DAVE BOYES
1ST GENERATION FISHERMAN
Home Port: Courtenay, BC | Vessel Name: Borealis I
“Having an adjacent, renewable source of food and jobs is such a gift and we must all be vigilant to protect and sustain it.”
1. When and how did you start fishing?
I’d done three years of Marine Biology at UBC after high school, working in marine stores and a spar shop as summer jobs to pay for it. A friend and I put together a little sailboat and headed off for the South Pacific in 1974. I came back in 1976 and was working in a sawmill when I ran into a high school friend in a bar one night and he asked me if I wanted to go herring shaking. “Sure, I said, and then, what’s that?” Herring shaking led to a little salmon troll vessel, then a bigger one (then another and another) as I finished off a Masters degree. In the mid-eighties, a friend from Comox was looking for experienced halibut crew but I was green so I said I’d go for nothing to get experience. He ended up paying me a generous crew share anyway and after a few seasons on that vessel, I bought a halibut licence for my troller. Now halibut is my only fishery and this will be my 45th season….sure lucky I went to the bar that night!
2. Where do you usually fish?
Usually in Queen Charlotte Sound or Hecate Strait.
3. What is the best thing about fishing?
Being out on the sea and providing nutritious food from a well-managed and sustainable resource, and doing it all as a family. I have had my daughter, Tiare Boyes and nephew, Angus Grout fishing with me since they were both a very young age. One of my crew is an old high school friend who has fished with me, one way or another since 1978 and his daughter worked her way through university fishing on my boat. Another old friend retired at 61 from halibut, but now his middle daughter who is 35 fishes halibut with us.
4. What is your most memorable fishing experience?
When a trip is complete and we’re scrubbing up as we run back to port, it’s a great feeling to know we have dinner for 30 or 40 thousand people aboard, sustainably harvested from a renewable, local resource. The crew is happy and animated because they did a hard job well and they are about to be well-compensated for their efforts. That never gets old.
5. What do you believe everyone should know about wild Pacific halibut and the fishery?
The BC halibut fishery is one of the best managed fisheries in the world, with solid science done by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (established almost 100 years ago under Canada’s oldest international treaty) and with 100% at-sea and dockside monitoring. The halibut fishery supports well paid jobs in the harvest sector as well as in fisheries science and management and provides nutritious protein from a local, renewable resource.
6. What do you believe are the most important issues facing the wild Pacific halibut industry today?
Accomplishing Indigenous Reconciliation while maintaining the current strong management systems. The effects of climate change are yet to be seen in the halibut stocks, but management will have to respond to any changes in distribution and stock dynamics.
7. How would you describe the future of the wild Pacific halibut fishery?
Who can know the future, but if the current strong management system is maintained then I think the fishery will be able to adapt and respond. Having an adjacent, renewable source of food and jobs is such a gift and we must all be vigilant to protect and sustain it.
8. What three words/phrases best describe the wild Pacific halibut fishery today?
Sustainable
Responsible
Well-managed
1. What was your first job?
Sweeping the floor in an auto body shop when I was 14
2. What is your favourite thing to do when you’re not fishing?
Skiing and traveling
3. What is your favourite meal to eat on the boat when fishing?
Fried fish such as rougheye or wild Pacific halibut, especially when Angus Grout prepares it
4. What is your favourite wild Pacific halibut dish?
Barbecued wild Pacific halibut with lemon, olive oil and mustard
5. What is your favourite movie or TV show of all time?
News
6. What is your favourite song or who is your favourite artist?
Proud Mary by Creedence Clearwater Revival
7. What skill or craft would you like to master?
Playing the ukulele
8. Who is your hero?
Bernard Moitessier, the world famous French sailor and author