David Burke
whistler question
A local member of a regional steelhead advisory group is threatening to resign from the group if the B.C. Ministry of Environment (MOE) follows through with a Cheakamus River recovery plan that doesn't include a steelhead hatchery-augmentation program.
Environment Minister Barry Penner hasn't yet announced whether the plan to help the Cheakamus ecoystem recover from last August's CN Rail chemical spill will include a hatchery program for steelhead, but many of those in favour of such a plan say Penner has given strong indications that the final recovery plan won't include a program for raising steelhead broodstock locally.This week in the legislature, Penner repeated his assertion that no decision has been made. However, under questioning from the opposition, Penner made statements that Whistler angler Dave Brown said indicate he has a limited understanding of the situation with steelhead populations on the Cheakamus.
"I had the opportunity to be there two weeks ago, and I saw some people fishing," Penner was quoted as having said in the government's official Hansard. "I asked them what they were fishing for, and they said steelhead. I said: 'Have you caught anything?' They said: 'Yes, three fish.' They caught three steelhead, so the river is recovering."
Said Brown, "He showed his total lack of understanding that 90 per cent of three brood years out of four have been killed -this year's being the exception, one that will come back in full numbers."
Brown a member of both the federal Sportfishing Advisory Committee (SAC) and the provincial South Coast Steelhead Coalition (SCSC), said that as late as Monday, he was determined to resign from the latter out of frustration over the lack of real consultation on the part of the Province. But he said he was persuaded to stay on at least until after Penner has decided on the hatchery issue.
Brown's frustration stems from what he sees as a paternalistic attitude on the part of the Ministry.
Brown said he shared the sentiments expressed in a recent letter by Randall Lewis of the Squamish Nation. "They seem to feel that 'We are the Ministry experts, the only experts, and we know what's best for steelhead," Brown said.
Brown said that contrary to the opinions expressed by some MOE officials, a number of experts and a wide array of groups with an interest in wildlife in B.C. feel that steelhead hatchery program can help accelerate the recovery of salmon stocks on the Cheakamus. The government's own draft report, he said, estimates that without such a program, steelhead returns will be on the order of 20 to 40 in 2008, 2009 and 2010, whereas with such a program they could well be more than 400.
Ministry officials have said that as a designated "wild" river, they prefer to let the Cheakamus steelhead stocks recover on their own with only habitat enhancements such as large, woody debris and nutrient supplementation.
Brown, though, said he doesn't think that's good enough, adding that he's frustrated with the fact that although MOE officials are working on a recovery plan, no actual work has taken place, eight months after the spill.
"My realistic view is we're a year out before anything actually happens and the minister, I don't think, has a full understanding of the damage that has occurred," Brown said.
Brown said that if the decision comes down as expected, he plans to remain with the SAC, which provides input to the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), but resign from the SCSC, which advises the Province.
"DFO does huge amounts of consulting on decisions to be made," he said. "I'm not saying they take every suggestion given to them, but at least they seem to have proper dialogue.
"Yesterday (Monday), I was saying that if this is the final decision I wasn't going to continue (with the SCSC)," Brown said. "The one thing that has kept me going this long is that if this doesn't work out, I can look in my sons' eyes and say I did my best -in spite of feelings that I've been stonewalled and never having gotten proper dialogue from the Ministry."
