Government funding and concerns for West Coast fisheries, enhancement and habitat restoration was discussed in Port Alberni on Thursday, July 20 with the visit of Terry Beech, parliamentary secretary to the minister of fisheries.
The meeting was set up by Gord Johns, Courtenay-Alberni MP, who is vocal in gathering government members to come to Port Alberni to see first hand the issues the community faces with fisheries and the need for further federal support.
“We’ve been long time advocating for investments in habitat restoration and enhancement. Since getting elected, I’ve put a lot of energy in that,” Johns said. “I’ve advocated hard to get West Coast Aquatic to appear before the finance committee to support their project, which is supported by all levels of government.”
West Coast Aquatic has asked for $15 million from the federal government for its Somass River habitat restoration plan.
READ: $15M request for West Coast Aquatic fish habitat.
Johns said the aquatic management board is a unique board in Canada and a model organization that brings forward in-depth local knowledge for a strong fisheries management plan.
“We’ve got a huge responsibility to future generations to ensure that there’s returning fish every year, we need to get back to abundancy,” Johns said. “The Nuu-chah-nulth had abundancy when they managed the fisheries so it makes sense that we listen to that important local knowledge.”
Johns says help and investments are needed from Ottawa to get abundance back in Alberni.
“West Coast Aquatic is one of many organizations that have put forward and excellent proposal to get us on the right track and to do that we need government to see it first hand and understand it,” he said.
Vocal in the house of commons, Johns said he has raised his concerns about this year’s Somass River fishing closures and the lack of governmentofficials showing up in his riding to address the sockeye and fishing issues.
“Our sockeye salmon has an impact on the local economy in the tens of millions of dollars and when we have a closure like we did in June, we don’t get that money back. We can’t just go back and fix local restaurants, marinas, the whole community….everybody is impacted,” he said. “I’m really grateful to have Terry (Beech) with us to my call to action… to come out here first hand to meet with stakeholders and to gain perspective and local wisdom that they have.”
Johns said he has also been vocal in the urgent need for investments in extended EI for fishers
“When we have slow fishing seasons like this year, we call on the government to extend EI,” he said. “We’re really worried that a lot of our fisheries wont qualify for EI, so we’re hoping the government will help us extend EI or invest in projects.”
Steve Tatoosh, Hupacasath First Nation chief, said if fishers don’t catch enough fish in the season they won’t qualify for EI.
“Due to the fact it’s a conservation year, we asked our fisherman to hang their boat keys up and not fish until escapement picked up,” Tatoosh said. “Now that escapement has finally picked up, we’re really hoping that they’ve caught enough fish to qualify for EI benefits at the end of the season.”
Tatoosh said he hopes government officials will hear the concerns from local First Nations and will in turn spend more time and money into Port Alberni.
“A parliamentary official hasn’t been here for 17 years,” he said. “It’s good to remind them that we’re still here.”
Beech met with local First Nations members, mayor Mike Ruttan and other Valley stakeholder groups who articulated the importance salmon has on the local economy, culture, food security and recreation.
“We have some very exciting opportunities with the $1.5 billion Oceans Protections Plan,” Beech said. “That’s allowing us to make investments like in coastal restorations. The $75 million fund (for habitat restoration) is something that West Coast Aquatic has been applying for.”
Beech said in terms of individual investments, he can’t say yet where the funds will be allocated but that while the Oceans Protection Plan is national in scope, it does disproportionately benefit B.C.
“It means we’re going to be able to do better science and better stock assessments. For so long, communities have had a lot of good projects like the group here (West Coast Aquatic) that they’ve wanted to get done but we haven’t had the financial ability to move forward on it because the federal government has been somewhat absent,” Beech said.
“Now that we are moving ahead in this way, the $75 million coastal restoration fund is a good start, but we’re looking for many opportunities across a whole government approach.”
Beech will relay the messages he heard while in the Alberni Valley to the minister of fisheries and oceans.
