Entitled perhaps to moan a bit . . . but still grateful: Steelheader.net- Steelhead, Salmon and trout fishing

Salmo: the purpose of the post was to convey information first, and have a general moan second. My submissions to various Skeena system fishing regulation review committees (including the ongoing one)start from the premises that:

a) BC steelheading is a world class experience and can be priced as such

b) The economic benefits of recreationally caught steelhead/ salmon dwarf those of commercially harvested fish, so the panels doing the evaluations should include members of the broader business community and not just guides

c) If there is a decision to limit fishing pressure on Skeena system rivers, the current (and proposed!) practice of allowing guides to buy/ sell "guide days" means that the entire economic benefit of enforced scarcity (i.e., no more guide days created, or guide days bought back and cancelled) accrues to the guides. I've recommended auctioning guide days annually with the gov't the beneficiary of higher prices.

So from the preceding, I think you'll agree that I have far from having a false sense of entitlement. In fact I think I'm helping the BC panel come up with ways of charging me more to fish the rivers I've grown to love. It just galls me to see the guides (the real owners of a sense of entitlement) reap the benefits of scarcity while motel operators, grocery store owners and gas station managers see a reduction of foreign fishermen because they're no longer able to fish the rivers they want to. Trust me, I'm real happy to be paying double the daily rate for Classified Waters than find out that people living in Singapore are banned from fishing District 6 in even-numbered years.

Having written all of that, the secondary reason for the post was to lament the passing of the Good Old Days when US$1 was worth C$1.50, gas was under C$1.00/ liter, and a day on the Copper down low was C$10. (I also remember when a case of Grolsch was $6.00 and might be known to whinge about that from time to time, too.)

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Irrespective of your perspective, I'm glad to see you posting from time to time on this Board. I recall your handle from 8 or more years ago (the last time I was on PP), and you were a voice of reason on many thorny recreational-commercial/ tribal-other resource allocation issues plus salmonid biology. Are you still with NSMS?

Skeena Fall 2009 trip already in the planning stages . . . you can never be too ready!

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