Potential record Sockeye salmon run has fish industry reeling ... in a good way
Bryn Weese, Sun News Network, March 27th, 2014
VANCOUVER -- There's reason for fish lovers -- and fish workers -- to rejoice this year.
Early indicators point to a record run of Sockeye salmon this summer up and down the west coast.
There could be as many as 72 million Sockeye return just in the Fraser River alone.
And while the Department of Fisheries and Ocean's estimated range is wide -- 7.2 million on the low end to 72 million on the high end -- if even half the estimate return to spawn in the Fraser this year, it will be a new record.
Since an all-time low in 2009 when just 1.5 million Sockeye swam up the Fraser and a federal inquiry into the fishes supposed disappearance was launched, alarmists have been quick to blame climate change and even commercial fishermen as the culprits.
The Cohen Commission, though, found no smoking gun.
And the wide range in this year's prediction is perhaps proof figuring out the Sockeye stock is a complicated science.
Fishermen say the numbers of Sockeye have always fluctuated, and that's it's just nature's way.
"We've seen production in the 80s and into the early 90s higher than it was in the last 10 years, and so as (the number of fish) goes down over a ten year period, you get people saying 'oh, the fishery is going down, there's no fish,' and all of that. It isn't true, but it's the public perception at times," said Mike Forrest, a third generation Fraser River fisherman who has served as a director for the Pacific Gillnetters' Association and is currently a Port Coquitlam municipal councillor.
"It's easy for people to go after the fishery, because it's obvious and you can see people harvesting fish. And the fishery is about harvesting fish, but it's just as much about delivering fish to spawning gravel and making sure that you have the progeny coming back in order to harvest fish into the future."
Canners, too, have noticed long-term trends in sockeye numbers and are laying in supplies to this summer's potentially record run.
"It goes in natural 10 to 20 year cycles," said Rob Morley, vice president of production with the Canadian Fishing Company. The 80s and 90s, he added, had "very productive ocean conditions.
"In the period of about 2000 to 2009, we saw declining productivity of sockeye populations which led up to the disastrous return in 2009. Since then, we've now had four years of returns ... where we've seen the productivity of the ocean improve and we're back to sort of historic levels of productivity."
Indeed, following the abysmal return in 2009, the next year saw a whopping 35 million sockeye return to the Fraser.
In 2011, 4.5 million sockeye returned, and the next year, 2012, saw a run on the Fraser of 2.3 million sockeye salmon. Last year, about 4 million sockeye returned, and this year's prediction -- whatever the actual return -- is expected to be good.
Maybe very, very good.
Morley says it's "great news for everyone."
Well, except for the Sockeye themselves.
In good years, the Sockeye fishery alone adds over $100 million to the B.C. economy, and millions of people devour their rich flesh the world over.
Embedded video: The sockeye salmon population is booming despite heavy fishing.
Sun News, March 27, 2014 (4:37 min)
http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/featured/prime-time/867432237001/responsible-fish-farming/3400629257001
