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[troutbreath]

Fraser River salmon fishery falls short of sustainability certification
  By Vivian Luk, Vancouver SunJuly 6, 2010
  B.C. sockeye salmon fisheries in the Skeena, Nass and Barkley Sound were certified by the Marine Stewardship Council for sustainable fishing practices last week, but the Fraser River has yet to meet their standards.

An MSC eco-label on wild B.C. sockeye salmon sold in the marketplace confirms that the fish was harvested in a way that maintains stock health, protects marine biodiversity, and respects international, national and local standards for responsible fishing.

According to the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, which filed an objection to certification with the David Suzuki Foundation and SkeenaWild Conservation Trust in February, the Fraser River fishery does not meet the MSC's criteria.

"The fishery routinely harvests sockeye salmon from endangered populations such as the Cultus Lake sockeye and Sakinaw Lake sockeye," said ecologist Aaron Hill. "The problem is all sockeye looks the same to fishermen. If MSC certifies Fraser River, you would have endangered salmon in grocery store shelves."

The assessment for Fraser River began last year, when only 1.4 million sockeye returned even though the Department of Fisheries and Oceans projected up to 10.6 million.

"It was a catastrophe," said Sto: lo First Nation fisheries adviser Ernie Crey. "No one knows what happened to those 'missing' fish."

vluk@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

[roeman]

These topics get so annoying.
Why do they call the fish "missiing".  There not missing they are dead, two different meanings..........
These people monitoring the stocks are suppose to be smart, yet they could not find the water if they fell out of the boat.
Fished out of Tofino for three days, every spring caught ( 20 - 25 ) were US fish.  Why is that?
Advertisement out there " Save the BC Salmon"  Lets do another survey and waste another year, blame it on the water temperature, I guess the water was not warm sometimes 50 years ago.  Why not make a decision today and deal with the fish farms.
They want to complicate things instead of sloving the problem..

[liketofish]

Yea, I am right with you bro on the fish farm. Sea lices & fish farms have got to go.

The fish farm (and also any one using drift nets in the river) are the culpits. The number of fish killed in these operartions are just too much for our fish to handle. DFO should have the guts to do something about these, but unfortunately they rather prefer to deal with the sporties to look good PR-wise. I guess we are the least resistant group politically and economically.