This is a call to action! On Monday, July 6th from 12:00pm-1:30pm join us in a peaceful information rally at the downtown DFO office located at 401 Burrard Street in Vancouver.
We are rallying together because…
1. Closing the public chinook fishery is not a recovery plan!
If the Government of Canada and DFO were truly concerned about pacific wild salmon, DFO would have already implemented a detailed recovery plan for certain stocks of endangered Fraser River Chinook salmon.
DFO has known of these stocks of concern for more than 15 years but have made little if any investment in their recovery, instead placing that burden on public fisheries. Restricting and closing public access to Chinook is NOT a recovery plan.
2. All chinook currently raised in hatcheries MUST be adipose clipped!
At this time only 10% of hatchery Chinook are marked (marked means anglers can identify hatchery fish because the adipose fin has been removed prior to release from the hatchery).
We are asking that all Chinook currently raised in hatcheries be adipose clipped. The precedent for using adipose clipped salmon for part of a broad-based recovery plan has been established, as the public can currently retain adipose clipped Coho salmon. This allows selective retention of hatchery Coho while releasing wild fish to protect stocks of concern where necessary. This strategy should be applied to hatchery Chinook salmon as well!
Adipose clipping hatchery reared Chinook for retention allows significantly more wild Chinook to return to their rivers to spawn because they can be released if encountered in the public fishery. This management approach can accelerate the recovery of Chinook stocks of concern while sustaining important public fisheries up and down the coast of British Columbia.
Please join us in our rally to support a recovery plan for Chinook stocks of concern and the mass marking of all Chinook salmon!
Date: Monday, July 6th
Time: 12:00pm – 1:30pm
Location: 401 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC (on the corner of Burrard and W Hastings)
PFA Information Rally Code of Conduct & Covid Protocol
- Participants will remain respectful of the general public as well as public/private property.
- Participants that display behaviour that is disruptive, inappropriate, hateful and/or disrespectful towards others will be warned. If behaviour continues they will be asked to leave by rally organizers.
- Participants should wear face masks, carry hand sanitizer and be respectful of social distancing measures.
- Do not attend if you feel ill or have travelled outside of the country in the last 14 days.
- Participants to direct all media inquiries to rally organizers.