It takes a community: the advocate
Destination BC | Jeremy Koreski
Rod Clapton is part of the invisible army of volunteers that works in the background to bring about positive change.
Story Series: It takes a community
In a time when trails, roads, campgrounds, rivers and lakes are busier than ever, it’s important to remember that it takes a community to make fun possible. This story is part of a series of profiles on the people who work behind the scenes in B.C., so you can have that special moment today.
“They” should do a lot of things. They should move that fallen tree on a trail. They should build a better parking lot. They should support new users and address a conflict between stakeholders. Whatever it is, the universal “they” are almost always responsible. What is often less clear is who “they” actually are.
Most of the time it’s an advocacy group: a club or organisation made up of volunteers who invest countless hours to support causes and promote better policies. Their efforts create parks, build new infrastructure, maintain trails and campgrounds, influence politicians and bureaucrats, and change rules and regulations. In short, advocates are the invisible force that enables just about every positive act in recreation.
As an example consider Rod Clapton, the president of the B.C. Federation of Drift Fishers (BCFDF). A life long angler, he cared both about the trout and salmon he liked to catch and the importance of recreational fishing. The fish are an integral part of the ecosystem and what makes B.C. super natural. Casting a line into a river is as much about hydrology, freshwater ecology, marine biology, forestry, the nutrient and water cycle, and an appreciation of nature, as it is about reeling in dinner. By default anglers care about the environment.
But he was starting to get frustrated. In the early 1990s he noticed there were fewer fish, the rules for catching them didn’t make sense, and the recreational fisherman working with the government didn’t share his ideas for the future. In 1996 he co-founded the BCFDF to advocate for people who liked to fish in rivers with a line, weights and lures, rather than fly rods. Clapton has been volunteering his time ever since, serving for nearly 30 years on the BCFDF’s board of directors.
“I don’t do it for me,” he says. “I do it for my children and grandchildren. I’ve seen good fishing. I want future generations to have the same opportunities I had.”
The federation's goals, in order, are conservation of fish species and then of fishing opportunities. They raise money and volunteer time to habitat rehabilitation projects across the province. They push for more sustainable fishing practises. They host outdoor shows and events that help new anglers and the next generation get hooked on the sport. And they represent anglers on 15 different provincial boards and committees.
They are one of the most influential groups when it comes to angling advocacy, with province wide input on issues impacting salmon and other anadromous fish species. The federation often plays a leading roll in talks with the federal and provincial governments.
Currently, the drift fishers are working on several projects. Across the province, they’re encouraging less talk and more action on steelhead recovery efforts. A sea run rainbow trout, steelhead are critically endangered in the southern part of the province and now recently healthy populations in the north are starting to decline.
At the same time, the group is also working to find ways of fishing without disturbing endangered species. It’s a delicate balancing act of timing, location and fishing techniques, Clapton says. Analysis involving federation members is showing it is possible using bar fishing for Thompson River chinook salmon or catch and release on Fraser River tributaries in the Lower Mainland.
A more integrated and diverse project is advocating for protection of the Heart of the Fraser, a vast area of floodplains, side channels, wetlands, gravel bars and islands between Hope and Vancouver. Human development has destroyed 85 percent of the mosaic of waterways critical for all types of salmon, along with white sturgeon, amphibians and birds. The devastating flooding in November 2021 created a unique opportunity to “build back better.” The federation along with many other stakeholders is hoping to steer rebuilding efforts to be fish and habitat friendly.
But Clapton is most proud of the federation’s efforts to find common ground with First Nations groups along the lower Fraser River. Through two projects, the Peacemakers and the Lower Fraser Collaborative Table, Clapton and local Indigenous leaders have de-escalated tensions between recreational fishers, commercial fleets and First Nation anglers.
“It took getting involved at the grassroots level,” says Clapton. “Person to person, conversations over a cup of coffee, get a hell of a lot more done than a bunch of people stuffed in a conference room.”
The provincial and the federal governments recognized their efforts with the 2017 National Recreational Fishing Award.
“The volunteer work of your membership is exemplary as it has contributed to positive relations with the First Nations harvesters and recreational anglers resulting in a well-managed fishery on the Pacific coast,” wrote Dominic LeBlanc, the minister for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Clapton brushes off the recognition. “I do it for love of nature, for the fish species, and for future generations,” he says.
He, like pretty much every other advocate in the outdoor recreation world, is an optimist that believes that one person with a passion can make a difference.
“The world is changed by those that show up,” he says. “We show up.”
Ryan Stuart started writing about his adventures as a way to get paid to play. Twenty years later he’s still at it. Look for his name in magazines like Outside, Men’s Journal, Ski Canada, online at Hakai and The Narwhal. When he’s not typing at his home office in Vancouver Island’s Comox Valley, you can find him skiing, hiking, mountain biking, surfing, paddling or fishing somewhere nearby.
