On Monday, Rick wrote:


Date: Mon Sep 1 2014 9:48 am
From: rickswan AT telus.net

Boundary Bay and Point Roberts have become a carnal house of Dead Birds that allegedly have been captured in Commercial Fish Nets - - - - -
Hi Tweeters -

Just a quick note that there are a number of commercial gillnet fisheries going on in the Point Roberts/Boundary Bay areas, including the Canadian, U.S. Treaty Tribal, and the U.S. "Non-Treaty" fleets. The management of the fishery and regulation of the gears, locations, etc. is under the auspices of the US/Canada Salmon Treaty, but the fleets are regulated by the several government bodies (CDFO, WDFW & NMFS, and the US Treaty Tribes).

Twenty years ago, the non-Treaty gillnet fishermen partnered with the Wash. Dept. of Fisheries and the U.W. Sea Grant Program to investigate and apply ways to significantly reduce the seabird mortality in the salmon gillnet fishery. Dr. Ed Melvin published a number of papers on the research, and expanded his research into other fisheries (long-line, etc.) to address bird bycatch here and around the world:
http://wsg.washington.edu/mas/resources/seabird.html

In about 1994, the State Department of Fish and Wildlife adopted Dr. Melvin's recommendations as rules governing the non-Treaty fishermen. Unfortunately for the birds, the Canadian and other managers of the fishery chose to not adopt these protective rules.

The work of Dr. Melvin is respected and used world-wide. This past week, a contingent from the United Kingdom under the auspices of the Birdlife International GAP2 exchange visited our State to observe the fishery, to learn and to teach. Senior policy officer for the BirdLife International marine programme, Rory Crawford traveled with Riley Bay (Yorkshire) salmon netsman Rex Harrison and Gap2 Communications Officer Katrina Borrow to see the gear and how it works in the fishery, to discuss the research with Dr. Melvin, and to talk with the WDFW salmon managers on the regulatory aspects.
https://www.facebook.com/GAP2Project
http://gap2.eu/gap2general/new-gap2-exchange-project-to-puget-sound-new-blogpost/

The non-Treaty gillnet fishermen understand that a healthy ecosystem is the foundation of their industry, and that partnering with the Environmental community, the NGOs, the universities, and the government regulators is crucial to continuing the fishery. Reducing bycatch through these gear modifications, through time and area restrictions, and through awareness of the interactions of the fish, the birds, and the fishermen is a win-win for all concerned.

It would be well if the regulators and fishing industries of the other jurisdictions would take a similar approach to reducing seabird bycatch in the Puget Sound/Strait of Georgia salmon fisheries.

Jon. Anderson
Olympia













Subject: SeabIrd Wreck Point Roberts Washington Richard Swanston Delta BC
Date: Mon Sep 1 2014 9:48 am
From: rickswan AT telus.net
Boundary Bay and Point Roberts have become a carnal house of Dead Birds that allegedly have been captured in Commercial Fish Nets
- See more at: http://birding.aba.org/message.php?mesid=759514&MLID=WA&MLNM=Washington%20Tweeters#sthash.Y04PVjdp.dpuf
Subject: SeabIrd Wreck Point Roberts Washington Richard Swanston Delta BC
Date: Mon Sep 1 2014 9:48 am
From: rickswan AT telus.net
Boundary Bay and Point Roberts have become a carnal house of Dead Birds that allegedly have been captured in Commercial Fish Nets
- See more at: http://birding.aba.org/message.php?mesid=759514&MLID=WA&MLNM=Washington%20Tweeters#sthash.Po3Yf2zG.dpuf