Smithers Town Council has approved to send a letter to the federal fisheries minister in support of an earlier Chinook opening date in the Skeena Region.
According to Councillor Lorne Benson, July 15 is when the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) will review if and when the Skeena Watershed should be open for the season.
In May, the DFO announced recreational fishing will be closed in the Skeena watershed from May 21 until mid July.
In the draft letter written by Councillor Benson that was presented to Council during the June 23 council meeting he mentioned that the freshwater angling industry contributed around $500 million to the region’s tourism sector last year.
Deputy Mayor Gladys Atrill said she is unsure how much power one additional letter will have on the decision.
“I guess what it demonstrates is a little bit of solidarity with the municipality and some of our citizens who are saying they would like to have access to their recreation of choice and I think the conversation around the table acknowledges the complexity of managing fisheries considering the current structure,” she said.
Last year, the DFO announced recreational fishing for Chinook and sockeye was closed in the Skeena watershed because of low spawning numbers.
Atrill also said she believes last year’s closure will have an impact on the decision.
“The thing that is different this year is we have the whole COVID pandemic and the reaction to it that I think people accept that there have to be decisions regarding COVID so, border closures and if people are going to be able to cross provincial borders and national borders,” she said.
According to Councillor Benson, the DFO is expecting around 40,000 Chinook in the Skeena watershed.
During the meeting, Benson added opening the freshwater angling earlier could help with the tourism industry since the downturn it has taken because of the COVID-19 pandemic.