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.
Brendan Burke/NNSL photo
On the heels of a previously published story about mounting reports of wastage in and around Yellowknife, an editorial titled, SA国际影视传媒淭rail trash needs amnesty,SA国际影视传媒� was printed on April 11. The editorial used a photo of a badly burned and seemingly abandoned truck SA国际影视传媒� discovered by Yellowknifer during an April 1 drive on an ice road onto Great Slave Lake SA国际影视传媒� as an example of the of the SA国际影视传媒渦glySA国际影视传媒� side of some careless residents.
SA国际影视传媒淪omeone called me and said your truck is in the paper,SA国际影视传媒� said Brian Abbott, nine-year operator of Great Slave Lake Fish Products Ltd.
SA国际影视传媒淚 said, 'nope. It's parked right here',SA国际影视传媒� 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 SA国际影视传媒� which he said caught fire on Dec. 28 SA国际影视传媒� 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 SA国际影视传媒� making it all the more difficult to tow his gutted truck back to his property.
SA国际影视传媒淗ere'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,SA国际影视传媒� Abbott said.
Abbott said he was eventually able to haul the truck back in SA国际影视传媒� 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.
SA国际影视传媒淚'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,SA国际影视传媒� he said, adding he worked to collect the environment waste left in the wake up the truck's fiery death.
SA国际影视传媒淲e picked up everything we could; burned hunks of metal, steel cords, wiring,SA国际影视传媒� said Abbott.
Allowed to leave fish remains
As for the second photo featured in the April 4 story SA国际影视传媒� one picturing piles of discarded, rotting fish remains SA国际影视传媒� Abbott said not only is he allowed to dispose of unused fish parts SA国际影视传媒� including heads and skins SA国际影视传媒� in such a manner, but that he's told to do so by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).
Fishery regulations state, SA国际影视传媒渘o 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.SA国际影视传媒�
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 SA国际影视传媒済urry groundsSA国际影视传媒� SA国际影视传媒� 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 SA国际影视传媒� 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, SA国际影视传媒渋t was determined the piles of fish were discarded by commercial harvesters and were located in gurry grounds SA国际影视传媒� areas designated by the DFO for disposal of commercially fish wasted fish waste byproduct and unmarketable species,SA国际影视传媒� 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.
SA国际影视传媒�I take after this place well, really well. My kids were taught that from the day they were born, you donSA国际影视传媒檛 leave anything on the beach or anywhere in the wild,SA国际影视传媒� said Abbott.
