The PFA is pleased to provide the following update regarding our trip to Ottawa. We are especially grateful to all those who have made this trip possible by contributing to our very successful GoFundMe campaign. We have raised $14,878.00 so far; this enables us to better represent BC anglers and angling businesses.
Your generous donations have made it possible for the PFA to increase our Ottawa team from 3 to at least 7 well-respected and knowledgeable representatives, who are well qualified to explain the critical issues facing our fishery. They will visit Ottawa in February.
Our goals are to:
- Minimize the impacts from the existing draconian Chinook-non-retention and Southern Resident Killer Whale salmon fishing closures
- Increase awareness of the proposed SRKW measure expansions for 2026 and the resulting effects on coastal communities.
- And, most importantly, oppose any attempt to remove the public’s priority access to Chinook and Coho contained in the 1999 Salmon Allocation Policy. If we lose this it will be the death blow for BC’s tidal and in-river salmon fisheries.
The PFA is arranging meetings with many MPs. These include requests sent to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministers of Fisheries and Finance, and the leader of the Opposition.
The PFA has also accepted an invitation to present to the all-party Parliamentary Outdoor Caucus in advance of our main delegation arriving in Ottawa.
Our letter writing campaign to the DFO Salmon Allocation Policy (SAP) Team has resulted in over 2400 letters being sent with feedback and these letters were copied to the Honorable Joanne Thompson (Minister of Fisheries and Oceans) and Clifford Small (Shadow Minister for Fisheries).
The PFA has been busy since last December and remains in regular contact with many BC MPs across party lines, to explain the importance of our fishery, and the damage that will be done economically and socially to BC’s important tourism industry should these ill-conceived 2026 proposals be adopted.
Anglers and businesses need to keep the pressure on your local MPs, and keep sending letters to the Prime Minister ([email protected] ), Minister of Fisheries (Joanne.Thompson@parl,gc,ca ), Minister of Finance ([email protected] ), and the Leader of the Opposition ([email protected] ).
Our GoFundMe campaign (https://www.gofundme.com/f/attention-anglers-read-this-because-you-could-lose-it-all ) is still open and the PFA would welcome additional donations to make our trip to Ottawa an even greater success.