42 BCBUSINESS SEPTEMBER 2017
power of quota holders vis-à-vis produc-
ers, the lack of attention given to the
intergenerational concerns of •shermen
and their communities, the emergence of
new class structures" and other issues.
The
DFO's management of West Coast
•sheries has tilted toward conservation
since the policies of the 1996 Miff lin
Plan and subsequent licence buyback
programs reduced the number of
salmon licences by more than half.
B.C.'s •ve salmon species—coho, sockeye,
Chinook, pink and chum—comprise more
than 8,000 genetically unique stocks
that spawn in myriad rivers, streams,
creeks and even roadside ditches.
The feds recent ly renewed t heir
commitment to salmon conservation,
including a pledge to implement all
of former B.C. Supreme Court justice
Bruce Cohen's recommendations from
the inquiry into the 2009 collapse of the
Fraser River sockeye run.
Stuart Nelson, a Surrey-based •sher-
ies consultant, believes the critics are
comparing
ITQs to some utopia that
no longer exists, when salmon were so
abundant that the irst Europeans to
visit B.C. claimed they could walk across
streams on the backs of spawning •sh.
Management of commercial •shing had
to change from a free-for-all to something
more controlled, Nelson says. Unlike
SFU's Pinkerton, he sees a positive side to
climbing quota leasing costs: "It means
quota must have some value."
As with most other industries, Nelson
adds, young people can expect to pay
their dues—as a crew member or a
POOYA NABEI
IN THE SAME BOAT
Shaun and Sonia Strobel founded Skipper
Otto's to support independent fishermen
