Brawl breaks out during sockeye fishery on Fraser River: ‘Not sportsmanship’
brawl-breaks-out-during-sockeye-fishery-on-fraser-river-not-sportsmanship
#Brawl #breaks #sockeye #fishery #Fraser #River #sportsmanship,
The banks of the Fraser River were packed with anglers on Labour Day, hoping to take advantage of the final day of a rare recreational sockeye fishery.
There were plenty of smiling faces among the crowd in Chilliwack as they hauled their catch from the water and planned out whether to cook, freeze or share their bounty.
But just 24 hours earlier it was a different story: the celebratory mood descended into violence when a brawl broke out between several men, leaving at least one of them covered in blood.
The altercation was captured on camera and shared on social media by Willie Stroekher, a board member of the Pink Salmon Committee.
“We work very hard to get these fisheries open for everybody,” Stroekher told Global News. “We sit at all the meetings, and it’s people like this that ruin family-friendly fishing for other people that are trying to take advantage of these opportunities.”
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
“I was upset just seeing that — I was real upset.”
Stroekher said be believed the incident was the result of a dispute between two anglers over the ownership of a pink salmon that “turned physical very quickly.”
Witness Larry Ligma, however, said the conflict was the result of tight space on the banks of the river.
“Two guys showed up and they tried to butt into the crowd and they pretty much started a really big scene and it quickly escalated into a full-on brawl between the anglers who had been here since first light,” he said.
Whatever the reason for the fisticuffs, anglers Global News spoke with on Monday took a dim view of the incident.
“People need to respect the environment that they’re in and there’s no tolerance for that. When you see stuff like that, it’s only going to ruin future openings,” said Nathan Connor.
“When I saw it online, it really made me doubt whether I was going to come down this morning or not,” added Aaron van Beest.
“It was a big turn off. That’s not what fishing’s about. That’s not what the fishery is about. It’s not sportsmanship.”
The last time the river was open to recreational sockeye fishing was in 2022. A bumper return of up to 10 million of the fish led Fisheries and Oceans Canada to allow the rare opening.
Stroekher said the dust-up threatens to give a black eye to the otherwise successful fishery — one that advocates poured countless hours into negotiating through conflict between user groups to make happen.
He said he feared the incident could threaten future opportunities.
“We’re just happy to get out there and have some chances of getting some fish because it’s been years since we were able to,” he said.
“There’s people trying to take their kids out, there’s people trying to get their wives out, and it’s not a good environment if we’re fighting over fish, over pink salmon — it needs to stop.”
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.