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Readers of the Vancouver Sun may have noticed that recreational anglers have been getting increasingly concerned about the futureof the halibut fishery in British Columbia. While I doubt that most people have given it much thought, the facts about the fisherymight come as quite a surprise.

Our fisheries are a common property owned by every Canadian. That is our history and tradition, and we demonstrated our personalconnection to our fisheries last summer when thousands of ordinary Canadian lined the banks of the Fraser River for a chance tocatch a fish or two.

For the past 80 years Pacific halibut have been managed by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IHPC), an internationalbody whose mandate is to ensure that the halibut resource is managed sustainably for future generation. The IHPC does an excellen

job and continues to ensure that both Canada and the US only harvest halibut at a scientifically sustainable level. The management oour halibut resource is not in dispute.

The problem, however, lies in how Canada chooses to allocate its share of the allowable harvest.

In 2003, however, then Fisheries Minister Robert Thibault bowed to a concerted lobbying effort by politically-connected commercialfishers and effectively gifted 88 per cent of Canada's annual halibut catch to 435 commercial quota holders, most of who had receivetheir initial allocation for free. BC's 100,000 recreational halibut anglers were told to share the remaining 12 per cent amongthemselves.

To be clear, there was no auction or market test. With the stroke of a pen, the Minister simply created a policy that gave 435

individuals the exclusive right to harvest 88 per cent of a resource that Canadians' thought they owned. The quota holders struckgold, and proceeded to reap their newfound riches. Indeed, most quota holders quickly figured out that actually catching their shareof the resource was a fool's endeavour and began leasing out their rights to others on a year-by-year basis while they simply stayedhome and collected lease payments. In fact, only 130 of the 436 quota holders actually fished last season, and according to 2009Ecotrust Canada study, "Today, lease fees are effectively charged on almost every pound of halibut quota in BC".

In contrast, the recreational sector has suffered. As the total allowable catch has gone through a cyclical decline, our sector's 12 percent allocation has meant shorter fish seasons and catch limits that have been reduced by 50 per cent. This has hurt the businessesthat support and equip recreational anglers and has meant that Canada's economic return on halibut has declined needlessly.

Naturally, commercial quota holders want to protect their newfound wealth. They argue that sport fishing lodges and guides thatcater to wealth Americans are catching too much halibut. In fact, Fisheries and Oceans Canada's recent survey showed that the vastmajority of anglers who use guides or lodges are Canadians from every walk of life who want to try and catch a halibut, but lack theequipment, boat or expertise to do so on their own.

The commercial quota holder claim that they are putting halibut on Canadians dinner tables, but neglect to mention that they export70 per cent of their catch to the U.S. The quota holders argue that recreational anglers do not monitor their catch, when in fact lodgesreport accurate catch and length data to DFO throughout the year. This data is which is audited, validated and accepted by the IHPC.

Recreational anglers deserve a fair catch

Robert Alcock, Special to The Vancouver Sun · Monday, Jan. 24, 2011

Darren Stone, Postmedia NewsThe commercial quota holder claim that they are putting halibut on Canadians dinner tables, but neglect to mention that t hey export 70 per cent of their catch to theU.S.

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The quota holders say that lodges are expanding when in fact the province has seen 10 lodges close in recent years as a result of therecession and new fishing restrictions.

Commercial quota holders will always catch the vast majority of Canada's annual halibut harvest. Recreational anglers are by theirvery nature inefficient and do not catch more than they can reasonably use. All that recreational anglers ask, is that governmentamend its flawed allocation policy and give recreational anglers a few more percentage points of the sustainable harvest so that theycan enjoy predictable fishing seasons and so that every Canadian who wants to, has a reasonable chance to try a fish or two.

Robert Alcock is with the BC Sportfishing Coalition.

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