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Willie Mitchell hosts second annual Fish for the Future derby in Tofino

“We’re really excited to get year number two under our belt.”
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Willie Mitchell, pictured here signing a young fan’s Canucks jersey outside Tofino Resort and Marina, is excited to help boost local salmon restoration efforts with funding reeled in at this weekend’s Fish for the Future derby. (Westerly File Photo)

Willie Mitchell is ready to reel in his second annual Fish for the Future tournament in Tofino this weekend.

The uniquely West Coast fishing derby casts a wide net of support over local efforts to restore damaged watersheds and replenish dwindling salmon stocks.

“We’re really excited to get year number two under our belt,” Mitchell told the Westerly News. “We’re looking forward to building on year one. It was a really successful event…Everyone has really been so supportive of this event and we’re really excited about it in the sense of what it has done.”

The former NHL star and owner of Tofino Resort and Marina launched the tournament last year in an effort to celebrate Tofino’s abundant fishing experiences while raising money to ensure those experiences can be enjoyed by future generations.

The family-friendly tournament raised over $20,000 in its inaugural showing and Mitchell hopes to score a heftier total at this year’s event, which will run from Sept 21-23.

Fish for the Future is hosted by Tofino Resort and Marina in partnership with the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation and every dollar raised is invested back into the watershed, with 80 per cent of the proceeds going to the Tofino Hatchery and 20 per cent going to the Clayoquot Salmon Roundtable.

“It’s a collective group of like minded people who are trying to give back to the watershed and basically figure out the challenges and enhance the watershed,” Mitchell said.

“They’re all important organizations, that is for sure, and we’re happy to support those and grow the event at a bigger and better level and hopefully make a mean little impact.”

Fish for the Future is a catch and release tournament where fishers may keep and harvest their catch if they choose to, but only fish that are released are eligible for prizes.

“What we’re trying to do is limit killing fishing for the sake of entering the fish,” Mitchell said. “That’s not the essence of what this event is about.”

Mitchell said he grew up fishing on Vancouver Island’s northeast coast and has always felt a strong connection to the ocean.

“The ocean for me is such a therapeutic place for me and a place to disconnect,” he said. “I want to be able to give that gift to the next generation, not just extract from the resource, and hopefully leave it in the same place or a better place than when I was using it.”

He added that local support for salmon enhancement efforts are vital because the species is a keystone to the Coast and the groups working to enhance Clayoquot Sound’s watersheds have faced a tough slog trying to find government funding.

“Everyone’s dollar is certainly important,” he said. “It’s not just about fisherman, it’s about whale watching tour companies and kayak companies that are here. If we don’t have salmon in this watershed, we don’t have all the beautiful things we call it home for.”

As part of the event, a dinner and silent auction will be held at Tofino Resort and Marina from 6:30-8:30 p.m., which will include a presentation from the Tofino Hatchery as well as a screening of a short film that highlights the challenges salmon are facing and the, largely volunteer, efforts being made to overcome them.

“We hope to not just show this piece for the audience, but to use this piece to put some pressure on the powers that be to get some more funding,” he said. “There is only so much money we can do locally, we need bigger organizations and the government to support.”



Andrew Bailey

About the Author: Andrew Bailey

I arrived at the Westerly News as a reporter and photographer in January 2012.
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