DFO: Consultation Regarding Recovery Actions for SRKW

DFO, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Transport Canada invite you to participate in a Webinar/Teleconference to be held Thursday, April 18, 2019 from 9:30-11:30 am Pacific Time. The purpose of this Webinar is to present the proposed suite of measures for 2019.

A snapshot of Scenario A for Juan de Fuca Strait/Swiftsure Bank.
A snapshot of Scenario B for Juan de Fuca Strait/Swiftsure Bank.

Here are the details for the Webinar/Teleconference:

  • Meeting Number: 559 136 012
  • Meeting Password: MFRuX944

To join this meeting

  1. Go to https://gts-ee.webex.com/gts-ee/j.php?MTID=mb77121875ff462b810973e1059bf4ada
  2. If requested, enter your name and email address.
  3. If a password is required, enter the meeting password: MFRuX944
  4. Click “Join”.
  5. Follow the instructions that appear on your screen.

Teleconference information

Provide your phone number when you join the meeting to receive a call back. Alternatively, you can call:

  • Call-in toll-free number: 1-877-413-4792  (Canada)
  • Call-in number: 1-613-960-7516  (Canada)
  • Attendee access code: 444 668 0

For assistance

  1. Go to https://gts-ee.webex.com
  2. On the left navigation bar, click “Support”.
  3. Call 1-800-226-6338 or 613-941-9554

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This Webex service includes a feature that allows audio and any documents and other materials exchanged or viewed during the session to be recorded. By joining this session, you automatically consent to such recordings. If you do not consent to the recording, discuss your concerns with the meeting host prior to the start of the recording or do not join the session. Please note that any such recordings may be subject to discovery in the event of litigation.

South Coast SFAB Meeting, Nanaimo, March 30-31, 2019

UPDATE: Proposed amendments to the Fisheries Act in Bill C-68 as well as subsequent changes to the BC Sport Fishing Regulations (BCSFRs) are reviewed and discussed here. A worksheet for the SFACs to capture members’ ideas regarding suggested changes to the BCSFRs is provided here.

The spring South Coast Sports Fishing Advisory Board (SFAB) meeting will take place in Nanaimo, at the Vancouver Island Conference Center, Dodd Narrows Room on March 30-31, 2019. 

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Coast Bastion Hotel. This arrangement expires March 11.

We encourage members of the clubs and associations that comprise the ACS to attend on Saturday, March 30. This will help us gain recognition in support of the ACS regaining a seat on the main board of the SFAB.

The draft agenda can be viewed here. The first day’s agenda is shown below.

SFAB Meeting

Ryan Chamberland, our Area 19/20 SFAB Chairperson, invites you to attend an SFAB meeting on Monday, March 04 at 7:00 pm at the Juan De Fuca Kinsmen Fieldhouse (Building by Golf Course/Tennis Facility, same room as Made In BC Wild Salmon meeting – see the red shape tagged with a 5, below).

Topics on the agenda are:

  1. 2019 Chinook Salmon Fisheries Management.
  2. New halibut regulations for 2019.
  3. Avid Anglers Update.
  4. Southern Resident Killer Whale Update.
  5. Prawn Reductions. DFO is recommending a 50% reduction in prawn limits. The Chair will be seeking input as what the SFAB should recommend to DFO as acceptable limit changes.  
  6. Update on previous motions from Fall meetings.
  7. Thompson/Chilcotin Steelhead update.

If you would like to receive emails regarding future Area 19/20 SFAB meetings, important notices and letters, please contact Ryan via this email. 

IPHC Decisions on Halibut

The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) issued a news release that describes the detailed outcomes of their recent annual meeting.

As summarized for BC anglers in an email from Kelly Wagner of the South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition (SVIAC):

Canada’s total allowable catch is set at 6.83 Million lbs (slight decrease of 270,000 lbs from 2018)

Knowing the 2019 Total Allowable Catch for Canada, the SFAB can now turn to designing a fishery.

Once again a strong vote of thanks must be extended to our entire Canadian delegation, especially our Commissioners. We had 36 Canadian voting organizations represented at the Conference Board this year and I can confirm we are very fortunate to have the amount of knowledge, talent and expertise on our side of the table.

Wild Salmon Advisory Council Hears from Kamloops

On January 8, the provincial government appointed Wild Salmon Advisory Council held a meeting in Kamloops to receive input from interested parties from the BC interior. Our thanks to Kamloops This Week, whose report on the meeting may be read in this article.

Matt Jennings, executive director of the B.C. Fishing Resorts and Outfitters Association, said that while recreational anglers are users of the resource, they are also a passionate group of stewards. He called for drastic measures from the government to show it is committed.

“The one thing I’m looking for from this government is an immediate stoppage of logging in critical salmon habitat,” he said. “If they can show us that they’ll actually do that, I think we’ll have a chance of moving forward.”


Travis Marr, a Tk’emlups member who works for the Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation and fishes for both sustenance and sport, said he would like to see an end to “archaic discharge practices.”


“Here in Kamloops we have a sewer plant, Domtar and the city dump all within a small area, all downstream of the Thompson River, where there are juvenile-rearing salmon,” Marr said. “These archaic practices need to change. The City of Kamloops needs to smarten up and make those changes.”

Goldstream Hatchery

Earlier this year, the Globe & Mail published an article profiling the efforts of the volunteers at the Howard English Hatchery in Goldstream Provincial Park. The challenges faced at Goldstream are not uncommon to the many other volunteer-run hatcheries across BC.

…the role of hatcheries has to be just one part of salmon restoration. Management of commercial and recreational fisheries is another, significant, issue. But if DFO wants to boost Chinook stocks, B.C.’s hatcheries could use their help…

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