B.C. sportfishing industry gutted by Ottawa’s unclear messaging on Chinook restrictions

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — As the tourism sector attempts to rebound from COVID-19 closures, the sportfishing sector is expressing frustration with Ottawa.

On June 19 the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) imposed severe restrictions on fishing for Fraser River Chinook, curtailing opportunities in the Vancouver-area.

Owen Bird, Executive Director of the Sportfishing Institute of BC, says he is in favour of the measures being taken to protect that species of salmon.

“That’s an important move, we need to take steps to conserve those fish and to help in their recovery,” he says.

But he thinks the announcement has created confusion that is impacting the sector.

“The messaging that went out needed to be clearer. The department did not make very clear that this is very much about Fraser River stocks of concern, and while they are in particular areas of the coast at particular times, they don’t represent the state of Chinook stocks on the entire coast, and the opportunities and ability for people to access Chinook fisheries in other places,” he explains.

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“This is the fishing season, so people are looking to understand what their opportunities are. The perception is, ‘Chinook fishing is closed or restricted all over the place.’ And that is just not so. To give the impression that there isn’t opportunity in the rest of the province because of a very specific and serious concern about Fraser River Chinook is really unfortunate. That is a major disappointment.”

Bird also adds the plan set out by the DFO has some shortcomings, saying it doesn’t chart a clear course for recovery.

“There is support and appreciation that steps must be taken to help Fraser River Chinook stocks of concern recover but the fishery management measures implemented for Vancouver neglected to include sustainable options including retention of hatchery fish and fishing in areas where all understand that the Fraser River Chinook stocks of concern are not present,” he says.

Bird notes the industry is a vital part of the province’s tourism sector. Nine thousand people are directly employed offering charters, operating recreational fisheries, and running lodges and resorts.

“In the broader sense in the province sport fishing brings over a billion dollars to B.C.’s economy every year. It includes all number of different businesses that are touched by the fishing tourism industry: the small hotels, the small communities, retailers, you name it,” Bird notes.

While COVID-19 limits on travel within the province have been lifted in time for summer, Bird says the spring shutdown took a bite out of business.

“It’s had a tremendous impact, just like it has for everybody,” he says.

“The heart of the sportfishing season is the summer, but the lead up to that — March, April, May, June — there are areas on the coast where that would be quite a lively fishery. It would also be a time to prepare.”

The ongoing closure of the Canada-U.S. border, with the resulting loss of American tourists, has hit sportfishing in much the same way it has other parts of the tourism industry.

“Some businesses that operate up and down the coast which have in the past catered to a significant American customer base, they’ve basically not been able to operate.”