Federal probe launched into illegal salmon fishing by US millionaires and conservation leaders
- quinnbender
- Feb 3
- 5 min read
Outrage grows after Chinook caught with First Nations permit during widespread bans along Skeena River
BY QUINN BENDER | for Black Press Media
The federal government is investigating what anglers in northern B.C. are calling a deceitful act of illegal salmon fishing involving a Terrace-area lodge and high-profile American conservation leaders.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) responded to the complaint on Aug. 12 at the Ecstall River, a lower tributary of the Skeena located roughly 40 kilometres southeast of Prince Rupert. Officers observed fishing activity in the closed river but did not lay charges after the party presented a food-fishing permit issued by the Lax Kw’alaams First Nation.
The Komaham Lodge — a private retreat owned by Bass Pro Shops — hosted the group and later said the fishing was part of a joint research project with the band, aimed at understanding declining salmon stocks.
The incident occurred during the second consecutive year of severe conservation measures that prohibited all recreational chinook fishing throughout the Skeena watershed. It sparked outrage among the local angling community and prompted calls for action from multiple B.C. conservation groups.
“It’s a joke. It’s window dressing of the highest order,” said Bob Hooton, a local angler, retired biologist, and former B.C. Environment Ministry fisheries section head for the Skeena region.
“There was never an intention to do research — it was just a cover to do what they really wanted to do: rip out a bunch of chinook salmon.”
In a letter responding to public concerns, Komaham Lodge identified some of its guests as the former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — now CEO of Ducks Unlimited — and the president of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation.
Guido Rahr, president of the Oregon-based Wild Salmon Center, was also listed as a presenter. However, in an email to Black Press Media, Rahr clarified that he participated only by phone and has never visited the lodge.
Efforts to reach other members of the fishing party were unsuccessful.
The lodge defended the trip as part of a relationship-building and data-gathering project with local First Nations. It said the six-day fishing permit had been freely issued by the Lax Kw’alaams for what it described as a “cutting-edge” study of chinook and coho salmon (referred to by their American names, king and silver).
In an email, lodge management stated the goal of the gathering was to seek “positive solutions to the salmon crisis.”
“The Komaham Lodge donated the lodge and trip expenses to host the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation in an effort to advance key conservation issues,” the email read.
“The lodge openly communicated with DFO and First Nations and obtained necessary permits. A First Nations fisheries biologist accompanied the group.”
But federal fisheries North Coast acting director Amy Wakelin, speaking on behalf of regional director Colin Masson, who was on holiday at the time, denied the department’s involvement and said no research approval had been given.
“We have not approved any scientific research on the Ecstall,” Wakelin said. “Normally, people would submit an application for a scientific licence — and that did not happen.”
She added that while First Nations are permitted to designate individuals to fish on their behalf for food, social, and ceremonial (FSC) purposes, the trip described by the lodge would not qualify.
“We don’t believe that the designation in this instance was consistent with the intent and spirit of bringing food into the community,” she said.
Representatives from the Lax Kw’alaams First Nation could not be reached for comment.
In an email to Hooton dated Aug. 21, Masson wrote that Bass Pro Shops had contacted a DFO employee about the idea of a research project. He said the Lax Kw’alaams later acknowledged they were working with Komaham Lodge in an effort to develop an assessment program.
Conservationists fear such arrangements threaten the integrity of Indigenous food-fishing rights and undermine conservation goals.
Anglers argue the practice does little to improve understanding of declining salmon populations and instead allows wealthy individuals to sidestep federal restrictions.
That perception intensified when a photo of nine private jets parked at the Terrace airport — reportedly belonging to members of the fishing party — began circulating on social media around the time of the excursion.
In a letter to DFO, B.C. Wildlife Federation president Harvey Andrusak called for a full investigation into what he described as potential abuse of First Nations fishing rights by non-Indigenous guests.
“It has the potential to seriously undermine the regulatory framework for angling and hunting in B.C. … beyond just fishing,” he wrote.
He said angling in closed areas can sometimes be justified when it produces meaningful biological data — but pointed out the only information collected during the trip were basic length and weight measurements, “hardly useful for population estimation, the purported objective.”
Hooton, who has led efforts among Northwest anglers to press DFO for answers, said the situation is unprecedented in his nearly four-decade career with the province’s fish and wildlife section.
“Nothing comes close,” he said. “I wouldn’t have spent any time on this if I thought the outcome would be inconsequential. This is precedent-setting. No doubt about it.”
Meanwhile, lawyers for SkeenaWild Conservation Trust — which describes the Skeena River as one of North America’s last remaining intact salmon watersheds — are reviewing the legal implications of the Lax Kw’alaams permit.
“So far, DFO is saying they don’t think it’s illegal and that it’s just a loophole in the permit system,” said executive director Greg Knox. “But it becomes the Wild West of fisheries management, where if you have some sort of arrangement — or the money to purchase one of these permits — you essentially have the same rights as First Nations to harvest fish.”
“Where does it end? Who’s accountable, ultimately, to managing the resource and ensuring the salmon populations are protected?”
Update: No charges likely in Ecstall River case, as anglers call for accountability
Months later, word surfaced that the federal investigation had been closed. Anglers who pushed for enforcement feared the matter was slipping away without consequences.
“This is too big to let die. Something has to be done here,” said Hooton.
In March 2019, minutes from the Lower Skeena Sport Fishing Advisory Committee meeting revealed that a DFO officer told attendees the file had been concluded. The officer reportedly said the angling was legally permitted under the Lax Kw’alaams’ Aboriginal FSC communal licence, and that no charges would be laid. The officer added that future communal licences might be revised to prevent similar incidents.
The update appeared to contradict earlier DFO statements. The department would not confirm to Black Press Media whether the case was officially closed. In a brief email, a spokesperson said only that internal discussions were ongoing.
“Fishery officers from the Conservation and Protection Program continue to work with our internal and external partners to provide clarity and information regarding this situation to all concerned,” the department said.
In a public letter to Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, Hooton called for formal warnings and tighter oversight.
“You can’t have people purchasing access to fish under a permit that was never intended for that purpose,” he wrote.
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