i want to make it VERY clear that I am in no way trying to be the piper or the organizer of a sport protest. At Berry's there is support of the idea and the reasons this has come to a head. I have been contacted by members of the commercial sector and have spent time on the phone today with a couple other shops in the valley.
Un officially there is to be a commercial protest, this sunday, in the lower fraser from the portmann to sandheads and in the marine approaches. I have also heard that there is a major commercial protest being organized out of cambell river area as well.
I have been inundated with calls of support and my email box is overflowing with responses to DFO's behavior and lack of control.
Being the voice of berry's fishing report ( 604 638 5899) I have become the guy everyone is calling to get the goods on this situation. I WILL NOT PRETEND TO HAVE A HANDLE ON THIS. I will only relay information as I get it.
I will tell you this,
there is general support for a tidal and non tidal recreation protest fishery,this sunday, who will organize this... well , no one person has stepped to the plate yet, I will be in Uculet sunday spankin Hali's so.....
my personal feelings on this are:
1) any person killing a sockeye by recreation methods needs only to KILL ONE to make a point of protest.
2) this person must be willing to not "hide" his catch, thus truly showing it as a protest action.
3) this person must be willing to be arrested for this action and to succumb peacefully to the authorities
declaring the fish was killed in protest.
4) anyone who declares that they are harvesting sockeye in protest and continues to kill more than
ONE fish is poaching in my opinion.
anyhow, DFO's notice today did state that though they will revisit the possibility of a recreation opening next week, that even though the run is continually being upgraded in numbers, a recreation opening is highly unlikely. The next meeting is of course after this sunday.
dangling the carrot again is all I see in DFO's message today, in hopes that folks will hold off from activism in the face of a "possible but highly unlikely" opening next week.
Whatever people decide to do this weekend... be smart, be safe, and remember if the media is out there, each one of you is a representative for the sportsfishers cause. If you kill a sockeye in protest.... please let it just be ONE.