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[buck]

One only has to look at the Albion test fishery catch for chinook to see there is a conservation concern for the early/mid timing fish. However, DFO has again opened the river to both
set and drift nets. When will the light bulb go on?

[alwaysfishn]

It's a food fishery for the natives.

[Dave]

Good points Buck.
What’s important here is how many nets are in the river, and how many fish are actually being caught.  It’s freshet; lots of debris, hard on nets and not a lot of fish (as you state) to be had.  My guess is there is not a lot of fishing right now but DFO has a mandate to authorize FSC openings; that’s the law.
Because of severe conservation concerns up river FN bands, specifically the Nicola Tribal Council, has asked local FN to curtail fishing for early timed Chinook.
Hope they are.

[kingpin]

they have been netting since early april from what ive seen, and they were doing well before the water came up huge,  i counted a dozen springs in one drift they pulled up

[buck]

  Can you say East Coast cod fishery. Conservation should be the number one consideration for these stocks but once again pressure from the user groups pays off. Once gone then the blame game will start. Sockeye, Chum and Coho are also on the hit list. Dave I hope your right about FN curtailing fishing for Chinook but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[roeman]

DFO has a mandate to authorize FSC openings; that’s the law.

Time to change the law and FN to get real jobs.

[Dave]

Tell us roeman, how do we change the constitutional right of FN to fish for Food, Social or Ceremonial purposes?  I agree these openings can be and often are an abused fishery with little documentation as to actual numbers landed, but how does DFO, in light of recent budget cuts and in spite of big time consultation with all stakeholders, resolve this issue? 
IMO, it has to come from the fishers themselves and from what I have seen they are really trying to educate lower Fraser fishers on the plight of early run chinook.   Unfortunately salmon have a monetary value so there will always be people trying to make a buck from a diminishing resource. 

[troutbreath]

An old Sto:lo adage,

When the truck looks old
the nets come out

or

A bucket of KFC is worth getting the nets out


Kidding of course, hopefully they catch on to conservation as a way of helping out the runs.

[shuswapsteve]

Time to change the law and FN to get real jobs.

I agree with Dave.  If you are familiar with court cases like Sparrow and a few others you will realize that it is not a simple task to change the "law" - especially when certain rights are upheld in the constitution.  First Nations have inherent constitutional rights to salmon for food, social and ceremonial purposes.  I have no doubt that there can be abuse by band members along the Fraser River, but there are also many more band members that are conservation minded.  Part of the problem lies in the treaty process.  With no treaties enforcement is getting more difficult for those C&P officers (Fisheries Officers) on the ground.  Like it or not, the Government of Canada (not DFO) and the Province of BC needs to sit at the table with First Nations to hammer out treaties.  It's a hot potatoe that the courts do not want to handle.  Until this is done I feel that any abuse will be much harder to control or enforce.

[blueback]

I was listening to CKNW on my way home today and caught a piece where John McComb was speaking with writer Mark Hume as he was covering an investigation DFO was doing on the illegal sockeye trade where they busted a state of the art, industrial flash freezer operation with over 300K socks inside, all vacuum packed and ready for sale operated by an FN guy who said he had 20 FN netters working to supply him with socks. Hume said that at proceedings (I only caught a portion of the interview) investigators said that after the discovery of the (potentially illegal) salmon, DFO said that the investigation had run out of funding to continue and so was curtailed without any charges being laid. Hume said that the disappointing curtailment of funding exposed DFO's position on trying any case like this and that the government wants nothing to do with trying to prosecute FN's.  Anyone else hear this interview? 

[Easywater]

Read it all here: http://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=26872.0

[Riverman]

It is not the "law".The supreme court has mandated that conservation comes before all other concerns.It is IMO that we have no politicians who will put fish ahead of politics.
But is great to see all the GREEN initiatives these guys get behind.