City of Prince Rupert wades into fish table scrap

The City is asking the two parties in the Rushbrook fish table dispute to put aside their differences for the remainder of this season with the hope that the Port Edward Port Authority will allow the tables to remain for this summer.

The city is hoping for a delay in the removal order scheduled to take place July 31st, the decision to remove the tables has caused a fair amount of anger in the sport fishing community who feel they are being treated poorly by the local harbour authority.

The Daily News featured Mayor Herb Pond’s sense of shuttle diplomacy as the headline story in Thursday’s paper.

CITY HOPES TO TURN THE TIED ON FISH-TABLE DECISION
Mayor Herb Pond calling on all parties to work on better waterfront facilities
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Pages one and three

The City of Prince Rupert is asking the Port Edward Harbour Authority to keep the fish-cleaning tables at Rushbrook Floats, at least until the end of the season.

Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond said the city has written and spoken with management at Rushbrook Floats asking them to delay implementing the decision to remove the tables, slated for July 31.

“We sympathize with the reasons motivating them, and we’ve been assuring them, while it is not directly a city issue, we are willing to work with them and others during the winter to make sure we hit the next season with a solution that works for everybody,” said Pond.

Sports fishermen are upset with the decision to remove the tables. However, the Port Edward Harbour Authority has defended the decision, claiming the tables cause congestion at a small-craft harbour and the facility is primarily intended for commercial use, not for sport fishermen.

Pond said the city is aware that the harbour gets funding in order to operate to serve the commercial fleet - and that it is its primary purpose.

At the moment, the waterfront needs improving for all sectors, he said.

He also defended the city’s decision to put in a parking meter at Rushbrook Floats earlier this season, including the decision to charge seasonal charter operators a higher seasonal parking fee than recreational fishermen. The parking pass, $300 for a local charter operator to park a vehicle and trailer for the season, includes unlimited use of the launch site but not dock use.

The fish cleaning table and parking issues are two separate issues, said Pond.

“We would have the parking issue regardless – the boat launch is there no matter what,” he said.

Pond said all user groups need to work together and improve Prince Rupert’s waterfront from one end to the other.

“We need to improve it for everybody. Again it’s not necessarily something that falls completely to the city but we want to play a key role for that,” he said.

This includes the commercial fleet, the sport fleet, the recreational fleet and the yachters.

“The demands on our waterfront have changed dramatically but largely because of the downturn we haven’t kept up and now we are playing catch up,” Pond said.

While the company behind the Chances Community Gaming Centre has discussed the option of putting in a new recreational marina near the facility, this would be several years down the road and no other plans have been announced to deal with the problem.

That’s why they need a plan.

“If we can get through the summer season I would love the city to play a role in the planning process that identifies some funding and some targets, one at a time, to make this better,” he said.
“At the end of five years, perhaps we can have a waterfront that works for everybody.”