The fishery on the Fraser River seems a diminishing and stressed resource which is being pulled in four different directions, commercial, native, sport, and climate change. It is obvious that climate change is considered as a stress factor on the resource, in addition to the more publicized three other factors.
As for the commercial fishing industry, technology has increased to where catching is much more efficient than it was 30 years ago, and there is little left to chance for escapement. The native fishery is a thorny issue: my personal opinion is “take all you can eat, but eat all that you take.”
It is said that the resources of this province, whether they be timber, mineral, fish, or whatever, belong to every British Columbia resident, not just a few select groups. Failure by the DFO to develop and enforce a sensible, consistent policy only exacerbates the problem. Gord is holding up a 60 pound display of many delicious dinners destined for his dinner table. I have never seen so many large hatchery coho, so there must be better fishing ahead this fall in some of the coastal rivers. Escott says that September will see the salmon fishing slip a bit, with the fish moving on into the rivers, but the halibut fishing will be even better, with larger average size, and big appetites.
