First Nations face sockeye 'showdown'

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First Nations face sockeye 'showdown'

Postby coldharvest » Wed Jul 14, 2010 6:30 am

On the craggy shores of Fraser Canyon, where its namesake river rushes through narrow gorges, a "showdown" looms between a dozen First Nations families and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

With their fishing nets mended and drying racks sturdied, elders from Sto: lo tribal communities are camped out in tents and cabins, waiting to begin their traditional dryrack sockeye fishery. But the federal department has not yet opened the sockeye fishery in order to conserve the early Stuart run -- the first of four groups of sockeye to migrate up the Fraser River.

"It's bogus," said Tyrone McNeil, a tribal chief and vice-president of the Sto: lo Tribal Council, and a dry-racker who ventures to the canyon each July in the hopes of catching and curing small sockeye for the winter larder. "We're getting to the point where a lot of our dry-rackers are frustrated, and they may end up going out there and challenging DFO by setting nets and hanging fish."
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"We could be heading for a bit of a showdown," echoed Ernie Crey, fisheries advisor to the council in the Fraser Valley region, and former advisor to the DFO.

Lara Sloan, a communications officer for the DFO's pacific region branch, said that while there is currently "no fishing directed at sockeye," the department recently issued a communal licence for a Chinook fishery -- a species of salmon that is much larger, fattier and more difficult to cure than early Stuart sockeye.

Ms. Sloan warned that if dry-rackers rebel and drop nets aimed at catching small sockeye, the department may move forward with charges.

"Our fishery officers are out there monitoring all the time, and they'll ask them to remove their nets," she said. "And then they'll collect evidence and consider charges."

Phil Eidsvik, a spokesman for the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition, said he is "pleased that DFO has recognized that conservation must come first," and said that an untouched early Stuart run is integral to Fraser River sockeye conservation. Those fish, he said, must swim hundreds of kilometres north, only for their offspring to return again four years from now.

"We're very disappointed that the Sto: lo have lobbied to open the sockeye fisheries for dry-racking," Mr. Eidsvik said. "Four years from now, when there's no fish, they'll cry like babies. This is a repeat occurrence over the past 10 years, and it's despicable behaviour."
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The matter of dwindling Fraser River sockeye has been hot-button since the early 1990s, when record-low returns prompted the DFO to take a more stern approach to managing the runs. Since then, many First Nations families like Mr.McNeil's have waited for a permit before casting their nets.

Mr. McNeil said July's dryrack sockeye fishery is "crucial to the Sto: lo identity," adding that the total number of fish captured for dry-racking is "only about 5,000 fish." The pre-season forecast from the DFO, which was released late last month, anticipates that 11.4 million sockeye will return to the Fraser River this summer.

Mr. McNeil said that for the 15 families that still carry out the tradition of dry-racking, July is the prime month. In July, pests like wasps and flies ignore the hang-dried protein. In July, summer nights are warm, staving off harmful dew and condensation.

"It's an exceptionally important and time-sensitive tradition for these families, dating back millennia," Mr. Crey said, adding that among the elders waiting to dry-rack sockeye in the canyon is Grand Chief Archie Charles, who was awarded the Order of Canada in August of last year.

But in an email to members of the Sto: lo community yesterday morning, the DFO confirmed that the sockeye fishery will be delayed until the end of the month and will likely exclude early Stuarts -- a run that was initially expected to number 41,000, but which is now forecasted to total 110,000, according to a report released last week by the international Pacific Salmon Commission.

A DFO official said in the email that a "run size of 218,400 Early Stuart" would be required before fishing permits are considered, and said "Unfortunately at this time, a Dry Rack fishery will not be authorized until the Early Stuart window closure has been lifted on July 26th."
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Mr. McNeil, who set up drying racks in the Fraser Canyon last weekend, said he hopes the department will reconsider.

"My brother will move into our camp later this week, and I'll move in next weekend," Mr. McNeil said, reminiscing on a time when he was a young boy and the dry-racked sockeye were aplenty. "We're chomping at the bit. Ready and waiting to go."
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Re: First Nations face sockeye 'showdown'

Postby Fenrisco » Wed Jul 14, 2010 6:32 pm

They let the white man tell them when they may and may not FISH? Explains a lot. Ought to dryrack a bailiff or two.
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