Committee predicts Fraser River sockeye fishery will close for 2008 season
Dennis Bueckert
Canadian Press
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
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OTTAWA (CP) -- One of the Canada's richest fisheries, the Fraser River sockeye salmon run, will likely be shut down for the 2008 season due to a sharp decline in spawning stocks that may be related to climate change.
In a unanimous report released Tuesday, the Commons fisheries committee suggests rising water temperatures are an important factor in "a major ecological disaster."
It also blames overfishing for the low spawning numbers last summer, and suggests the Fisheries Department must increase enforcement and research efforts.
The committee says 1.6 million fish, one-third of the total run, went missing in 2004.
"These tragically low numbers mean that there will probably not be enough sockeye salmon to support commercial, recreation or aboriginal fishing on the Fraser in 2008."
It estimates losses in the commercial fishery alone at $78 million in 2008.
Based on the four-year life cycle of the sockeye, "the forecast for 2012 and 2016 is bleak."
The report makes no longer-term predictions, but committee members noted similarities to that of the Atlantic cod, which still hasn't recovered from a collapse many expected to be temporary.
The committee has issued three previous reports on the sockeye and all its recommendations have been ignored, said New Democrat Peter Stoffer. He said the committee wants answers within 60 days.
"We cannot come back and do another report down the road because there may not be any salmon left for anyone."
The report quotes extensively from the testimony of Anthony Farrell, a fisheries expert from the University of British Columbia, who said high water temperatures in 2004 likely played a major role in fish mortality.
Farrell's research has shown that high temperatures promote infections among fish, increase daily energy use, lead to exhaustion and compound the effects of other stress factors.
The committee says higher water temperature alone can't account for the missing fish but, combined with other factors such as increased fishing, it is likely to have caused significant mortality.
"We know that water temperatures in the Fraser River are the warmest they've been in 60 years and that's a real serious problem," Conservative MP Gerald Keddy told a news conference.
The report draws no conclusions about whether the warmer water is a result of global warming but calls for more research on the issue.
"If in fact it is climate change and if river temperatures continue to increase it's a further argument for more conservation," said Tom Wappel, the Liberal committee chairman.
The report says "fishing pressure of any kind during periods of record high water temperature should be avoided."
"Clearly it was a combination of factors and I suspect environmental factors were significant as well but we heard lots of testimony from people witnessing lack of enforcement," said Conservative Randy Kamp.
Aboriginal fishing has been a major source of contention on the Fraser and the report says Fisheries officers may have been overly cautious in enforcement regulations because they feared confrontation.
But the committee heard testimony from a veteran fisheries officer that it would be impossible for First Nations fishers to harvest and market the volume of fish that are missing.
Arnie Narcisse, chairman of the B.C. Aboriginal Fisheries Commission, said the report contains a lot of "anti-Indian sentiment."
"Every time there's missing fish the finger is naturally pointed our way," he said in an interview.
"I'm sick and tired of the my smelly socks constantly pointed our way by the other sectors."
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