Fishers Blockade Port in Prince Rupert

Commentary Broadcast July 22, 1997

A statement in support of Canadian fishers blockading the Alaska ferry in Prince Rupert harbour.
BC fishers are tired of inaction by their politicians. They are angry at American fishers who have already taken more than five times their quota of Skeena and Nass River sockeye. Blockading that ferry boat was a grassroots response to the failure of politicians and bureaucrats to solve a vital problem: the division of salmon between Canadian and American fishers.

"We watch those guys sitting off Noyse Island kicking the hell out of our fish every year," one fisher said. "It’s time to take action, our government just sits there and rolls over every time the Americans open their mouths. We’ve had it."

I grew up in Prince Rupert and worked my way through University on my father’s fishing boat. I was able to make a living as a fisherman. Many young fishers today won’t have the same chance I did. So their protests are against more than the Americans taking their fish, they are also against Canadian policy: the changes introduced by the former minister of fisheries, Fred Mifflin. They effectively shut out younger fishers and raised the costs for those left in the fishery. It has been disastrous for coastal communities and commercial fishers. A 1996 provincial government report places the commercial fishing jobs lost due to the Mifflin plan at close to 2,200.

I recognize many of the men in the news clips. Some I went to school with, others I fished with on the same boat. I understand the frustration they feel. They are not protesting on a whim. For these men and their families the impact of the political impasse is not an academic matter. It translates directly into food for their families and clothes on their backs. As they sit with empty nets, the Alaskan fleet is loading up. To add insult to injury the same fish is then shipped into Prince Rupert to be processed.

BCers have a history of feeling alienated from Central Canada. BC fishers experience the apparent disregard of Ottawa in their daily lives. Where was the federal government when they were needed? Why haven’t they taken a stronger stance? What took David Anderson so long getting to Prince Rupert to speak with fishers?
For his part, Premier Glen Clark has taken an aggressive stance. He has threatened to close the Nannose testing facility, his party has taken out advertisements in US newspapers, and he has demonstrated unfailing support for the fishers. Many of them are uneasy about Mr. Clark’s pugnacious approach, he is at least standing up for them in a way that few federal politicians have.

If the blockade can be said to have accomplished anything, it is this: Standing as a united community commercial fishers have forced the federal government to respond to their needs. It is a shame they had to resort to direct action before the federal government began to take their concerns seriously.