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[chris gadsden]

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/289618

[Dave]

Chris, do you have any updates on this?  or perhaps know of a link that can be accessed?

[chris gadsden]

Not much info as far as I know Dave. I have been told Alexandra, Bill Otway and the BCWF have made a presentation already.

[IronNoggin]

The Challenges Faced by the Cohen Inquiry
Written by John Cummins

John Cummins - Conservative MP for Delta and a former commercial fisherman - shares his hopes and concerns for the upcoming Judicial Inquiry into the collapse of Fraser River sockeye, led by Justice Bruce Cohen.
DFO's historic mismanagement of the west-coast salmon fishery

For much of the last half century Fraser River stocks were healthy and abundant and enjoying a period of sustained growth. On December 31, 1985 the management of the fishery was transferred from the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

DFO was now in charge. They determined how many fish were to be caught and by whom, how many fish were to spawn, what runs to enhance and where habitat restoration was necessary. In every way the fate of salmon in B.C. was now in the hands of DFO bureaucrats. Almost from the moment DFO acquired this power, the sockeye fishery began to decline.

By the mid-nineties dangerously low returns had led to a number of investigations of the Fraser River fishery. When it became obvious that inquiries lacking the ability to subpoena witnesses and take testimony under oath were leaving critical questions unanswered, including the impact of DFO’s management of the fishery, there were calls for a judicial inquiry.

Finally, during the 2006 election it was announced that if elected, a Conservative government would establish a judicial inquiry into the state of Fraser River sockeye fishery.

Efforts to keep this commitment were fought at every turn by DFO and its allies. By early 2007 media reports indicated that according to the then Fisheries Minister “British Columbia’s fishing community is almost unanimously opposed to the government’s promised public inquiry” and the idea was dropped.

The spectacular collapse of the 2009 sockeye run renewed calls for a public inquiry. On November 6, 2009 Prime Minister Harper established the Cohen Inquiry into the decline of the Fraser River sockeye fishery with a mandate to investigate the collapse and report to him with an interim report by August 1 of this year and a final report by May 1, 2011.
Justice Cohen has a formidable task

DFO and those who opposed an Inquiry will now try to neutralize the Inquiry by encouraging it to head down the same path as previous reviews. They will quietly advise Justice Cohen to hold private meetings where “evidence” is given off-the-record and to conduct roundtable discussions instead of giving fishermen and environmentalists the opportunity to scrutinize evidence and cross-examine witnesses.

Justice Cohen and his staff must always remember that DFO is the principle focus of their Inquiry and therefore expect its advice to be self-serving. The success of the Inquiry depends on it maintaining a healthy distance from academics and organizations that have benefited from DFO’s largesse and ensuring that those challenging the department’s actions are armed with the resources needed to effectively marshal their arguments.

Without specific interim recommendations from Justice Cohen the government should not be introducing confounding changes in the management of the fishery until the Inquiry submits its final report. They must not introduce a new Fisheries Act, enter into treaties aboriginals that would further balkanize the management of the fishery, rewrite the rules governing salmon aquaculture or further expand the industry.
[Aquaculture is one of several potential impacts on declining Fraser River sockeye populations that will be examined by the Cohen Commission]

Aquaculture is one of several potential impacts on declining Fraser River sockeye populations that will be examined by the Cohen Commission
These cautions to the government are not ill-founded

In January, courtesy of a B.C. Supreme Court ruling, DFO announced that it had accepted responsibility for aquaculture but failed to make clear that there would be no expansion of salmon aquaculture until Justice Cohen submits his findings and recommendations.

On February 5th the government signed off on the Yale treaty and a fisheries harvest agreement giving the tiny Yale band, one of 140 bands claiming Fraser sockeye, approximately 2% of the Fraser River catch. The allocations, co-management and enforcement provisions of the treaty and its harvest agreement are all matters which will be investigated by Justice Cohen.

