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Roundtable Report

November 2017

Ian Bruce - Lower Vancouver Island

• Slowness on RFCPP funding coming through due to DFO not dedicating enough of the right human resources to administration. This has a significant cash flow impacts on small non-profits and threatens solvency as projects are finished and paid for and Contribution Agreements - this is not understood by the bureaucracy.
• Issues regarding drought conditions - is DFO hiring hydrologists, etc. to address this major need of salmon - water.
• Issues related to Goldstream
  Despite our protestations about unleashing a commercial seine opening for chum before sufficient fish have escaped…there’s a seine opening this morning and it’s for four hours but “may be extended”. As of Wed our stream counts had enumerated 1016 chum in the river. Same scenario as last year. Last year the escapement target was not met.
  · Again after sounding the alarm concerning FN interceptions of Goldstream River chinook in the estuary and beyond, the situation has occurred again this year and in fact has escalated since tribal fishermen now see the original guy getting away with it. NO, repeat, NO chinook made it to the river this year. The Goldstream volunteers have given up on this initiative. Does conservation not trump even aboriginal access to FSC?
• Parkland Industries who spilled 32,000 litres of gasoline and 700 litres of diesel into Goldstream River in April 2011 are trying to get a release from indemnity - this despite apparently still not paying Goldstream Hatchery (~$25l) nor Tsawout FN (~$150k) for their costs amongst others. They were not charged federally nor provincially for this serious fish kill...thus no fine. Will DFO stand up at this time and at least make "Canada's Largest Gas-Station Owner" accountable to their promises?

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SEHAB Roundtable Template––February 2016

SEHAB Member: Ian Bruce 

Area: South Vancouver Island

Community Advisor: Chantal Nessman

Date: Nov. 4 -2016

Key Issues:

What top three points can you distill from community input to take to DFO RHQ? 

1. Provincial Water Act, climate change, drought and DFO – not enough attention by the Province on small streams and base flows – DFO has a potential role to play by employing hydrologists to study watersheds, develop tools to mitigate drought and train stewards about hydrology. No water = No fish!
2. Enforcement Issues - staffing issues throughout department…where is C & P; fisheries openings on weekends but no overtime therefore no oversight.
3. Douglas Treaty and FN harvesting issues – stocks being completely and blatantly taken to the last fish in plain sight but DFO policy of not wanting to potentially generate a Douglas Treaty challenge does nothing.  DFO needs to negotiate Douglas Treaty rights or let courts decide but status quo untenable for stewards affected.

Stories:

A few examples of successes, failures, challenges.

1. New C.A. for South Island Chantal Nessman – she is working hard and should do well…strong effort to date and dedicated.
2. New SCACIP/RRU Section Head Dale Desrochers is a positive choice – both are career DFO with a desire and ability to work in our Area therefore stability gratefully expected.
3. Funding for CIP hatcheries needs to be increased.

Issues Specific to SEHAB’s Work Plan:

Submissions, Comments from Groups:

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SEHAB Member: Don Lowen

Area: South Vancouver Island/Gulf Islands

Community Advisor: Erica Blake

Date: November 3/12

SEHAB Submissions, Comments from Groups:

Report – Howard English Hatchery (Goldstream River

The Goldstream Volunteer Association has been operating the counting fence on the Goldstream since the last week in September with the first fish encounters (CN) 6 October ’12. As has been the practice in the past, the weekly counts will reflect fence counts for chinook and coho and full river counts for chum.

The activity was quite slow at the fence until the 15th October when a low pressure system brought in a large number of coho. Following are the weekly figures:       

17th October:    Chinook – 34 (5 jacks)
                        Coho – 623 (5 jacks)
                        Chum – 1,503 (7 morts)
 

24th October:    Chinook – 43 (6 jacks)
                          Coho – 823 (5 jacks)
                        Chum – 1911 (76 morts)

The number of coho that have been counted is unusually high for this time of year and the majority are coloured to some degree, which is also noteworthy since the early bump is usually made up of very green hatchery fish.

Another point is the very few Ad/Cwt coho observed (2.48%) so far. This lends credence to our supposition that the majority of the hatchery releases prior to the fuel spill in 2011 were compromised. Not all coho encountered at the fence have been floy tagged due to malfunctioning guns but every fish has been operculum-punched. Our intention is to conduct a comprehensive dead pitch…weather permitting.

