Tag «PFA»

Important Recreational Fishing Meeting: Tuesday, Feb. 27, 7 pm

Some important correspondence from Tom Davis:

Hello anglers, charter operators and angling business owners. There is an important recreational fishing meeting scheduled for Tuesday Feb 27th at the Four Points Hotel in Langford from 7-9.30 PM. It is co-sponsored by the South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition, the Public Fishery Alliance, the Fraser River Sportfishing Alliance and the BC Recreational Fishing Association.

It is an information sharing and public input Town Hall meeting to discuss the pervasive damaging regulations that have been imposed on what was once the largest ocean recreational salmon fishery in the world.

A panel of speakers has been assembled from the hardest hit regions of the south coast to discuss these issues and take questions from the audience. It is time to stop further erosion of angling opportunities.

I know that some of you are aware of this meeting as the details have been shared broadly on social media, but I wanted to extend a personal invitation to those who may not yet know about it.

If you are able to attend please do so, bring a friend and share this email with others in your fishing circles.

There will also be a 9.9 HP outboard motor door prize and a silent auction.

I suggest you arrive early to register and to avoid delays.

An information poster is attached [see above].

Tight lines,

Tom Davis

Victoria & Area Sport Fishing Advisory Committee Meeting: Wednesday, Mar 8, 2023

A Victoria & Area SFAB Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 8 at 7:00 PM at the Esquimalt Anglers Association clubhouse, 1100 Munro Street (at the foot of Lampson Street in Esquimalt). This in-person meeting is open to the public. Parking is free and the EAA clubhouse is upstairs in the building by the launch ramp in Fleming Beach Park.

If you cannot attend in-person and are interested to attend the meeting virtually, please contact Chris Bos (governor@shaw.ca) to receive the log in information.

DRAFT AGENDA TOPICS:

2022 Preliminary Southern BC Chinook and Coho Escapement Report
2023 MM and MSF and proposed new pilot opportunities – status update
2023 SRKW Proposed Measures (Active Pass, 20-1 Juan de Fuca Strait and oversized area 20-5 closures)
Halibut update – what measures for April 1^st 2023
SFAB Modernization – Terms of Reference status – update
SFAC Business (realignment – membership – who can vote – code of conduct)
Discussion – Seeking anglers help getting salmon heads turned in on hatchery fish and SRKW avoidance compliance
DFO regional update

If you have a topic that you wish added to the agenda please contact Chris Bos (governor@shaw.ca) with topic details.

This SFAB meeting is open to the public and we encourage any local anglers interested to learn more about our local fisheries and how they are managed to come out and join us.

Next Victoria & Area Sport Fishing Advisory Committee Meeting: Tuesday, Nov 8, 2022

The next Victoria & Area SFAB Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 8th from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at the Esquimalt Anglers Association clubhouse, 1100 Munro Street (at the foot of Lampson Street in Esquimalt). This in-person meeting is open to the public. Parking is free and the EAA clubhouse is upstairs in the building by the launch ramp in Fleming Beach Park.

We anticipate there will be an opportunity to join this meeting virtually through DFO’s MS Teams, but this option has not yet been confirmed. Those interested to attend this meeting online please contact Chris Bos (governor@shaw.ca) or Tom Cole (ttbc@shaw.ca) to receive the log in information if and when available.

An agenda will be distributed in the near future. If you have a topic that you wish added to the agenda please let us know.

Feel free to share this meeting notice with your angling friends and encourage them to participate.

Salmon and Politics, Again

Jeffrey Young of the David Suzuki Foundation, an environmental non-government organization, was interviewed for an article published in the July 8th edition of the National Observer.

Mr. Young presumably has a goal of finding, “…solutions to conserve and recover wildlife like Pacific salmon and orca.” Which isn’t obvious from the views he expresses on the subject, which seem to belie his statement that, “I’m motivated to work with everyone to put these solutions into place.” And if everyone doesn’t agree with Mr. Young’s analysis?

Young’s comments are misleading, suggestive and inaccurate.
Chris Bos, PFA

The Public Fishery Alliance (PFA) has responded with a rebuttal to Mr. Young’s claims, and it’s worth a read to understand how Mr. Young has framed his views on this topic, and how that contrasts to the salmon fishery reality in which the PFA has worked cooperatively with DFO for many years.

Public Fishery Alliance Video

The Public Fishery Alliance (PFA) has produced a video that tells about a five-year self funded program – the Sooke Chinook Enhancement Initiative – to put more Chinook into Juan de Fuca Strait to increase the food supply for southern resident killer whales in the summer. Some of those fish will benefit anglers and provide the opportunity for First Nations terminal fishing, plus commercial fisheries, and feed other pods of whales and marine mammals.

We all benefit by moving from Chinook shortages to Chinook abundances. If only our federal government thought this way, too.

Open Letter from PFA to the Minister of Fisheries

This open letter to Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan went out Feb. 16th in a wide distribution to media across Canada. It has been written by the Public Fishery Alliance. Please read it and also open the link which contains background information.

The SFAB Chinook proposal, which this letter supports, is a lengthy read. However the four maps on the single page provide a graphic illustration of what has happened to Georgia and Juan de Fuca Straits in terms of the opportunity to retain Chinook between April and September since 2018.

The PFA strongly recommends your department allow anglers to keep Chinook as described. Failure to do so reinforces the common view that science-based fisheries management and your mandate letter from Prime Minister Trudeau are not guiding your actions. Canadians deserve to know how your department operates and where it stands with respect to their interests, especially as a general election seems close at hand.
excerpt from PFA letter to Minister of Fisheries

Public Fishery Alliance: Call to Action

A House of Commons e-petition has been launched by a local public fisher and supported by Member of Parliament Mel Arnold. This petition requires a minimum of 500 signatures. If this minimum is reached it will be read in the House of Commons within 45 days.

Go here to sign the petition now => https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-2725

Please sign and share with others.

You may also read MP Mel Arnold’s recent statement on the BC public fishery.

What is the point of this, when the chinook fishery is upon us and will be nearly gone in 45 days? It adds to the record of the BC public’s dissatisfaction with the measures the DFO has taken in their attempts to manage BC’s chinook stocks.

Peaceful Information Rally Outside Downtown Vancouver DFO Office – July 6th, 2020, noon to 1:30 PM

Please see the PFA press release here.

The significant issues with early Fraser River Chinook salmon have been present for more than 15 years. DFO has made little, if any investment into their recovery, instead placing the ineffective burden on public fisheries. Restricting and closing public access to Chinook salmon is NOT a recovery plan. Minister Bernadette Jordan and the DFO need solutions with conviction. Current solutions have an optical presence to mislead Canadians that recovery will be attained. DFO needs to address threats to early Fraser River Chinook like habitat degradation, climate change, predators, pollution and illegal netting.

Date: Monday, July 6th
Time: 12:00pm – 1:30pm
Location: 401 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC (on the corner of Burrard and W. Hastings)

For those participating, thanks for your support. Please read the press release to be aware of and to follow the

PFA Information Rally code of conduct
BC government advice regarding COVID-19 protocols