On March 2nd, reacting to public concern about the impact on the Inquiry of the signing of the Yale treaty, DFO announced it was going to defer treaty negotiations during the inquiry except for treaties with Yale, Siliammon and In-SHUCK-ch. The continued negotiation of these three treaties involving Fraser sockeye is a threat to the integrity of the Inquiry.

The latest challenge to the Inquiry was contained in the Throne Speech where the government committed itself to a new Fisheries Act. The new legislation would undoubtedly be written by DFO, the same department that presided over the decline in the Fraser sockeye fishery and the collapse of Newfoundland’s cod fishery. It would be written without the benefit of the Cohen Inquiry’s findings and recommendations.

New fisheries legislation brought forward before the Inquiry has completed its investigation should be seen as nothing more than another self-serving and rather clever attempt by DFO to cover-up its mismanagement and to marginalize and preempt the investigation.

Justice Cohen must understand that in the eyes of the public the fate of B.C. salmon is in his hands. Folks mistrust the department and the politicians who have promised much but delivered so little.

If Justice Cohen gets it right he will be remembered as the man who saved the wild salmon for our children and grandchildren, if he fails he’ll be remembered as just another guy who refused to speak the hard truth, a guy who was little more than another apologist for the incompetence of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Addendum:

Justice Cohen has seriously undermined the credibility of his inquiry with the appointment of David Levy as his Science Director. Levy is author of a 2006 report for the Sierra Club of BC that is supportive of DFO policies developed to address the series of disastrous sockeye returns which have plagued the fishery since DFO assumed management responsibilities: policies which rightfully should be the focus of Cohen’s Inquiry.

Let me be clear, Levy supports DFO’s “development of commercial inland fisheries” or terminal fisheries which will harvest Fraser sockeye in their home rivers just prior to spawning. He is hopeful “that a cannery grade” salmon can be obtained in such terminal fisheries but acknowledges this will result in a “reduction in the value of the fishery due to reduced quality.” Levy’s position would spell the end of commercial fisheries and would place serious limits on tidal water aboriginal fisheries and the sport fishery. It would also spell the end of fresh and frozen salmon for home and restaurant use and give farmed fish a virtual monopoly in that market.

Levy points the finger at climate change affecting Fraser sockeye returns without accounting for its seeming lack of impact on sockeye returns elsewhere. Unbelievably he completely ignores the potential impact of salmon farming on Fraser sockeye returns.

It is a serious error for Justice Cohen to select as his science advisor someone who has already concocted a solution to the problem before the Inquiry has heard any evidence. Furthermore, it is wrong for him to add an activist of any variety to his senior staff, whether that person is associated with aboriginal, recreational or commercial fisheries or any other faction.

To date Justice Cohen has only met with DFO and its supporters. The appointment of David Levy as Science Director reflects the narrowness of Cohen’s contacts and seriously undermines the impartiality of his inquiry.

In short, the Cohen Commission might already be compromised by an appearance of partiality to the very department he must examine with care and thoroughness.

http://thecanadian.org/k2/item/33-cummins-cohen

[chris gadsden]

Chris, do you have any updates on this?  or perhaps know of a link that can be accessed?

Check out the common sense Canadian at http://thecanadian.org/k2 for some info related to this and many other environmental concerns.

[Dave]

Thanks Chris.   Typical fearmongering by John Cummins, who cannot seem to get his head around the need for change in commercial salmon fisheries.  Sorry John, the days of plenty are over and terminal fisheries are the alternative to zero harvest.
Dr. David Levy is a highly respected fisheries scientist and IMO a good choice of scientific advisor to this inquiry.

[mykisscrazy]

The problem everyone is having with the Global Warming Scenario is that really there is nothing we can do.
Look down the whole pacific coast

Northern California - is the southern most range of coho - well they are now just about all gone
Chinook - Same thing
Pinks and Chum are also disappearing from their Southern Most Ranges
Sockeye - Well the Fraser is near the southern most range of sockeye.
It is bleak, but with good management of ALL our fisheries we should be able to conserve a good number of our runs.

