DFO makes the worst of a good situation [editorial]

When we think about the Department of Fisheries and Oceans we picture that scene in King Kong when the big gorilla makes his way to the top of the Empire State Building and swats around at the attacking airplanes like they were swarming black flies around a hitchhiker in Wawa, Ont. Pesky little buggers, capable of taking a chuck out of a guy, but not likely to kill you, right?

If you remember the movie, you’ll concede that it wasn’t the barrage of bullets from those planes that killed Kong, it was the fall from a great height, and the beast just didn’t see the end coming. So, that got us to thinking. Perhaps DFO is equally oblivious to the dangers of its lofty perch as well. The edicts from on high from that behemoth government entity just aren’t cutting it on the fish stock management front anymore, and the lowly fishers in the regions are not being too shy about saying so. First Nations fishers, in particular, are saying “we’re just not going to take it anymore,” and it seems that every management decision DFO makes these days has a black buzzing mass hanging over it.

Take the two Nuu-chah-nulth nations on the Somass River on Vancouver Island. The sockeye run there topped all predictions and the First Nations wanted a taste for commercial purposes. One even negotiated an agreement with DFO, which later walked away from it because it would be too much work to manage the dozen boats that would be harvesting there. Much to the chagrin of the local regional district, DFO insisted on upping the quota of fish for the mainstream commercial fishery that sailed out of the territory with boatloads of valuable sockeye, spending nary a dime of the bounty in the local economy. Had the First Nations fishers been allowed access to that catch, the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District contends, it would have benefitted everyone in the territory. A fact that seems lost on those creating policy from thousands of kilometres away in Ottawa.

Recently we also heard from the Osoyoos region where they are seeing a record return of salmon to Osoyoos Lake. The Okanagan Nation Alliance has been working for a decade to restore the fish stock, and this year, DFO unilaterally decided it was going to open the lake to a limited recreational fishery. First Nations in the territory were allowed a commercial fishery, and they were hoping that it would be a trial for a viable industry for First Nations people. But because commercial and recreational fisheries are placed on an equal footing after conservation and food fish needs for First Nations, DFO disregarded First Nations considerations and let the anglers have at ‘er.

Now let’s eyeball the issues surrounding the Fraser River sockeye, a fish stock that is flowing in the multi-millions and raising the question at DFO headquarters, to fish or not to fish. We are usually writing stories about where the sockeye have disappeared to, but this year the fortunes on that river are mightily reversed. In 2009 it was so bad on the Fraser, with only 1.5 million fish returning, that it prompted an inquiry (which won’t begin until the end of October).

This year, however, DFO was happy to announce at the beginning of August that Fraser River returns could top 11 million, a number upgraded from an earlier forecast of five- to eight million. It was an unexpected turn of events for the valuable fish. Industrial fisheries would get their share, after, of course, ensuring that conservation and food fish for First Nations needs were met. For the commercial fishery, it was time to untangle nets, dust off the sonars, and expect this year, at least, to make a few bucks. It was to be a vast improvement over the 2008 commercial allowable harvest of 17,000 sockeye.

But wait, in mid-August DFO announced they had underestimated the run by about 15 million fish. In fact, what was expected was a record return of sockeye not seen in a century. Fisheries Minister Gail Shea was positively bursting with pride, as if she had spawned the little ones herself four years ago. But what wasn’t explained in her press release of Aug. 24 was how the forecast could have been so far wrong. According to CBC in a report in early August, the DFO seemed to be frustrated by one Native guy in Prince George who had been occupying the DFO office making it impossible for them to dispatch workers to count fish. This fellow is claiming that the office is on his traditional land, and has been confrontational in the past. DFO had to satisfy themselves with only undertaking a partial fish count, but surely the Prince George protester can’t be blamed for DFO underestimating the run by millions upon millions of fish.

So, who is responsible for estimating the run?

“Each year, the department estimates the sockeye seasonal returns for the following season for planning purposes,” the backgrounder on the management of the Fraser River sockeye fishery read. “Then, the Fraser River Panel of the Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC) sets the in-season run sizes using science-based procedures, as well as information obtained from test fisheries, counting devices, fish wheels and other sources.” Apparently the panel meets twice per week during the summer and fall to update the run sizes. There must have been quite a group of shocked faces around that table when by Aug. 31 they estimated 10 million more sockeye were going to choke the Fraser with a run now estimated at 34 million pieces.

There are so many salmon now that the price for the fish has plummeted to 70 cents a pound. Hardly worth getting out of bed for.

And now there is concern that the department’s management plan on the Fraser will muck up the waters, not only in the lean years, but in the boom times as well. The squabbling over what to set the allowable catch at is constant, with opinions varied and diverse. And we’re all just standing on the banks of the river with our fingers crossed, hoping that at least on this crucial component of this year’s Fraser River sockeye run, DFO will get it right.
Windspeaker