B.C. sport fishers brace for reconciliation-based salmon policy changes – Business in Vancouver
May 28, 2026
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is set to alter its Salmon Allocation Policy to incorporate First Nations commercial fishing rights
B.C.’s recreational fishing industry lures thousands of tourists to the province each year generating an estimated $1.25 billion in expenditures, but it could soon be clubbed over the head again, ocean charter operators say.
Following a round of public consultation that concluded in March, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is now set to revise the 1999 Salmon Allocation Policy, which could further limit recreational fisher access to coho and chinook salmon.
A revision to the policy was launched in 2018 following a B.C. Supreme Court decision affirming Indigenous rights to commercial fishing on Vancouver Island.