The important thing from this inquiry is that DFO and all parties follow through on the recommendations.
Or we can do what John Cummings does and just keep stirring the pot and blaming other groups...
If we do it his way - We will have nothing left.

[chris gadsden]

Chris, do you have any updates on this?  or perhaps know of a link that can be accessed?

http://www.vancouversun.com/Cohen+Commission+names+groups+Fraser+sockeye+salmon+inquiry/2911786/story.html

[Dave]

Thanks Chris.  Hopefully we will be able to follow this as it unfolds.

[chris gadsden]

Chris, do you have any updates on this?  or perhaps know of a link that can be accessed?

The Cohen Commission has an excellent website, French and English, that can be accessed at:
http://www.commissioncohen.ca/en/

[chris gadsden]

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Plight+Fraser+sockeye+science+issue+salmon+authority+says/3037163/story.html

[chris gadsden]

JOHN CUMMINS, M.P.
Delta - Richmond East

News Release
May 17, 2010

Cohen Inquiry - Too Many DFO Connections

"The staff being assembled by Justice Cohen suggests an Inquiry without
credibility that has lost its way," said John Cummins, M.P. (Delta
Richmond-East). "It is certainly not the Inquiry that fishermen sought."

Comments made by Brian Riddell, a member of the Cohen Inquiry's
Scientific Advisory Panel, to the effect that he did not believe an
inquiry was needed and the collapse of Fraser River stocks was merely a
"science issue," indicate that Justice Cohen has yet to put together a
credible Inquiry.

Riddell is retired from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).

The scientific advisory panel also includes Paul LeBlond, who Brian
Tobin had appointed to chair an inquiry into missing Fraser sockeye in
1994. Under severe public criticism for the appointment, Tobin replaced
LeBlond with the Hon. John Fraser.

The Inquiry's head of research is David Levy, the author of a 2006
report for the Sierra Club that is supportive of DFO policies developed
to address the series of disastrous returns which have plagued the
fishery since DFO assumed management responsibilities: policies which
rightfully should be the focus of the Inquiry.  The Levy report supports
DFO's "development of commercial inland fisheries" or terminal fisheries
which will harvest poor quality Fraser sockeye only fit for canning.

Commissioner Cohen seems intent on replicating DFO science. If he wanted
to seriously challenge DFO's management practices, it would not be by
staffing his Inquiry with former DFO staff and their advisors. A more
prudent Commissioner would avoid engaging:
"   Current or previous employees or contractors of the Department;
"   Persons who depend or whose organizations depend on the
Department for research funding or who are likely to in the future;
"   Persons who staffed previous inquiries or advised the Department
on their implementation.

Cohen has made lawyers his first priority. He has chosen to assist
interveners only with their legal costs.  That is convenient for lawyers
and for the ease of operation of the Inquiry but it does nothing to
assist interveners in engaging expert witnesses and preparing documents
that might actually challenge the Department and its experts.   

If Cohen wanted an effective inquiry he would have established a truly
independent staff of experts in fisheries science, management and
enforcement.  He would have provided funds for interveners to engage
experts and to prepare evidence.  Instead he has created a lawyers
picnic with a large staff of in-house lawyers and a corresponding cadre
of government-funded lawyers acting on behalf of interveners. 

What all these lawyers know about Fraser River sockeye and their
management has yet to be explained. We know what former DFO staff and
their hangers-on know about fisheries management:  very little.  That is
why we are having an inquiry.

"Now more than six months into the inquiry, all we have is an Inquiry
staffed by lawyers and DFO friendly advisors.  The Cohen Inquiry has
become more like a chorus preparing to sing DFO's praises than a serious
inquiry to establish what went wrong with DFO's management of the
fishery and to make credible recommendations to put DFO fisheries
management back on track," stated Cummins.

