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SH 571 National Recreatiqnal. N277 Fisheries Conference : 1990 proceedings 1989 : toward sustainable recreational fisheries. I • i NATIONAL RECREATIONAL FISHERIES CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS 1989 - TOWARD SUSTAINABLE RECREATIONAL FISHERIES Department of Fisheries and Oceans Recreational Fisheries Division Ottawa, Ontario Think Recycling! Printed on recycled paper Pensez a recycler! Published by: Communications Directorate Department of Fisheries and Oceans Ottawa, Ontario KlA OE6 DF0/4400 ©Minister of Supply and Services Canada 1990 Cat. No. Fs 23-170/1989E ISBN 0-662-17979-X Egalement disponible en fran9ais sous le titre <<Conference nationale sur la peche recreative - Compte rendu 1989>> Printed by: National Printers (Ottawa) Inc. -- -···---------------- PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL RECREATIONAL FISHERIES CONFERENCE 1989 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ( i ) 1. Opening Remarks 1 0 J.W. (Bud) Bird, M.P. Conference Chairperson 2. Minister's Speech 7 0 Innovative Approaches through New Partnerships Honourable Tom Siddon, P.C., M.P. Minister of Fisheries and Oceans 3. Conference Papers 0 A Public Policy Primer for Recreational Fisheries 13 David R. Clark, 'Q.C. Atlantic Salmon Federation 0 Attitudes of the Past and Visions for the Future 23 Robert H. Wright Oak Bay Marine Group ° Forging New Partnerships: Changing Roles 33 David A. Good, Ph.D. Department of Fisheries and Oceans 0 Private Corportation Promotion of Recreational 41 Fisheries Conservation David Fay Christopher Lang and Associates 0 Scientific Data Base for Recreational Fisheries 45 John M. Anderson, Ph.D Atlantic Salmon Federation ° Fisheries and Habitat Improvement 53 Walt Crawford Trout Unlimited (Ontario) ° Co-Management of Atlantic Salmon 57 Conrad Hiscock and David Tizzard Salmon Preservation Association for the waters of Newfoundland (SPAWN) TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont'd) 0 The ZEC Concept in Quebec 65 Gabriel Pelletier Federation of ZEC Managers 0 Public Awareness of Recreational Fisheries 75 Wayne Phillips Freelance Outdoor Writer 4. Summary Presentations of the Workshop Results 83 ° Factors likely to influence the biological 83 health of the resource and the growth of the recreational fishing industry Yvonne Quick Northern Frontier Visitors Association 0 Scientific Data Collection, Resource Management 87 and Fisheries and Habitat Improvement Cliff Wells Salmon Preservation Association for the waters of Newfoundland (SPAWN) 0 Enforcement, Public Awareness and Industry 90 Development John Carter British Columbia Wildlife Federation 5. Analysis of Workshop Results 99 Les Dominy Department of Fisheries and Oceans 6. Reflections on the Conference Proceedings 123 J.W. (Bud) Bird, M.P. Conference Chairperson 7. Concluding Remarks 127 Peter Meyboom, Ph.D. Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Oceans APPENDICES Appendix A - Conference Agenda 135 Appendix B - Conference Participants 139 PREFACE This report contains the speeches, papers, workshop results and conclusions that were presented at the conference on recreational fisheries convened in Fredericton, New Brunswick on November 7, 8 and 9, 1989. The purpose of the conference was to seek the views of government and non-government participants on a national action agenda for recreational fisheries. In July, 1989, federal, provincial and territorial Fisheries Ministers met in Victoria, British Columbia, and agreed to pursue a sustainable fisheries policy for Canada. As part of that initiative, Ministers agreed to develop an action agenda to meet the objectives of Canada's 1988 Recreational Fisheries Policy. The theme of the Frederiction conference was "innovative approaches through new partnerships". On the second day of the conference, participants were assigned to ten workshop groups to discuss the following subject areas: - issues and trends facing recreational fisheries over the next ten years; - obstacles to achieving the goal of sustainable recreational fisheries; and - approaches that might be pursued to overcome obstacles. The above subject areas formed an agenda for the discussion of six topics by each of the workshop groups, as follows: - scientific data collection - resource management - fisheries and habitat management - enforcement - public awareness - industry development The outcome of the presentations and workshop discussions at the conference will be used as the basis for formulating a national action agenda for sustainable recreational fisheries in Canada. C.L. (Les) Dominy Acting Director Recreational Fisheries Fisheries and Oceans June 1990 ( i) OPENING REMARKS by J.W. (Bud) BIRD, M.P. Conference Chairperson It is a great pleasure to welcome you to this ninth National Conference on Recreational Fishery taking place here in Fredericton the capital city of New Brunswick. My name is Bud Bird and I have been asked by the Honourable Tom Siddon to be the chairman of this conference. As some of you