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[chris gadsden]

I see in the Vancouver Sun today 2 million Sockeye are missing from the 2005 run. Maybe someone will post the link.

In the article I see the new Conservative Government is going to call a judicial inquiry, good for them.

Of course it is very easy to solve part of this riddle, that is to have an independent agency to do the counting of these fish caught by all 3 user groups.

[Fish Assassin]

In the article I see the new Conservative Government is going to call a judicial inquiry, good for them.

Another judicial inquiry ? What a waste of taxpayers' money. Didn't we just had one about a year or two ago ? What's changed from the last inquiry necessitating another one ?

[chris gadsden]

In the article I see the new Conservative Government is going to call a judicial inquiry, good for them.

Another judicial inquiry ? What a waste of taxpayers' money. Didn't we just had one about a year or two ago ? What's changed from the last inquiry necessitating another one ?

No they have not had one. You are thinking of the Williams Inquiry. In a judicial they call witness' that give testimony under oath. This will mean fishery officiers will be called and they will have to give details of illegall fishing etc..

[BwiBwi]

Well it's time to dig out those video clips from past summer eh Chris? 

[Terry Bodman]

In my opinion, the Williams Inquiry was simply a political move to shut everyone up.  It was not judicial and therefore those making statements did not have to do so under oath. A complete waste of money.    A judicial inquiry will, as already stated, will allow witnesses to be called to testify under oath. Costly? You bet. Necessary? You bet. I say go for it. 

[buck]

Chris, lets hope the Conservative Government has the political will to shut down the over harvesting of sockeye that we have seen the last 3 years. Stocks can not withstand a 24/7 fishery and survive for long. Chinooks will be the next on the list of missing fish.  I was personally involved with the rebuilding of the upper Adams river stock when we crossed Adams river males with Momich river females in 1980. It took 25 years to rebuild this stock to 200k fish and it was totally wiped out in 2003 by overfishing. Oh No, it was the warm water that did it! I had a mental lapse. Maybe it was the students counting fish at Mission who didn't count right.

[chris gadsden]

Thanks for the post Buck. I am sure the SDA and other fishing groups will continue doing everything they can that things are done to prevent the total loss of these sockeye runs.

If the new Conservative Government follows through with what a number of their now sitting MP's have been talking about for years there may be some hope to save these precious fish for future generations of all user groups.

Letters have now been sent to set up meetings with MP's involved with the Fisheries and Oceans Ministry.

I had hoped someone would have posted the article that was in the Vancouver Sun on the missing sockeye but I suppose everyone has seen it by now.

[Sam Salmon]

In the article I see the new Conservative Government is going to call a judicial inquiry, good for them.

Another judicial inquiry ? What a waste of taxpayers' money. Didn't we just had one about a year or two ago ? What's changed from the last inquiry necessitating another one ?

No they have not had one. You are thinking of the Williams Inquiry. In a judicial they call witness' that give testimony under oath. This will mean fishery officers will be called and they will have to give details of illegally fishing etc..

That's exactly what happened @ the William's inquiry hearings I was at-evidenced was taken under oath.
This is just a political sop-anyone who thinks that something new will happen because of this useless expenditure of public money is fooling them self.

[Sandy]

I see in the Vancouver Sun today 2 million Sockeye are missing from the 2005 run. Maybe someone will post the link.

In the article I see the new Conservative Government is going to call a judicial inquiry, good for them.

Of course it is very easy to solve part of this riddle, that is to have an independent agency to do the counting of these fish caught by all 3 user groups.

I agree Chris, I feel DFO should be mandated to the science only and a seperate body mandated to setting policy and the the policing of those policies . this resource is far to important to be allow the Feds to transfer it's management to the provincial side given B.C.'s record for the extreme flip flops from left to right . how would they set policy, afford the science,  and police those policies? especialy in the ocean .a recipie for disaster.

[troutbreath]

Ask the cod how well protected they feel. Always makes good press to say will do an inquiry . Something needs to be done for sure and I hope it happens soon. I can't see the Provincial Liberals doing anything they like fish farms breaking rules, and laid off anyone doing conservation enforcement. I think there is a fair amount of poaching going on all up the Fraser, from what I hear of people buying $10 dollar sockeye.

[Old Black Dog]

February 18, 2006


Honourable Loyola Hearn, Minister
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E6

Dear Mr. Minister

The February 16th  article in the Vancouver Sun by Scott Simpson detailing another 2 million missing Sockeye in 2005 quotes both yourself and Prime Minister Harper as committing to a judicial inquiry into the operations of Pacific Region of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Minister it is our considered opinion that such a move would be counter productive and a foolish disposition of public funds. We say this for a number of reasons.

The first being that the expenditure of $5 or $10 million of public money on looking into a system that has been looked into to death makes no sense in the face of current plans to eliminate 34 Fishery Officers and 47 Habitat staff from this Region and continue cuts to the Salmonid Enhancement Programme.

The second reason being, this past spring a very knowledgeable and experienced body of representatives from every sector of the fishery in B.C. made 47 specific recommendations for improving operations in the Pacific Region. These recommendations were put forward following a very in-depth series of hearings and inquiries, with evidence taken under oath, in all the major centers in Southern B.C. This group, again, all representatives from the various fishing sectors, chosen by those sectors to participate in this Review, made specific recommendations for improvement. Those recommendations mirrored many of the recommendations made by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, a committee of which you were an active member. Almost none of these recommendations have been put into place. Prior to these recommendations there were those from at least three other Inquires and Reviews, virtually none of those recommendations have been put into place in any effective manner.

