Tag Archives: Joy Thorkelson
At two-day virtual conference, B.C. commercial salmon fishermen discuss cures for an industry on the brink
The United Fishermen And Allied Workers’ Union (UFAWU-Unifor) and active fishermen’s associations convened the conference, Future of BC Commercial Salmon Fishing,,,, The issues are complex and sometimes controversial. Allocation of stocks with recreational and First Nations fisheries, and access to healthy runs are priority issues, but interwoven are challenges with policy and governance that are not meeting the economic-development needs of fishing communities, a licensing regime established in the 1990s that’s consolidated power into the hands of corporations and so-called “armchair fishermen”, and an explosion in pinniped predation rates on juvenile salmon, to name a few. >click to read< 07:49
Fishery Mismanagement?: Research suggests DFO worsened impact of salmon fishery crisis
Unifor has released a new report that says artificially low catch limits over the past 25 years pushed the West Coast salmon fishing industry to the brink, leaving it unable to cope with the 2019 crisis. “The federal government created a commercial fishing economy so precarious that when the salmon collapsed this year, the industry went with it,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “Commercial salmon fishing may never recover.” >click to read< and to read A Report to Governments on the 2019 Salmon Season >click here< 13:18
B.C. salmon fishing industry ask feds to provide disaster relief
The commercial fishing industry in British Columbia is in turmoil.,,,“British Colombia’s coastal salmon fishery is experiencing a disaster,” said Gavin McGarrigle, regional director of Unifor Western. “It’s hard to overstate the importance of the salmon run to local economies up and down B.C.’s coast.” He added: “There is an industry wide consensus about both the degree of the disaster and the urgent need to help workers and communities impacted by the collapse of the 2019 salmon run.” >click to read< 16:43
Commercial fishermen on Canada’s west coast say it’s the worst season they’ve ever experienced.
According to Joy Thorkelson, president of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union, at least 2,500 people are affected by the record low numbers of salmon. Catches have been far below normal and some fishermen simply haven’t fished at all this season.,,, Reasons for the low salmon returns along the B.C. coast are being cited as climate change, habitat destruction, and overfishing. But, they never mention waste (click) water treatment,,, >click to read< 13:29
‘They’re flat broke’: Salmon fishermen demand disaster relief for failed season
The Pacific Salmon Commission is forecasting a total return of only 447,000 sockeye salmon to the Fraser, one of the world’s richest salmon rivers, this year. “This is the lowest run size ever estimated since estimates began in 1893, and lower than the previous record for lowest run size of 858,000 observed in 2016,” its report read.,, “Many of them are in debt because they got the boat and gear ready for the season and they [invested] quite heavily in doing that. And then they put fuel in their boats and went to the fishing grounds and then caught nothing.” >click to read< 15:24
North Coast leaders celebrate report’s focus on independent fishers
North coast leaders are calling the sweeping recommendations of a Parliamentary committee a win for independent fishers. The all-party Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans released its study on the state of the West Coast fisheries May 7, recommending numerous changes to the Fisheries Act that aim is to lower financial barriers for those wanting to enter the profession, and limiting the number of licences held by any single group.,,, Bill C-68, adopted in June of last year, paved the way for an overhaul of the Fisheries Act, whereby the ministry considers not only ecology in its decisions, but the social and economic impacts on the communities dependant on the fishery. >click to read<19:39
Employed or Self Employed?!! B.C. fishing company ordered to pay deckhand $15K despite confiscated catch
A B.C. fishing company has been ordered to pay one of its deckhands $14,846 even though fisheries officials seized most of the catch. The B.C. Employment Standards Tribunal recently dismissed the company’s appeal of the decision, which the director of employment standards made in July 2017, to pay deckhand Steve Hrad for a fishing trip off the B.C. coast last spring. Hrad had been hired by Lasota Fishing Ltd. — represented at the tribunal by Steve Lasota.,, “You’re not hired for a wage, you’re hired to share in the catch.,,, >click to read<12:18
North Coast Fishermen cry foul on salmon allocation
Joy Thorkelson is wondering who will stand up for the commercial fishing industry in light of another dismal season on the North Coast. “The Skeena fishing story is, unfortunately, a sad one again this year. This season the Department of Fisheries predicted the Skeena run size to be 2.64 million sockeye. They allowed the commercial fleet to catch 474,081 sockeye or 18 per cent of the run,” Read the rest here 13:05
