day so they could enjoy bringing home some of the finest tasting salmon in the world.

While this has been a fantastic year, the high usage has unfortunately resulted in some unwanted aftermaths. Because a small percentage of users, littering has been a big problem. Now that we have left the Fraser to its peaceful state, garbage like fishing line, containers, plastic bags, disposal coffee cups still remain on many popular bars.

To demonstrate that the Fraser River recreational fishery can be conducted without leaving a big mess behind, a group of anglers has taken the leadership by putting together a clean-up on Saturday October 16th.

Volunteers will meet at Westend Auto Body on Airport Road in Chilliwack between 7:30am and 9:00am. Coffee and donuts will be provided for you before heading out. The plan is to head out in groups to different assigned bars and spend several hours collecting all the garbage. Some boats will head out to boat-access bars.

Many forum members enjoyed this fishery. This is an opportunity for everyone to come out and demonstrate that it can be done responsibly. Littering will eventually lead to access closures, which is not beneficial for anyone.

If you are attending this clean-up, please post a reply because Chris would like to know the number of people who are coming out. If you have a boat and would like to bring it to help out, then please mention that too.

This thread is not an open season for discussing flossing, but rather a positive initiative that you should be interested in if you want to keep doing what you enjoy. Any post not related to the logistics of this event will be removed.

Reply if you are attending please.

PS. I am not the organizer of this, I'm simply posting it for Chris so any question that you have should direct to him.

[Rodney]

bump

[strobes]

Both my parents are wanting to help as well.

[chris gadsden]

Both my parents are wanting to help as well.

Very good, see you there.

Aftermath of massive sockeye fishery requires cleanup

Jennifer Feinberg
The Progress

The biggest sockeye run in ages has left behind a discouraging mess of discarded fishing line and assorted trash on local gravel bars and accessible areas on the Fraser River.
A group of concerned local anglers is reaching out to volunteers and river stewards to help them do something about it.
They've organized a special garbage cleanup on Oct. 16 — but this time on the Fraser River — only a couple of weeks after the annual World Rivers' Day cleanup on the Chilliwack-Vedder River system.
From a central meeting point, volunteers will fan out to clean different sections of the river.
"We felt we had to take the lead on this. Let's hope we can return the Fraser River to what it was before," says Chris Gadsden, a local angler and one of the event organizers. "It was good the fishermen spent their dollars shopping at local businesses, but at the same time we wish they had taken their garbage, discarded line out of the area with them."
Peg Leg and Gill Road bars were particularly garbage-laden after six weeks of a rare sockeye salmon fishery this summer.
Fellow angler Nick Basok said the garbage problem stems from a lack of ethics and awareness.
Many who showed up in Chilliwack, with a desire to fill their freezers with sockeye were inexperienced and possibly unaware of the negative impacts of trash on fish habitat.
"The places that had vehicle access were the worst by far."
Anyone willing to help is urged to show up at the West End Auto Body shop at 45825 Airport Road between 7:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Oct. 16 for coffee and staging of volunteers.

______________________________________

[chris gadsden]

Photo and the article now on the Chilliwack Progress web page.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/theprogress/news/104875109.html

[Preliator]

How often do these clean-ups happen, and are they on most flows? I'd be nice to participate in something a little more local to me.

[chris gadsden]

How often do these clean-ups happen, and are they on most flows? I'd be nice to participate in something a little more local to me.

3 times a year on the Chilliwack Vedder, www.cleanrivers.ca.

The Fraser River has had one the last few years put on by Woodtone at Peg.

This one on the Fraser for Oct. 16 was put together in a hurry to deal with the mess left by the thousands that came to take sockeye.

There has been some on the Coquitlam that I know of, Rodney will know of others.

[chris gadsden]

George Shaw of Tim Hortons Chilliwack has been enough to donate 100 travel mugs to those that take part. That gives you a free cup of coffee on your first visit to Tims. the City of Chilliwack has given us the garbage bags along with free tipping charges at the landfill, the CVRCS has loaned us the pickup sticks and Bill from this forum is bringing his dump truck to haul the garbage. Thanks Bill. Lets hope for good weather and a good turnout to put something back into the resource once again.

I did a news spot with 89.5 The Hawk yesterday and now CBC's On The Coast wants to do one too this afternoon.

I guess it does not hurt to get the mesage out there with the media.

[WildRod]

Is there ever a clean up planned for the Stave?  Was out on Monday and had 4 snags along the shoreline.  At the end of the day I spent a few minutes and within about 20 paces and had a large handfull of line.   

[chris gadsden]

Is there ever a clean up planned for the Stave?  Was out on Monday and had 4 snags along the shoreline.  At the end of the day I spent a few minutes and within about 20 paces and had a large handfull of line.   

Would be good for someone in the Stave area to organize one at the end of the current fishing activity.

Here is the result of our cleanup on the Fraser.



http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/theprogress/news/105265803.html