Peter McCully
Biotech

October 29/12

Report – JACK BROOKS Hatchery (SOOKE River/DEMAMIEL CREEK)

“We're looking at good returns for chum and coho to the Sooke and Demamiel systems, so far. Estimates are for 20,000 chum, well up compared to the last few years, and around 3,000 coho.

We missed our numbers for chinook, due to a freshet that buried the fence and allowed the fish to zip by and go upriver. We have 54,000 eggs on hand, well below our hoped-for numbers and we didn't get much of a chance to estimate numbers very well.

It appears that there are at least 100 adults in the mid-river zone, but that's our best guess.
Big numbers of cuthtroat at the Young Lake weir, more than we've seen for several years.”
 
Mel Hull

October 30/12

SIDNEY ANGLERS

“… the spring and summer run Fraser River chinook issues are having a profound effect on the March to mid-July fishery in areas 18, 19 and portions of 20. I don't want to get into the politics of this but the economic impacts on charter skippers, marinas, tackle shops and related business from Victoria to Sooke has been severe.

Nor do I want to get into the pros and cons of the conservation issue or who should be taking the brunt of the regulatory measures. However, this is the important thing. At meetings in Victoria last year DFO staff and biologists for the area were asked what plans they had in place to deal with water extraction issues, water temperature issues and other environmental impacts affecting these stream type stocks and what enhancement activities they had in the works to provide a boost to production.

The answer was basically "blank faces" with a promise to put a plan in place for 2013. This is not acceptable and if allowed to continue will bear a striking resemblance to the Interior Fraser coho problems which started in the mid 90's and have not been resolved to this date.

Both species depend on adequate stream conditions for their period of time in freshwater and both reacting the same way. DFO appears to have walked away from the coho situation and are content to let the long-standing non-retention restrictions serve as their only remedial tool. I fear they will treat the chinook issue the same way.”

Tom Davis

October 25/12

Fresh start for airport creek

Contaminants cleaned up, new path for stream

(Times Colonist October 23/12)

Reay Creek is taking a new and cleaner path through Victoria Airport Authority lands after a portion has been diverted into a manmade channel.

The purpose of the $220,000 project is to reduce heavy metals and other pollutants flowing from the airport's old industrial lands on its east side into the fish-bearing creek, which runs into Bazan Bay. It crosses both North Saanich and Sidney, home of Reay Creek Park.

"The storm water quality will be greatly improved to the rest of Reay Creek and into Bazan Bay," James Bogusz, airport authority director of airside operations, technology and environment, said Monday.

A new, 210-metre-long winding diversion channel mimicking a natural stream was built this year next to the original creek, now a wetland between the industrial area and the channel. 80 tons of contaminated creekside material removed and replaced…..

Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/Business/917199/story.html#ixzz2B76boCsV

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SEHAB Member: Don Lowen

Area: South Vancouver Island, Southern Gulf Islands

Community Advisor: Erica Blake

Date: November 3, 2011

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SEHAB Member: Ian Bruce

Area: Southern Vancouver Island

Community Advisor: Shawn Kerr

Date: November 2015

Key Issues:

What top three points can you distill from community input to take to DFO RHQ?

1.  Lack of enforcement on Fishery issues-illegal fishing, FN and non-FN - no C & P in sight... no returning phone calls or emails

2.  FPP perceived as lax on developments; Asking about efforts to address lost habitat protection from Harper changes to fisheries act – i.e. only fishery fish....

3. Drought - water storage opportunities - DFO could take a bigger role

Stories:

Bob Cox...RIP ..ex prov biologist, both feet in with Peninsula Streams.. headed up awarding Friends of Swan Creek Watershed

Concerns : 

New CA...but only for 6 months; concern that the right people get into the position-not regulatory;

SVI: coho small or late lots of jacks;

RFCPP for us working well ...two projects delivered - TCF and Swan Creek;

Approval for Section 9 expedited; but fish collection permit 2 months late...

Fishway over Tod Creek (Butchart Gardens Dam)  - success story...... 

Issues Specific to SEHAB’s Work Plan: