Feds taking action on sockeye decline, minister insists
'Of those 75 recommendations, there was no smoking gun'
Kamloops Daily News, Mike Youds, November 6, 2013
Fisheries Minister Gail Shea says Ottawa is responding to the recommendations of the Cohen commission on the decline of Fraser River sockeye, contrary to criticism from conservation groups.
“We have recognized how important salmon are to B.C.,” Shea said after conservation groups demanded an action plan with a timeline.
“I haven’t spoken to anyone who wasn’t in some way connected to salmon. Salmon is definitely king. That’s one reason why the prime minister called for the Cohen commission back in 2007.”
Shea said the two-year process resulted in 75 recommendations, but there was no clear course of action identified that would address declines in wild stocks of sockeye.
“Of those 75 recommendations, there was no smoking gun,” she said.
They could have taken immediate action but there was no assurance that would have protected the future of the wild stocks, she said.
Shea and MP Cathy McLeod pointed to measures the government has taken recently in support of wild salmon conservation.
Specifically, they cited an extension of a moratorium on aquaculture development in the Discovery Islands in Johnstone Strait, which is the migratory route followed by Adams River sockeye and other Fraser stocks.
Additional research will focus on migratory patterns of wild stocks, which include the Adams River sockeye, around the islands and interaction with farmed fish, Shea said.
The government has also allocated $57.5 million over five years to bolster environmental protection in the aquaculture sector through improved science, regulation and reporting.
A further $1.8 million has been budgeted for 28 enhancement projects undertaken by recreational fishery conservation groups.
“One of those 28 projects was the Swift Creek Watershed Restoration project to conserve fish habitat in Valemount,” McLeod said in a news release. “The second call for projects will begin shortly and I encourage all groups to continue to submit their projects.”
Comment Posted by Dean Trethewey
In Mike Youds report about the 2009 Fraser River sockeye decline (Feds taking action on sockeye decline, minister insists, November 6, 2013), it was mentioned that Fraser Sockeye Inquiry found no “smoking gun”.
I disagree. Here’s a quote from the Final Report that cost $26 million:
“I am also satisfied that marine conditions in both the Strait of Georgia and Queen Charlotte Sound in 2007 were likely to be the primary factors responsible for the poor returns in 2009. Abnormally high freshwater discharge, warmer-than-usual sea surface temperatures, strong winds, and lower-than-normal salinity may have resulted in abnormally low phytoplankton and nitrate concentrations that could have led to poor zooplankton (food for sockeye) production.” (Volume 3, page 59)
It’s a pretty clear statement: there was a lack of food for the salmon when they entered in the ocean in 2009.
I do understand why most people - and every journalist in BC – are not aware of this fact: it was buried near the end of the 1200 page Report.
Apparently there has been plenty of fish food since 2009, considering we had record returns of Fraser sockeye in 2010, and another record high return of pink salmon to the Fraser River in 2013. Mother nature can be cruel and kind.