probably know, I have had a long and honorable privilege of serving this community in a number of ways over the past several years, first as a City Counsellor and Mayor, followed by a period when I was the Minister of Natural Resources for the province of New Brunswick, representing the city of Fredericton in the Legislative Assembly. I am now privileged to serve as the Member of Parliament for Fredericton-York-Sunbury in the House of Commons. Given my background, I know you will understand that I am very proud to welcome you to Fredericton and to participate in this conference on a subject which is of importance to us all. I thought I would go to my favorite little quotation book to find something fitting for this occasion and I found a silly little poem. (Author anonymous, just to assure you that I did not write it) . It goes as follows: "When the wind is in the East, then the fishes bite the least, when the wind is in the West, then the fishes bite the best, when the wind is in the North, then the fishes do come forth, when the wind is in the South it blows the bait in the fishes mouth". In a way recreational fishing is as simple as all that. Isaac Walton argued the reverse when he wrote that angling may be said to be so like mathematics that it can never be fully learned. I would like to repeat that New Brunswick is a most fitting and unique location to hold this national conference on recreational fishing. The people of this province place a very _high premium on the natural environment. The quality of life that we enjoy here is significantly measured by the recreational values of our fisheries, our forests, our fields, our coastlines, our lakes, our rivers, and our streams. On a national and international basis, New Brunswick is known by recreational fishermen for some of the best Atlantic salmon fishing to be found anywhere in the world. We also have some good bass fishing along with some very good trout fishing. Our salmon fishing takes place on some world famous rivers, including the Saint John which flows through this city is sometimes called the Rhine of America; the Restigouche which is known as the king of salmon rivers; and of course the vast Miramichi River which is the mother salmon river of them all. It is surprising that this is the ninth in a series of national conferences on Canada's ~ecreational fisheries and perhaps it is the most important one of all, because our job this week is to develop an agenda for action to ensure successful implementation of the recreational fisheries policy which has been developed from previous gatherings and which was adopted by Canada's fisheries Ministers in March of 1988. This conference is also critical because the national action plan for the recreationql fishery is a very essential element in Canada's overall fisheries plan for sustainable development in the coming decade of the 1900s. We must assert that it is not merely sufficient to care for our resources and our environment in terms of today's needs; we must also ensure that those resources are sustained in such a way that they will serve the needs of future generations in perpetuity. The Atlantic salmon is a good story to exemplify the conflicts to be resolved and the disciplines to be exercised in the pursuit of sustainable development. It is not yet totally a success story but it is one that should be told as a prelude to this conference. Almost from the end of the last war, our east coast salmon have been in a state of perpetual decline or so it seems to many of us. Over that period of time, the catch limits for anglers went steadily downwards, as well they should have; first from six per day to four; then from four per day to two; then the elimination of large adult salmon catches al together in some rivers; and finally a total season limit of only ten grilse, which as you know are small immature salmon. And that is not to complain, because anglers have helped to lead the conservation effort, but rather to demonstrate one measure of how dramatic the decline has been. Over those same years the commercial salmon fishery followed more slowly in reducing its catch and ultimately there was a total ban for ten years from the waters of the Maritime provinces. Some sections of Southwest Newfoundland were also closed and remain so. The ban in the Maritimes was lifted briefly for a few years but was quickly re-imposed. Maj or government expenditures have been required to buy back commercial fishing licenses in the Mari times and only a few such licenses continue to exist in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia even if there were to be a new commercial fishery. Generally speaking, these changes were made in response to a crisis of seriously declining stocks. Yet, they did not occur easily and for the most part it was the recreational fishery which led the movement to inspire government action. In most recent years such initiatives as the salmon harvest tag and the introduction of hook and release programs for adult salmon were promoted by the recreational salmon fishery.