Bob Hooton – Protector and Defender of Skeena Steelhead
Most of the article below was copied from “Steelhead Voices” a blog that is no longer online (sadly) but suspect its like many of us old timers, there comes a time when we need to hang up our hat. That said there are a number of books written by Bob that hold enormous value to those who want to protect this valuable resource. And no we do not get any commission, Bob does not even know us here. Bob was born in 1946 and here he is still fighting for our steelhead, thanks Bob.
In or around 1971 Bob moved to a Victoria office to work with the Department’s Habitat Protection Section. In 1975 a senior fisheries biologist position in Nanaimo came open, thus beginning an eleven year stint in the steelhead management arena. A leave of absence to obtain a Master of Fisheries Science degree from the University of Idaho was included in that period.
After building a foundation for steelhead management on Vancouver Island the opportunity to tackle the infamous Skeena steelhead commercial fishery interception issue beckoned. A move to Smithers came near the end of 1986. That assignment consumed another 13 years most of which is best characterized as trench warfare between those on a mission to save a truly remarkable steelhead resource and those who viewed them as a nuisance and impediment to livelihoods.
A baker’s dozen years of some of the most memorable events in the history of federal/provincial fisheries relations closed out with a return to the Vancouver Island regional office in Nanaimo in 1999. Not long afterward came the role of supervising the Fish and Wildlife Section. That filled in the remaining years, 37 in total, before retirement in January 2008.
The passion for steelhead did not retire when I did but the climate for influencing their future has become more difficult than ever. The inertia of government drove me to assemble my first book, Skeena Steelhead – Unknown Past, Uncertain Future. It stands as the one and only historical reference for those interested in gaining an appreciation for how the world renowned Skeena steelhead resource has been treated over the 130+ years we’ve known it. A year after Skeena Steelhead was published I began a second book, this time to record my personal experiences that bracket more than 50 years as an angler and those 37 as a fisheries professional. A dozen of British Columbia’s steelhead streams that made lifelong impressions on me were covered in that work.
Unfortunately the eagerly anticipated version of that second book fell far short of promises and expectations. The publisher made too many unilateral decisions and applied cost saving measures and poor workmanship that compromised an otherwise potentially high quality book. The end result of multiple exchanges that followed was the return of the publishing rights to me whereupon I embarked on a self publishing adventure. Its taken the combined efforts of an outstanding book design specialist (Brad Grigor), a highly regarded Canadian printing firm (Friesens) and the financial support of the British Columbia Federation of Fly Fishers but a quality book befitting the subject material will be available before the end of July, 2018. Purchases can be made through the BCFFF at http://bcfff.bc.ca/pub_riverspast.php This time I’m proud to see my name on the cover. Sincere thanks to all who made this self publishing effort possible.