Knife-wielding man confronts European tourists fishing on Fraser River

Last Updated: Friday, July 11, 2008 | 2:40 PM ET
CBC News

Four European tourists sport fishing on the Fraser River in Agassiz, B.C., got more than they bargained for this week when they were confronted by an angry man wielding a knife, CBC News learned through an online fishing forum.

The tourists — three from Germany and one from Denmark — were fishing with a river guide on the shore of Ferry Island on Wednesday afternoon, the first day of their vacation, when their fishing lines got tangled in a drift net that was coming down the river with a fishing boat.

Chilliwack RCMP Const. Leanne Dunlop said the man was intoxicated and took issue with the fact that the tourists were fishing on the river.

Originally police said in a written statement that "the male drifting down the river with a drift net engaged in a verbal altercation with the tourist," but Dunlop later clarified that the tourists did nothing to provoke the incident.

"That person in that boat beached his boat and an altercation [between] the tourist and the male escalated to the point where a knife was produced and threats were uttered."

The fishing guide eventually persuaded the angry fisherman to get back in his boat without hurting anyone.

A 34-year -old man from the Sto:lo Indian Tribe was later arrested and released by police. The unidentified man is scheduled to appear in Chilliwack Provincial Court at a later date to face charges of assault with a weapon and uttering threats.

The RCMP said incident does not appear to have anything to do with the ongoing tensions between native and non-native fishermen over access to the declining number of fish in the Fraser River.

"This particular incident doesn't appear early indications to be at all directly related to any of the history with the Fraser Valley region or with fishing. It appears at this time in our investigation … we're dealing with an individual who took exception to the fact that some fishing lines got tangled in his net," said Dunlop.