Fisheries committee  I would echo what Mr. Riddell said. However, I would also say, as a commercial fisher that's my goal: to have as much fish available to harvest as possible. You look up in Alaska and Russia with their mega hatcheries and how much fish they produce, and what we're producing here

Fisheries committee  It would have a devastating effect. A large portion of our yearly income is from salmon. We support a lot of local businesses. This last year we've spent probably $25,000 in Prince Rupert just on building a herring skiff. Two years ago we put a new refrigeration system in. That w

Fisheries committee  I would like to see a licence buyback or something along that line to compensate people who want to get out of the fishery. There are still too many licences. There have been a couple of buybacks in the preceding years. The U.S. government gave $30 million to buy up some trollin

Fisheries committee  Yes. He's just a newborn.

Fisheries committee  For a northern troll licence, it's approximately $160,000 to $180,000, depending on the vessel length. A boat is anywhere from $100,000 if you buy an old wood boat to $500,000 for a nice fibreglass boat. You're probably looking at in the neighbourhood of $450,000 to $700,000 if y

Fisheries committee  I'll try to summarize it fairly quickly. Before you used to have one licence that allowed you to fish from the Alaskan border to the Washington border. Then they went to area licensing, so the north coast from Pine Island north is one area for trolls. The west coast of Vancouve

Fisheries committee  It's really dependent on which gear type you're using. A seine vessel could catch as much fish as I catch in one set. It's really dependent upon what species you're targeting, what pressure they can withstand, and the gear type. If you're just asking what I catch, I would usual

Fisheries committee  I wouldn't necessarily say that they've restored it. They might have restored certain populations, but in general in what I can harvest, we haven't seen an increase.

Fisheries committee  Yes. In commercial fishing we have a logbook that we have to keep. Every fish we encounter during that day is recorded. When we get to the dock, that logbook is cross-checked against what has been unloaded. We have to report that to a government agency at our expense. In first n

Fisheries committee  Part of that question is how to reconcile the two. There are so many user groups that all have a vested interest in salmon, and the pie is only so large. I think we're in a situation right now where we just don't have enough fish for everybody to get what they want. We forgo a bu

Fisheries committee  I do think there are enough regulations to ensure that they survive, but is that enough to maintain a harvest level on them? I don't know. That's a hard question to answer, because what are your goals and objectives? Are you wanting to have a viable commercial fishery, a viable s

Fisheries committee  Yes, we have a northern troll licence. We're actually one of the first fleets to encounter salmon as they migrate back to their natal rivers. During that time, because of the way the management is of weak stocks, we have to forgo a lot of opportunities. There is a fair amount of

Fisheries committee  Yes, we encounter marked hatchery chinook and coho.

Fisheries committee  They are intermingled enough that I would say approximately 5% to 10% of our catch would be clipped fin. It's not enough to prosecute a fishery on. I would be hesitant about a catch and release, because you're going to encounter some mortality with a fish you are releasing. I don

Fisheries committee  I would say it's anecdotal. Yes, I would say they are more concerned about managing the stock and not really increasing the run sizes. They're more concerned about managing a declining number than they are about increasing those numbers.