A B.C. man is calling on Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to get to the bottom of ongoing illegal poaching and sales of salmon from the Fraser River.
Rodney Hsu, a member of the sport fishing advisory committee in the Fraser Valley, says it’s now an annual occurrence to hear reports of dead salmon tossed along roadsides nearby the river. But with this year being a more abundant run for sockeye salmon, he’s witnessed a surge in poaching.
On Aug. 28, Hsu posted a video about his concerns on his Fishing with Rod YouTube channel, after discovering garbage bags with dozens of rotting sockeye.
Presently, the only openings for sockeye fishing on the river have been for First Nations food and social ceremonial fisheries, which can employ nets. Recreational fishers are not able to retain any salmon and commercial vessels have been banned in order to protect the dominant four-year sockeye run, which this year has come in at about 5.5 million fish, as opposed to the 9.8 million that had been expected.
According to Hsu, poachers are selling fish on rural roads. Evidence of this is found online as illegal salmon sales are promoted on Craigslist and Facebook, for instance.
While the only legal means to purchase fresh sockeye is from a retailer procuring from a licensed supplier, such as an importer from Alaska, Hsu says sockeye salmon can be found pretty much everywhere.
“Now, if you want to buy salmon, it can be done pretty easily. If you come down to the Fraser Valley, they can be found on the roadside. It's illegal sales,” said Hsu.
Part of the problem is the demand for the fish, he said.
“So the buyers are, you know, they play just as big of a role as the sellers,” said Hsu.
The poachers are believed to be taking dozens of fish from the river; should the fish spoil in the hot weather, they are dumped, explained Hsu.
Hsu is challenging DFO to step up enforcement.
“Enforcement in the Fraser Valley is very low; it's pathetically low," he said, claiming there are "too many tasks for too few [DFO] officers."
He added finding out exactly who is dumping the fish is “in the best interest of every sector — recreational, the general public, First Nations.”
“What's more important is that these fish could have been back on the spawning grounds right now and producing offspring for the next generation,” said Hsu.
The Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance represents the interests of 25 Fraser Valley First Nations in partnership with DFO. An alliance spokesperson told Glacier Media on background there’s been high compliance among First Nations fishers.
In a statement to Glacier Media, DFO said it's aware "of continued illegal fishing activity on the Fraser River and the sale of these salmon."
When asked who's doing the dumping, DFO fishery officer Mike Fraser couldn't say.
"We do have some vehicle descriptions and plate numbers, so we have some active investigations," he said. "Obviously, we don't have that information for every source of dumped fish but we do some some where we have good information from the public."
Fraser added officers should be able to determine the origin "shortly."
Responding to Hsu's comment that more enforcement is needed, the fishery officer said the Fraser River is a large body of water to monitor.
"We've got a number of officers who are looking into these [poachings]. But it is difficult, just the vast areas there are [and] the number of authorized legal fisheries happening. The demand, when folks do look for this fish and they try to get fish either at a discount rate or whatever their goal is, it potentially fuels these fisheries and then folks just don't have the proper facilities to handle and store the fish. It's not uncommon this time of year that we do get some dumped fish."
Fraser says it's important the public look to legitimate commercial retailers. Fish that gets sold must go through the necessary health and safety inspections that are required when selling to the public, DFO says.
If caught poaching, the fine under Canada's Fisheries Act is up to $100,000.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated Rodney Hsu is a recreational fishing guide. He's the owner of sport fishing website fishingwithrod.com. He's also a member of the sport fishing advisory committee in the Fraser Valley, which is a regional advisory body to Fisheries and Oceans Canada on area-specific fishery issues.
