Today, Chris, Nina and I were invited by the BC Fisheries Survival Coalition to board one of the commercial boats and observe the First Nation fishery. We were observing the Musqueam and Tsawwassen First Nations. Both have a 48 hour opening from 1200 Friday to 1200 Sunday below Port Mann Bridge. It was quite a new experience, but what we witnessed were not too pleasant.
The objective today was:
- To film the nets being set and picked and count how many fish were being caught per set,
- and to observe how the fish harvested are being monitored and counted.
Armed with two video cameras, the captain took us out from Ladner. Immediately, we slowly went by a dock where several band boats were being unloaded with fish. Notice the totes that were sitting on the dock.
After observing for awhile, we proceeded to head out to the mouth of the Fraser River. Traffic was fairly heavy, with FN boats, recreational boats, whale watching boats and large tug and cargo boats constantly moving by. To make things more interesting, there were seals all over the place, floating about and waiting for a good meal. Once awhile, a large sturgeon or chinook would leap straight out, so it was never a boring moment.
Once we arrived in the area where we wanted to be, the filming and observing began. Understanding that what we we were doing could be quite intrusive, we kept our distance and zoomed right in to see the fish that were being pulled up. Four of us counted as the nets were being pulled in, "One, two, three, four..."
At first, we were only able to count some of the nets that were already partially pulled in. Most partial sets we counted were around 30 fish (sockeyes).
This was around 1pm, the tide was still going out quite strongly. Fishing was not supposed to be great. The best fishing was still to come when the tide began to rise. Because of the timing, there were not as many boats out there as we had hoped for. We decided that it was time for lunch. While eating, several boats arrived and began to set their nets. We watched closely and were ready to count when the fishermen started to pull their nets in.
While Chris was enjoying the timbits that I brought him, one of the boats was ready to pick their fish. We quickly jumped up and started the counting. Sockeyes were plentiful, there were several after each pull. By the end of the picking, we counted 63 sockeye and 2 chinook salmon.
We drifted more closely to the boat as our captain knew the crew of that boat. After a quick greeting, one of the fishermen asked what we were doing. Just before they took off, he made a comment that all of us heard, "You guys just don't give up do you? This is our fish now."
They travelled several hundred meters upstream and proceeded to set the net again.
After several counts, we slowly traveled upstream to count how many boats were out fishing. Seals were also having a feast as a trapped sockeye makes an easy meal. At one point, we witnessed one fishermen pulling out a rifle and shot at a seal.
When we drove by the boat launch near London's Landing, we saw several trucks loaded with totes waiting. This was not a designated FN fish unloading site.
Near the end of our trip, we discovered
one net that was abandoned along the shore.
Just when we thought that we had seen everything, this popped up in front of us.
I don't think I need to comment on the boat, the photo tells the story.
One thing to keep in mind is that, when you decide to purchase a fish from a road side sale stand, you do not know where that fish was caught, how it has been stored. Many boats used in this fishery are not designed to store large number of fish properly, one has to wonder how the fish are being kept fresh.
We also ran into the
PSC test fishery boat for Cottonwood. They indicated that today was the best sockeye result so far (I can't remember the number that was given, you can pull it out of the test fishery page).
Right before we returned to our dock, we went by a recreational boat launch, which is not a designated fish unloading site for the First Nation fishery.
In the picture, you can see two FN boats parked at the launch with trucks loaded with totes near the top. One recreational boat patiently waited as they wanted to pull their boat out. The FN boats had taken up all the launch space. When they saw us coming, one boat filled with several young passengers quickly drove away, while they made some interesting hand gestures at us.
Chris asked, "Is there a fish counter at site?"
All of us laughed, there wasn't one to be seen.
During the entire time while we were out (from noon until 4:30pm), DFO officers and monitors were not seen anywhere.
Today's trip provided me a new perspective on what is going on in our Fraser River fishery and made me more willing to bring the information that I gather to all of you. This so-called legal fishery, in my opinion, is poorly managed. Sometimes (ok, every night now) I ask myself, "What the heck is going on?". Why are people not appreciating the seriousness of this issue, or am I just going crazy?
These fish that are being unloaded into totes, why are they not counted at site by DFO monitors so we can have a better understanding on CPUE and escapement? Where are the designated fish unloading sites and why are fish being unloaded at all these different launches where no one would notice? During this 48 hour opening, just how many fish is DFO expecting each boat to pull out, and is there even a set quota for each boat?
So far, from the Fraser River mouth to Sawmill Creek, First Nations have had over 9,000 hours of openings. Over 2,400 of these hours are for the sockeye fishery.
If one boat fishing at the Fraser River mouth, where it is wide and deep, pulling out over 60 sockeyes in a ten minute set, then how many fish are being pulled out in total per boat in one day? How many fish are being pulled out per band? How many fish are being pulled out per opening? How many boats are fishing per band?
The First Nations catch result of Fraser River sockeye can be seen on
this page from DFO Pacific. How are these numbers gathered and just how credible are they?
Based on that data sheet, during a 30 hour opening on August 12 and 13, the Musqueam First Nation pulled out 8682 sockeye salmon. First of all, that's just
one weekend. Secondly, how do you store 8682 sockeye salmon?
8682 fish!!I must say it was exciting to see fish being pulled out of the water like sardines today. Big fish, small fish, we were eager to see what was coming out of the net next.
At the same time, it angers me to see over 30 daily recreational quotas being pulled out in ten minutes. Those 30 daily quotas could have been over 60 hours of work for some guide in the Fraser Valley.
I could also see the pain and frustration of the commercial fishermen who were being told that they can not work while they watch on the sideline.
It also scares and saddens me as we were possibly witnessing an uncontrolled fishery that may just lead to a large ecological disaster in the near future, an ecological disaster where no winner is crowned.
As mentioned before, my interest in this is not to see the elimination of the communal and ceremonial fisheries. It's not about us against them. It's about the
fish for the future can only be saved by a proper management. Until these unanswered questions are being dealt with, the sportfishing community will continue to pressure DFO for answers. Ask questions now, because there isn't a point to ask when there are no fish left.
What are you going to do about it?
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Topic: A day of observing the First Nation Fishery (Read 19339 times)