Fishing lodges still in swim of things

David

LAST YEAR was not
_the best for the sport-
fishing industry, what
“with commercial fisher-
:. men and Indians, plus
., Americans north and
_ south, arguing over who
. gets what salmon.

The heart of the maiter
appeared to be that there were
not enough fish to go round,
and in those circumstances,
who wanted to go fishing?
Now, B.C. fishing lodges
» have a powerful ally: a provin-
'.- chal and federal report into the
- economic.value of salmon in
“B.C. by the ARA Consulting
. Group of Vancouver.
~ + The report says $501 mil-
ion was infected to B.C.’s_*

‘economy in 1994 by chinook

and coho sport fishing anglers
compared with'$78 million by.

‘the commercial sector. Fish | ~

caught by recreational anglers
“amounted to only 20% ofthe

commercial catch’— which.
boils down to a sport-caught
' ‘fish generating $671 per fish

“" versus $26 per commercial .

» fish.
-.. Finally, the report claims
that the he Sportfishing industry

provides six times as many
Jobs as the commercial sector.
The study notes that “DFO
(Department of Fisheries and
Oceans) has a responsibility to
allocate the salmon resource
to its best use.

In other words, chinook
salmon are too valuable to be
yarded into nets and on to
supermarket counters. They
should be set aside for sport
fishing only.

Randy Wright of the Oak
Bay Marine Group says the
industry must change the per-
ception that a fisherman is just
a person who puts gas in his
boat and goes out and catches
a salmon.

“This is a value-added
industry,” insists Wright. “My
clients include a party of 13
from Panama who are going
up to the Queen Charlotte
Islands and then out to the
West Coast. While the men
are up north their wives will
be at the Pan Pacific Hotel in
Vancouver and going shop-
ping. Think of the money they
will spend.”

Tom Bird, Vancouver-

based DFO recreational fish-

eries director, said the sport-
fishing industry was not vol-

by politicians such as Brian
Tobin and Glen Clark who are

scheduled events such as the
Haida Gwait tournament with

with general managers and ex-
players July 23-27.

ume-driven, the “biftion-dollar
business being a good use for
the product.” He added that
fish limits would likely remain
the same, although there were
concerns about low chinook
stocks on the west coast of
Vancouver Island.

According to Wright it
looks like being a good sea-
son. Forecasts are for low runs
of sockeye, pinks and chums,
which means less activity by
the commercial fishing fleet,
resulting in fewer chinook
caught in their nets and more
fish making it to southern
rivers.

Wright, whose Victoria-
based group has six operations
in B.C., has a new alliance
with Air BC and Air Canada,
and has two-night fly-in pack-
ages at the Canadian Princess
Resort at Ucluelet starting at
$295.

Rick Bourne, president of
Langara Fishing Lodge in the
Queen Charlottes, has worked
nine U.S. outdoor shows. He
says bookings are down

all talk and no action.

Bourne cites the $13 mil-
lion paid to fisheries bureau-
crats in Ottawa who want to
cut $3 million in B.C., includ-
ing hatcheries, and only allo-
cate a small number of staff to
West Coast recreational fish-
ing.
Meanwhile Langara has

$100,000 in prizes cunning
May 10-14. And July 2-6 is
the World Rugby event in the
company of notables such as
ex-All Black Andy Haden.
This is followed by a father
and son, mother and daughter
tournament, a couples tourna-
ment September 7-10, and
there's also an NHL outing

At other lodges: Peregrine
has trap shooting and a golf
driving range, Hakai Beach
Resort has tennis courts and
sandy beaches good for crab-
bing, Rendezvous Lodge is a
quiet getaway, and St. John’s
Fishing Lodge offers the
allure of a converted BC Ferry
in a cove near Bella Bella.

TRAVELOGUE FILPA TG
narrated live on stage by

= [ Fran Reidelberger |

A NEW report claims the eportfishing industry pro-

vides six times as many jobs as 5 the commercial sec:

tor in the province of B.C.

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