Our members would respectively suggest that a rational move would be to implement the recommendations currently on the books. Once this has been done, and done on a real basis and not a one time shot as has been the practice up until now, then a proper assessment could be made.

If you are bound and determined to have a Judicial Inquiry, then we strongly suggest you direct it towards the bloated bureaucracy that sits just outside your door, DFO Ottawa. This Ottawa group eats up a major portion of the total Fisheries and Oceans Budget and produces not one fish or fishery. We would also ask you to make one of the specifics of the inquiry, if you are so set on having it, to look into the rationale and decision process that came up with the current policy of no longer protecting the critical habitat our fish depend upon. We refer here to the totally irrational “Environmental Process Modernization Plan” under the Habitat section of the “Wild Salmon Policy”. We would point out that in past 30 years there have been at least 5 inquiries, reviews and Royal Commissions relating to the Pacific Region of Fisheries, but not one review of the Ottawa operation. It is a task long past due.

For the Pacific Coast however Mr. Minister we strongly recommend that you move immediately to cancel the current planned programme and staff cuts for the Pacific Region and put fully in place the recommendations of both the Williams Review and those of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.

Failure to take this action will doom our west coast fisheries to the level of those of a third world country.

Yours in conservation.

 
Bill Otway, President
Sportfishing Defence Alliance
P.O. Box 326 Merritt, B.C.
V1K 1B8

[Fish Assassin]

Bravo !

[marmot]

I imagine it all going down like some overacted film from the 40s.  "I know what we'll do , we'll call an inquiry!" followed by some stupid song, some dancing, and a bunch of smiling faces.  All waste waste waste.  Its so stupid that our own government isnt treated like a publicly owned company....3/4 of the knobs in parliament would be fired right away.

[FISHIN MAGICIAN]

What they need is learned experts to stand up, and say..just how many fish are being POACHED and shoot it straight and identify the KEY enforcement issues...guess what..conservation is easy...sports aren't the issue, and in this case, neither are the commercial.

There isn't one politician with the gonads to take on the FN groups who poached untold millions of fish over the years. I hereby challenge Stephen Harper and the new minister of fisheries and oceans to address the issue of enforcement and the rogue FN groups of the lower BC region which so boldly defy fisheries law.

The problem isn't commercial boats either. The real problem is fish "disappearing" from the river system which knowingly made it into the system. You won't see DFO release the real numbers. If mortality is indeed as high as they state, then surely the bottom of the river would be littered with huindresds of thousands of sockeye and sturgeon populations would be flourishing past historical highs..

I don't need DFO, some stupid enquiry, the papers, or some blow joe of the Sports Fishing Defense Alliance to tell me what the real issues are in the fishery. I've seen it with my own eyes in person..and anyone can see it, just open your eyes and have a look when sockeye season comes up.There was a post made by Rodney last summer during the sockeye opening, which was a photo documentary of the activities on the river. That was just the tip of the iceberg.


And don't want anyone challenge my conservationist nature as I have personally released tens of thousands of mature Coho, Tens of thousands of Springs, several hundred sockeye, and more than a few Steelhead on the ocean in the Queen Charlottes. I have persuaded guests to release several dozen springs over 50 lbs a few over 60, well over 100 over 40 lbs, and untold numbers of Tyees as a guide and angler. Personally, I've given back more than I'll ever take as a sport fisher.

What really needs to happen is some investigative journalism via 60 minutes when the offenses are going on..and PRIMETIME news coverage and a public shaming of the politicians and bureaucrats which do nothing.

Sport Fishing Defense Alliance..you lost this years' donation with that letter as you do not speak for me in that letter.

[Old Black Dog]

What they need is learned experts to stand up, and say..just how many fish are being POACHED and shoot it straight and identify the KEY enforcement issues...guess what..conservation is easy...sports aren't the issue, and in this case, neither are the commercial.

There isn't one politician with the gonads to take on the FN groups who poached untold millions of fish over the years. I hereby challenge Stephen Harper and the new minister of fisheries and oceans to address the issue of enforcement and the rogue FN groups of the lower BC region which so boldly defy fisheries law.

The problem isn't commercial boats either. The real problem is fish "disappearing" from the river system which knowingly made it into the system. You won't see DFO release the real numbers. If mortality is indeed as high as they state, then surely the bottom of the river would be littered with huindresds of thousands of sockeye and sturgeon populations would be flourishing past historical highs..

I don't need DFO, some stupid inquiry, the papers, or some blow joe of the Sports Fishing Defense Alliance to tell me what the real issues are in the fishery. I've seen it with my own eyes in person..and anyone can see it, just open your eyes and have a look when sockeye season comes up.There was a post made by Rodney last summer during the sockeye opening, which was a photo documentary of the activities on the river. That was just the tip of the iceberg.


And don't want anyone challenge my conservationist nature as I have personally released tens of thousands of mature Coho, Tens of thousands of Springs, several hundred sockeye, and more than a few Steelhead on the ocean in the Queen Charlottes. I have persuaded guests to release several dozen springs over 50 lbs a few over 60, well over 100 over 40 lbs, and untold numbers of Tyees as a guide and angler. Personally, I've given back more than I'll ever take as a sport fisher.

What really needs to happen is some investigative journalism via 60 minutes when the offenses are going on..and PRIMETIME news coverage and a public shaming of the politicians and bureaucrats which do nothing.

Sport Fishing Defense Alliance..you lost this years' donation with that letter as you do not speak for me in that letter.

Having read your rant, It makes me wonder if you actually read the letter.

The press is not going to do a piece on this as it is politically incorrect.

We all know what is going on and if you read the letter we need more people on the ground not people in Ottawa.