B.C.T.F.A. NEWLETTER #8 DEC. 12, 2002   DEAR MEMBER, Things sure heated up real fast as soon as I got home from fishing. After dealing with 168 E-mails, which created 77 phones calls, I was off to Vegas. Wayne Moody, President of WFOA, invited me to their A.G.M. in Vegas. For three days I attended meetings with their board and the American Fishermen’s research Foundation. I think, I only screwed up once but it created chuckles around the board meeting during introductions. As each board member introduced himself and it came to Stan Davis’s turn [F.V. Night Wind], I replied, "So you’re the man on the Nightmare". When the laughter died down I told Stan that I would report back to my membership that it is only rumour he has horns growing out of his head. Why did I go? Mostly for good- will, a lot of animosity developed over the past three years. The Treaty has been saved and it was now time to work together. The next three years are very important. If things don’t go well; we will be back renegotiating the treaty. I never laid eyes on more than 5 out of the 22 directors of WFOA before Vegas. Now we know each other personally and I know this will be beneficial in the future. TOPICS DISCUSSED: 1. New Treaty requirements. How far along is each country to implementing for 2003? Briefly, President Bush has signed off and it’s before the U.S. senate but the senate has far bigger things on their plate, like preparing to go to War with Sadam Insane. The briefing paper, for a brief moment, was brought up but was presented badly and mixed up with the east coast lobster bill before them and everything was shelved till the next sitting. As far as Canada is concerned the message I passed on to them from DFO was –we are ready to implement for 2003 season but will only do so if the U.S. is also in position. See Attachment #1. "Summary and Talking Points". 2. The possible formation of a Canadian Highly Migratory Species Foundation. I outlined to them possible projects that this Foundation could accomplish, much like their A.F.R.F. I got the impression they thought it would be a very good thing and that possibly the two foundations could work jointly on special research projects. See attachment #2. 3. Tuna Advisory board (T.A.B.) I told the WFOA board that DFO sent a mail out to 217 tuna vessel owners. DFO is sending out a terms of reference on consultation. A board called TAB will be formed and this association will be seeking seats on it. From the Department’s perspective, the key is to consult with stakeholders through the advisory process and examine various options for managing the Canadian fleet fishing in the US waters before any decisions are made for changes to the fishing plan. The objective is to pursue a management regime, which best meets, the needs of government and industry and ensures successful implementation of Canadian obligations under the Treaty. The amended treaty offers some flexibility and there are tools the Department can use within our current regulation and licensing system to enforce a regime either using vessel fishing months or number of vessels. 4. Marketing and prices paid in 2002.Very interesting and much more disturbing to say the least. WFOA has hired a "Top Gun" Ross Powell, who researched what was happening to prices and European Markets. Looks terrible! More and more spray brine boats switching over to Blast. Ross and the WFOA have a lot of damage control to do this winter. A lot of doom and gloom talk transpired over the three days. Sounds like B.C. I think the time has come that we sit down and talk with our Tuna buyers and processors in B. C. We need long term stability if we are going to make a living in this racket. The board has instructed me to try and set up a buyers/ processors/directors meeting. I will do so. There’s nothing worse than to call a party and no one shows, but we feel it must be tried. Three companies are lined up so far. Will report to you at a general meeting. Directors Meeting We had our first directors meeting Dec. 5th. Besides house keeping that always has to done we spent the whole day on the following. 1/. TAB reps see attachment #3 2/. TAB strategy and positions 3/. BCTFA positions already established by members 4/. Directors terms of office, names were drawn out of a hat by Dave Chambers (member and invited guest to board meeting) the following board members have a 1-year term, all others have 2-year terms. 1 year-Bill DeGreef, Larry Teague, Gregg Holm, Korey Sundstrum, Linda Teague and Bruce Wight. No one can say it wasn’t democratic when the whole executive got 1-year term! 5/. L.A. Seafood Show 6/. Marriage made in B.C. Show 7/. CHMSF report 8/. Mercury scare and testing. Motion passed to conduct testing. Will report findings at General Meeting. 9/. Set up meeting with B.C. buyers and processors, what happened this year, why, what can we do as buyers and fishermen to stabilize the industry? 10/ Next directors meeting Dec. 20/02. On agenda so far: TAB debriefing. Planning for GM. At last directors meeting we had two guests. I say this because you all know the date of the next directors meeting and if you wish to make a presentation please call well before and I will allocate enough time for you. Please, no drop- ins. 12 people were elected to represent you, use them, and pick a "Pet Director" to voice your concerns, that’s their obligation to you. If you feel one of them isn’t doing their job, elect someone else at the next A.G.M. General Meeting Jan 11th 2003 The Board has called a General Meeting of the association. This is your, required by law, two week notice. Please mark this date on your new 2003 calendar. As always, this is your day to give direction, come out and Vote! Association policy is only made at general and annual general meetings of the association not at board meetings. We only make recommendations to you and carry out those motions passed by members. Motions passed become policy of the association and it is this policy we take into all meetings. Location of General Meeting is Beban Park Complex, 2300 Bowen Rd. Nanaimo on Jan 11th 2003 at 10am. Speakers will be Lorne Clayton, CHMSF, and Lisa Mijacika DFO. AGENDA EVERYONE WELCOME TILL 1PM 10:00 SIGN IN --INTRODUCTIONS (Coffee and donuts) 10:15 C.H.M.S.F -- Lorne Clayton 11:00 VOTE on Formation and Directors of C.H.M.S.F. 11:30 Mercury scare and testing processor/buyer meeting report 12:00 Lunch --Supplied. Members Only 13:00 T.A.B debriefing—Lisa Mijacika DFO 13:30 Membership input. 15:00 Coffee Break (15 min) 15:15 Membership policymaking, future positions to take into TAB 17:00 Adjourn First TAB Meeting Dec. 16, 2002, First off, I want to reassure everyone that your 4 reps will adhere to BCTFA policy and nothing more. We will report back to you exactly what transpired, any recommendations from Government, DFO and other TAB reps. When you have been debriefed at the GM we will collectively make decisions. Day one at TAB will be harsh. The $64 K question – why are you in the room? Who do you represent? If we are able to get by this, then maybe we can get down to business. What is going to come out of this first meeting no one knows. Two more associations have been formed, fishing groups, Halibut Guild, Natives, and Sport fishermen all seeking seats. A monster is loose! Suspicion, greed, lack of trust in representation and DFO to do a good job and secure a place for the individual is all coming into play as you read through the following attachments #4, #5, and #6, keep in mind two very basic freedoms we enjoy in a free country, Freedom of speech and Democracy (Voting). When all is said and done, some I fear could be culled from the fleet. Those few will have an appeals board. The biggest hurdle to get over will be the personal agendas brought into TAB. If this is allowed I’ll agonize over the demise of TAB and DFO, yet again, saying we consulted with you, you guys can’t agree on anything so we’ll go and do what we think best. Does this scenario sound familiar? We have all come from other failed fisheries. This is the last Bastion for many of us. Let’s not fail this time. One last thought. I am very surprised at membership feed back. At the last directors meeting I asked every director what kind and how many enquires have they been receiving. All directors reported very little to none accept for Korey Sundstrum who reported 25-30. What would you if you were in my shoes, conclude from this? If these new associations are up and running and our membership is still strong, which I predict will be, I will have answered by own question. Thank-you for you trust and support. A Very Merry Christmas and Happiness in the New Year to you and your loved ones.     Larry Teague President, B.C.T.F.A.