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Waste? What waste? Commercial fisher responds to Yellowknifer editorial

FISH-MAN-010
Brian Abbott, operator of the fish plant near Jolliffe Island, stands in front of his truck that caught fire late has year. Due to the thin ice the vehicle sat on, and the later theft of its wheels and tires, Abbott says his plans to haul it in sooner were hindered. Brendan Burke/NNSL photo

A commercial fisher says he has done nothing wrong after a photo of his burned-out truck appeared alongside a recent Yellowknifer editorial that lambasted the ills of illegal dumping, food wastage and environmental eyesores.

Brian Abbott, operator of the fish plant near Jolliffe Island, stands in front of his truck that caught fire late has year. Due to the thin ice the vehicle sat on, and the later theft of its wheels and tires, Abbott says his plans to haul it in sooner were hindered.
Brendan Burke/NNSL photo

On the heels of a previously published story about mounting reports of wastage in and around Yellowknife, an editorial titled, “Trail trash needs amnesty,” was printed on April 11. The editorial used a photo of a badly burned and seemingly abandoned truck – discovered by Yellowknifer during an April 1 drive on an ice road onto Great Slave Lake – as an example of the of the “ugly” side of some careless residents.

“Someone called me and said your truck is in the paper,” said Brian Abbott, nine-year operator of Great Slave Lake Fish Products Ltd.

“I said, 'nope. It's parked right here',” said Abbott, who owns the fish plant on Yellowknife Bay near Jolliffe Island.

Abbott told Yellowknifer he'd been planning on hauling in his burned truck – which he said caught fire on Dec. 28 – from its snowy grave for weeks but couldn't due to the thin ice the vehicle sat on. The situation was made worse, he said, after someone stole equipment off the truck – making it all the more difficult to tow his gutted truck back to his property.

“Here's some poor fisherman, with the misfortune of having his truck burn up and everything, and can't recover it, and then someone steels the wheels and tires,” Abbott said.

Abbott said he was eventually able to haul the truck back in – the night before an initial Yellowknifer article depicting the truck was published April 4.

Abbott, who described himself as environmentally conscious, said the subsequent editorial wrongfully characterized him and the work he does.

“I'm the last one on the lake every year. When the ice melts down I'm always the last fisherman out there and I clean every piece of crud all the way down the ice road every year,” he said, adding he worked to collect the environment waste left in the wake up the truck's fiery death.

“We picked up everything we could; burned hunks of metal, steel cords, wiring,” said Abbott.

Allowed to leave fish remains

As for the second photo featured in the April 4 story – one picturing piles of discarded, rotting fish remains – Abbott said not only is he allowed to dispose of unused fish parts – including heads and skins – in such a manner, but that he's told to do so by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).

Fishery regulations state, “no person who is food fishing for personal use or fishing for recreational or sport purposes shall waste any fish that is suitable for human consumption.”

According to DFO spokesperson Rosaleen O'Mahony, commercial fishers are exempt from these regulations and are allowed to dump fish parts in specific areas.

The DFO establishes “gurry grounds” – designated, agreed upon areas where dumping can legally occur.

In the winter months, Abbott said he is instructed to leave discarded fish on the ice – where the piles were pictured. In the summer, he said he is supposed to dump unused fish parts in open waters that exceed 30 feet in depth.

After launching an investigation into the reported piles of rotting fish waste, DFO told Yellowknifer in an email, “it was determined the piles of fish were discarded by commercial harvesters and were located in gurry grounds – areas designated by the DFO for disposal of commercially fish wasted fish waste byproduct and unmarketable species,” O'Mahony wrote.

But with an exemption for commercial fishers who dump fish remains, that still leaves sport and recreational anglers on the hook for fines and charges if they leave fish remains on ice or in the water. NWT Sport fishing regulations clearly state leaving fish on the ice is illegal.

Yellowknifer sought clarification DFO but didn't receive a response by press time.

I take after this place well, really well. My kids were taught that from the day they were born, you don’t leave anything on the beach or anywhere in the wild,” said Abbott.