Tag «sfab»

ACS, DFO and SFAB restructuring plans

Early in February this year, the ACS wrote a letter to DFO in which we expressed serious concerns over the restructuring of the SFAB and the reorganization of at least a few local SFA Committees. DFO responded to our concerns; you may read their response here.

Within DFO’s response is the statement, “Reorganization of the local committees is being considered as recreational fisheries on southern Vancouver Island have evolved and grown over recent decades.“

The ACS has replied to DFO’s response to point out

How the SFAB is devolving to primarily represent the secondary (commercial) sector, in contradiction to the founding Terms of Reference.
That despite the changes to the recreational fishery in recent decades, it has in no way “evolved and grown”.
The reallocation of the recreational fishery has been occurring in a largely behind-the-scenes manner, often without public consultation and generally ignoring information collected and agreed between DFO regional members and recreational fishery advocates.

This latest ACS letter may be read in entirely here.

In your reply of March 02, it is noted that “… recreational fisheries on southern Vancouver Island have evolved and grown over recent decades.” The ACS believes that this is not true. Angler effort and catch have plummeted over the past several decades. Statistics prove this out. One only has to check out local boat launch and angler boat moorage facilities to see the precipitous decline in effort around southern Vancouver Island.

The reallocation of our catch to another user group has been accomplished by the plethora of restrictions on our Chinook fishery over many years. These include, but are not limited to, reduced annual limit from 20 to 10 (without consultation), four month retention closure from April through July, reduced daily limits and maximum size restrictions and closed areas under the guise of protecting Southern Resident Killer
Whales (SRKW) whose population is stable.
letter from ACS to DFO re: SFAB restructuring plans

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.

DFO Regional Update for Regional Sport Fish Advisory Committee

The minutes of the November 8, 2022 Victoria SFA Committee meeting made reference to a DFO update for the Regional Sport Fish Advisory Committee as an information package. DFO’s Mark Frisson has kindly provided a copy of this same package, and you’re encouraged to read it here, especially if you’d like to be involved in the 2023-2024 Salmon IFMP development process.

Of no small importance is the ongoing effort to modernize the SFAB. There will be changes!

The SFAB modernization project is progressing to the final phase, completion of the new and modernized OM [operating model] design, scheduled for completion by March 31, 2023. This final phase will identify supporting process standards, a revised Terms of Reference, and definition of administrative and technology support requirements. A small team of SFAB and DFO stakeholders have been participating in workshops to complete a revised Terms of Reference (ToR) and new Species Committee Process Standards (PS) that define how each new Committee will function. This revision and development work is scheduled to be completed by December 2022. The new OM, ToR and PS will be shared at the December Main Board and at information sessions for SFAC participants in early 2023. Feedback received from the SFAB will be incorporated into the final ToR and PS. The updated ToR will require DFO approval.
DFO update for the Regional Sport Fish Advisory Committee

There’s much more in this update beyond salmon and the SFAB – please get yourself informed!

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.

Victoria and Area SFAB Committee Meeting: Tues March 15 at 7 pm

Meeting	Victoria and Area SFAB Committee Meeting
Date and Time	Tuesday March 15, 2022 at 7:00 pm
Location	Virtual Online MS Teams Meeting
Sign in details	Please contact Chris Bos for MS Teams meeting link.

Chris writes: “Our next South Coast SFAB Meeting is scheduled for late March. To ensure our local requests and passed motions are brought to the South Coast meeting, I have scheduled a committee meeting on Tuesday March 15, 2022 at 7PM (details above). Closer to the meeting an agenda will be circulated. If you have any specific topics you would like added to the agenda please send them to me for inclusion.”

PFA pleads for public fishery openings

The Public Fishery Alliance (PFA), with the full support of the ACS and several other groups of conservation-minded sport fishers, has asked the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to allow selected chinook fishery openings this year where evidence has shown little to no risk to stocks of concern.

The [SFAB salmon technical working group] proposals were assessed by DFO review to be very low risk or no risk at all to stocks of concern. They offered an important lifeline to the Public Salmon Fishery to avoid further harm, and importantly did not jeopardize the recovery of Fraser River Chinook stocks of concern, yet they have all been rejected.

…we urge that you direct your department to work together with the SFAB, particularly at the upcoming February 11th SFAB Main Board meeting, to explore ways these desperately needed openings can be approved. We particularly want to focus on the period from April 1st to May 31st this year, where there is a documented unique window of opportunity when stocks of concern are not present, while hatchery marked Chinook are prevalent in high numbers.
letter from PFA to MInister Murray

A copy of the full letter to the Minister may be read here.

Please consider writing a letter to Minister Murray from your own group or yourself as an individual Canadian.