[Dave]

Thanks Chris
Another rant by John Cummins.  He is a tenacious bugger but sorry, yawning a bit here

[chris gadsden]

One thing I like about John he will not be muzzled like a lot of other politicians are whose party is in power who just take direction from a Premier or Prime Minister. We need a few people like that in our governments.

[chris gadsden]

JOHN CUMMINS, M.P.
Delta - Richmond East

NEWS RELEASE

June 8, 2010



Another Conflict of Interest at Cohen Inquiry

Old hands from DFO are manning the bridge at the Cohen Inquiry into the
Department's management of Fraser River sockeye.

DFO's management of the fishery, including the "Department's scientific
advice, its fisheries policies and programs," is supposed to be under
scrutiny yet the Inquiry has DFO on both ends of the microscope.

The naming of Paul LeBlond as a scientific advisor is another example of
Justice Cohen's failure to understand conflict of interest.  LeBlond has
advised every Minister of Fisheries since John Crosbie was Minister in
the early nineties. 

He was appointed to head an inquiry into the disappearance of millions
of Fraser sockeye in 1994 but within a week was removed by Brian Tobin
when concerns arose about his close involvement with DFO.

LeBlond has issued numerous advisory reports to the Minister on DFO's
management of salmon. An example is a report requested by the Minister
to respond to criticism of the department's over escapement policy: a
practice that many believe has lead to the decline of Fraser sockeye.
The LeBlond report supported the department's policy, calling the idea
that it caused a stock collapse a "myth."

As the Inquiry reviews the policies and practices of the department in
recent years, it will be reviewing policies that LeBlond contributed to
in his various roles as an advisor to the Department of Fisheries and
Oceans.  He will be investigating himself and his work.  This is the
very definition of conflict that goes to the heart of what the Inquiry
is required by its terms of reference to investigate.

As one of DFO's principal "go to guys" LeBlond should not be sitting as
a science advisor to the Cohen Inquiry.

Again his appointment raises serious doubts about Justice Cohen's
inability to understand the obvious conflict of DFO toadies reporting on
themselves.

Contact:  John Cummins, M.P.
(613) 992-2957, (cell) (604) 970-0937, (604) 940-8040 or
www.johncummins.ca


?



Advice to Government on Fishery and Marine issues:

"   March, 1982: prepared a report for DFO's Marine Environmental
Data Services Branch entitled, A Preliminary Review of Non Pectoral Wave
Properties: Grouping, Wave Breaking, and "Freak Waves.

"   1984:  Appointed by the Minister of the Environment to prepare a
paper entitled, Final Report of the investigation of the storm of
October 11-14, 1984 on the west coast of Vancouver Island. In1981 the
Coast Guard had deactivated its two Pacific weather ships.  Three years
later a storm sank fishing boats and claimed the lives of fishermen.
The LeBlond report determined that Environment Canada wasn't getting the
information it needed to detect big storms in time to warn fishing
vessels in coastal waters.  When he was appointed to head the inquiry
into the de-staffing of light stations, the Coast Guard selected him
because they concluded that his 1984 storm report had "stood the
Department of Environment in good stead."

"   1987: headed a review of the Coast Guard's policy of unmanning
light stations.  Recommended 30 of 41 light stations for downgrading or
full automation with 10 light stations to be de-staffed immediately.

"   1988: appointed to DFO's National Marine Council by Fisheries
Minister.

"   May 25, 1993: appointed to the Fisheries Resource Conservation
Council by the Fisheries Minister.  The Council is to advise the
Minister on scientific research and assessment priorities and
methodologies.

"   July 1994: Quebec Hydro released a report of a panel of experts
on its environmental impact study on the Great Whale project to dam
major rivers in northern Quebec. The panel gave Hydro good marks for its
assessment of Great Whale's impact on plant and marine life. LeBlond was
a member of the expert panel.

