PUBLICATION:  Calgary Herald

DATE:  2007.03.16

EDITION:  Final

SECTION:  Q: Queries - Quibbles - Quirks

PAGE:  A23

COLUMN:  Inbox: Your Space - Your Time

BYLINE:  Syd Pallister

WORD COUNT:  227

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Hopeful

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Fishermen - Re: "Enough Tory spin already," Bob Scammell, Opinion, March 8.

Like most recreational fishing groups, the Sport Fishing Institute of British Columbia is deeply concerned by some of the language and legislative proposals set out in Bill C-45, the federal government's proposed new Fisheries Act.

The bill attempts to modernize a 138-year-old act, and it could inadvertently weaken some of the rights and protections traditionally accorded to recreational anglers on the coast, leading to the greater privatization of what Canadians have always regarded as a common-property resource.

In a recent meeting with Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn and his senior officials, we were assured that this was not the intention. Hearn said that fisheries would remain a common-property resource and that the rights and traditions of recreational anglers would be protected. Hearn further said that government was willing to amend Bill C-45 to address these concerns and guarantee certainty of access and opportunity for recreational anglers in what one of his colleagues redubbed as the "public fishery."

While we certainly understand the public apprehension over Bill C-45, we are prepared to take Hearn at his word, and work to improve the proposed legislation so that all Canadians continue to have the right to harvest some fish for their personal use.

Syd Pallister,

Burnaby, B.C.

Syd Pallister is president of the Sport Fishing Institute of British Columbia.