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?