Littering at the small or large scale is not a problem confined only in the fishing community. Wherever there is a presence of human activities, littering will happen. This is why there is a budget allocated for cleaning up venues after an outdoor concert, a festival, a parade, etc. To prevent littering at your local waterways, there are several initiatives which need to be established and carried on by a number of dedicated volunteers.
1) Improve access to fishing spots. Right now our fisheries can easily be accessed for anyone who purchases an angling licence. Take Stave River for example, access is unorganized, chaotic and messy. municipalities don't realize that people will always want to fish and by removing existing access to clean up the mess, it's simply moving the problem a little further away until that access is also closed. A better alternative for the city is to appreciate just how large the recreational fishing community and its economic impact is in the region, invest some money on improving existing access or establishing new access (washrooms, parking stalls, garbage bins, educational signages and dare I say it, fish cleaning stations). With proper access, most people will choose to behave properly and local residents also benefit. To accomplish this, there has to be a group which is willing to begin a dialogue with the city. It's not an overnight process, it'll take years to convince decision makers especially if fishing is not their pastime. Fraser Valley Salmon Society has been a driving force on requesting Chilliwack to improve access at Island 22. So far very little progress has been made but directors are working hard and confident it will happen. The same can be achieved for the Stave River, Mission Boat Launch, Nicomen Slough boat launch, etc. There just have to be a few people who are willing to step up and do the grind work.
2) Organize a river cleanup at the end of the fishing season keeps the place tidy, but also demonstrates to local residents that majority in the angling community do care. When Chilliwack River cleanups were first hosted back in 2002, a couple of dozen people showed up. Today, 12 years later, a couple hundred people show up at each cleanup. Create a movement and change the attitude, after a decade you'll see a difference. One tip when it comes to encouraging people to attend cleanups, don't discriminate and attempt to label who are possibly doing the littering (Asians, Europeans, bottom bouncers, bait fishermen, young punks, rich people...). The reality is that anyone can be litterers. This is a mess that all of us need to tackle together.
3) Phone the enforcement officers whenever the opportunity is there. At each fishery-related meetings, the same message has been emphasized from both federal and provincial enforcement staffs, violation reports are on the decline. Recreational users are eyes and ears for enforcement staffs, who rely on these reports to do their job more efficiently. Not every call will be attended. In fact, most calls will not be attended because the number of officers is simply not there to accommodate the area they need to patrol. However, once awhile officers just might be in your area when the call is made and can attend the site immediately.
4) If violators are caught and charged, the punishment should be severe enough to stop future violations. Publicizing the consequences of these charges also motivate more people to work with local enforcement and discourage other potential violators.
Complaining about these same problems on the internet achieves absolutely nothing as we have seen on this forum in the past decade, but if ideas can be spawned from these discussions and carried out by a few who are willing to lead in this community just might make a difference.
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Topic: Stave Question (Read 13108 times)