The District of Vanderhoof council have agreed to write a strongly worded letter to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans about its decision to allocate just 12 per cent of B.C. halibut toward recreational and commercial sport fishing.
Council passed a motion to write the letter during the February 23 council meeting after receiving a letter from the Mayor of Kitimat asking for help.
Councillor Frank Read spoke out strongly in favor of writing the letter.
“This is going to destroy the sport fishing industry because the halibut is what everybody comes for from Alberta and so on,” said Read.
“It’s bad for tourism because there is a whole navy of boats that go through our community and every one of them from when they leave Edmonton till they get to Prince Rupert or Kitimat … they’re spending money all the way along – it’s a huge economy all the way across the province and if they can’t fish for halibut it’s going to be a real disaster,” he said.
“What they’re intending to do is just totally off the mark,” he added.
