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Watershed Watch Salmon Society: Watching Out for BC’s Wild Salmon
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The Fall of Salmon
As autumn approaches, that marvellous part of our brain that nurtures hope and joy often steers our thoughts to the spectacle of returning salmon. We imagine rivers and oceans teeming with salmon. Salmon to catch. Salmon to watch. And salmon to replenish nutrients crucial to our ecosystems (Salmon and Nutrients, 2009).
There have been distinct notes of wild salmon optimism in 2009, with many good reports of pinks, coho and Chinook. The prospects for beleaguered Broughton pinks also improved with earlier harvesting of farmed salmon, and a resulting decrease in sea lice parasitism (CAAR media release, July 2009). Sadly, the news on returning sockeye is far more sobering.
Fraser sockeye have taken a pounding of late, most notably from warming river temperatures and resulting “thermal stress” of returning adults (Fraser River Sockeye brochure). This year things are different but still bad. An estimated 130 million smolts from the Quesnel and Chilko systems migrated down the Fraser in 2007, and their sheer numbers promised a banner year for Fraser sockeye in 2009. At least, officially.
But something went horribly wrong. Official predictions of millions of sockeye in 2009 dramatically overshot actual returns. Official forecasts also seemed oddly optimistic amid reported findings of poor smolt survival—and warnings of consequently poor adult returns (Where have all the salmon gone? Vancouver Sun, Aug. 25, 2009).
Several prominent people quickly demanded a judicial inquiry. Several prominent federal spokespeople quickly exonerated salmon farms from all blame. While admitting they didn’t know what led to the mess, they were sure it couldn’t be salmon farming.
No one knows for sure what role farms might have played in this year’s disastrous sockeye returns. But it’s hard to take comfort from official and self-serving assurances. A huge weight of evidence links farms to wild fish declines (Aquacultural Revolution, 2009). And Fisheries and Oceans has taken a lot of heat for its denial and obfuscation around sea lice impacts (Craig Orr, 2007; Dill et al., 2009).
Enough is enough. Fisheries and Oceans must stand up for sockeye. When they do, they’ll find a lot of people standing next to them, joyously united against the fall of salmon.
How You Can Help
As Watershed Watch continues to work on this important issue, you can help by:
Making a donation to Watershed Watch.
Writing to your government representative calling for a judicial inquiry.
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