You’re invited: Local SFAB Committee meeting Jan. 19, 7 pm

Chris Bos, Chair of the Victoria and Area Local SFAB Committee, has emailed regarding the next committee meeting.

The meeting is open to all anglers who fish the Canadian waters from Saanich Inlet through the Southern Gulf Islands and Haro Strait, off Oak Bay and Victoria and right out to Jordan River in the western Juan de Fuca Strait. The meeting is “in camera” as DFO staff will not be present.
…
It would be excellent if this meeting were well attended, as I would genuinely like to hear the feedback from many of our constituents on important fisheries issues that we face
email from Chris Bos

Meeting:	Victoria and Area Local SFAB Committee
When:	Wednesday January 19, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Where:	Online Virtual Zoom Meeting
Link – Sign In Details:	Please email Chris Bos at Chris@anglerscoalition.com to receive meeting sign in details.

The agenda for the meeting:

verify what the SFAB is and can actually do
provide a more detailed update on the SFAB modernization process
seek feedback from SFAB constituents about what they want from the SFAB process locally
discuss important species specific issues and prioritize them
develop a comprehensive Victoria Committee mailing list
discuss the need for more DNA samples from waters off of Victoria and Sooke

A Letter from Chris Bos, Local SFAB Chair

As of the election held November 9th this year, Chris Bos is the Victoria Sport Fishing Advisory Committee chair for the coming two-year term. He has written an open letter to anglers in Areas 19 and 20, the fishery management areas that our local committee represents on the Sports Fishery Advisory Board (SFAB).

Chris has also provided the draft minutes from this last local SFAB committee meeting. Worth a read for the topics discussed and motions passed, all of which may impact your future fishing opportunities.

Also worth noting for a fisherperson looking to become more involved in and learn about our fisheries management concerns and processes:

There is a vacant alternate position on our local committee that should be filled and it would be a great opportunity for a younger angler who is interested in our local fishery to take the position. Although that alternate could not vote at South Coast SFAB meetings, attending is an amazing learning experience. It is an opportunity to gain a broad perspective on BC’s Public salt water fisheries. Plus, as committee chair, I would be happy to pass on knowledge as well
Letter from Chris Bos

Finally, Chris expresses his and the local committee’s thanks to the outgoing chair Ryan Chamberland for his efforts in what proved to be a difficult two-year period for our south Vancouer Island fisheries.

A Message from Chris Bos

Chris Bos, President of the South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition, has reached out to the southern Vancouver Island recreational fishing community with regard to the upcoming local SFAC meeting and planned elections of chair and sub-chair positions:

The fall post-season Sport Fishing Advisory Board meetings are now taking place. Important to you, on Tuesday November 9^th at 7:00PM the Victoria and area Local SFAB Committee will be held as an online Microsoft TEAMS meeting
The Microsoft TEAMS meeting: Click here to join the meeting
Providing local knowledge-based advice and advancing viable proposals to DFO to save our very important Chinook fishery from any further harm will again be key. Beyond the many fisheries issues that need local grassroots input, there will be an election held to fill the positions of Committee Chair and Second Seat for our committee for the next two years. Ryan Chamberland, our current committee chairman, has shared publicly his intentions of not running as chairman again this time.
As you know, in the past I have chaired this committee for many years. I have put my name forward to stand again for the Committee Chair position. For 20 years I have been involved at most levels of the SFAB (local, regional and Main Board) as well as represented your interests on many of the species-specific sub-committees. This valuable experience is important and needed, when our fisheries are under such threat as they are today.
In the event this election requires actual votes be cast next Tuesday night, I humbly ask that you vote for me to represent your interests on our local committee as Chairman. And I would be most grateful if you could recommend me for the position of Chairman to other like-minded anglers in your circle of friends.
Thank you in advance for your consideration and support,
Sincerely yours,
Chris

The ACS endorses Chris’ candidacy for the role of committee chairman.

Please attend this important meeting to support whichever candidate you feel will best represent our collective interests with the SFAB and DFO in these most interesting times.

SFAC Meeting Nov 9 2021

The fall Sports Fishery Advisory Committee (SFAC) meeting for southern Vancouver Island will be held November 09 at 7pm, on Microsoft Teams.

Elections for the role of Chair and co-chair will take place at the end of the meeting.

You are strongly encouraged to attend this virtual meeting to voice your support for the candidates of your choosing.

Draft Agenda:

SRKW
Hatchery Updates
Conservation and Protection Report
Elections

Please email Ryan Chamberland with any other additions to the agenda.

Details to attend the Microsoft Teams meeting:

Join on your computer or mobile app

Click here to join the meeting

Or call in (audio only)

+1 647-484-5913,,360060599# Canada, Toronto

Phone Conference ID: 360 060 599#

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