"   September 26, 1994: appointed to head an independent review
board into the disappearance of Fraser River sockeye by the Fisheries
Minister. On October 3rd the Minister replaced LeBlond as chair of what
was to become known as Fraser River Sockeye Public Review Board.

"   September 1998: appointed to the Pacific Fisheries Resource
Conservation Council (PFRCC) by the Minister of Fisheries.  This body
provides "strategic advice" to the Minister on wild Pacific salmon
stocks and their habitat.  According to the PFRCC's Terms of Reference
"the members serve as advisors to the fisheries ministers of the
Province of British Columbia and the Government of Canada."

"   2000: Chaired DFO's Science Advisory Council

"   June 28, 2001: appointed to the Independent Panel on Access
Criteria as part of the Atlantic Fisheries Policy Review by the Minister
of Fisheries. The job of the panel was to develop advice for the
Minister on fisheries policy in relation to access and allocation
decision-making.

"   April 3, 2003: publication of DFO's The Future of Aquatic
Science in Canada. The policy document indicates that "written input has
been provided during various iterations" by LeBlond and DFO staff.

"   June 8, 2004: publication of PFRCC report for the Minister
entitled, Does Over-Escapement Cause Salmon Stock Collapse. The report
was co-authored LeBlond, Riddell and Walters.  It had been requested by
the Minister of Fisheries following criticism of DFO's policy of
producing over-escapement on the spawning grounds by the House of
Commons Fisheries Committee. The PFRCC report rejected the criticism of
the DFO policy of flooding the spawning grounds with spawners, calling
the concern that the policy would lead to stock collapse a "myth."
There are still concerns about this practice that will have to be
reviewed by the Cohen Inquiry.  A recent study in Alaska rejects the
findings of the PFRCC report.

"   May 24, 2005: appointed interim chair of the Pacific Fisheries
Resource Conservation Council by the Minister of Fisheries.  Remained
chair until 2009.

"   September 23, 2005: as chair of the PFRCC responded to a request
for advice from the Minister regarding the cost to acoustically tag and
monitor Cultus Lake sockeye smolts.  The report advised the Minister to
utilize the work of the Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Project (POST). 

"   March 2, 2006: as chair of PFRCC he issued a report to Minister
in support of the Department's wild salmon policy entitled, Selection
and use of Indicators to Measure the Habitat of Wild Pacific Salmon.  In
his letter to the Minister he noted "the council considered the release
of the Wild Salmon Policy to be a significant and very positive
development and accordingly undertook to provide implementation
assistance leading to the production of this report."

"   October 4, 2007: - as chair of PFRCC he released the report,
Helping Pacific Salmon Survive the Impact of Climate Change on
Freshwater Habits.

***

Terms of Reference of the Cohen Inquiry (Sections referencing DFO)

Therefore, Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the
recommendation of the Prime Minister, hereby

(a)?directs that a Commission do issue under Part I of the Inquiries Act
and under the Great Seal of Canada appointing the Honourable Bruce Cohen
as Commissioner to conduct an inquiry into the decline of sockeye salmon
in the Fraser River (the "Inquiry"), which Commission shall

(i)?direct the Commissioner

(B)?to consider the policies and practices of the Department of
Fisheries and Oceans (the "Department") with respect to the sockeye
salmon fishery in the Fraser River - including the Department's
scientific advice, its fisheries policies and programs, its risk
management strategies, its allocation of Departmental resources and its
fisheries management practices and procedures, including monitoring,
counting of stocks, forecasting and enforcement,

(D)?to develop recommendations for improving the future sustainability
of the sockeye salmon fishery in the Fraser River including, as
required, any changes to the policies, practices and procedures of the
Department in relation to the management of the Fraser River sockeye
salmon fishery,

 (b)?authorizes, pursuant to section 56 of the Judges Act, the
Honourable Bruce Cohen of Vancouver, British Columbia, a judge of the
Supreme Court of British Columbia, to act as Commissioner.