Announced during the International Year of the Salmon event on October 11 in Vancouver, a new update on the Cohen Commission recommendations has been released. See details below. In 2009, Canada established the Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River (Cohen Commission) to investigate the decline of sockeye…
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has released the final version of the Wild Salmon Policy 2018 to 2022 Implementation Plan. Message from the minister: As Canada’s Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, it is my pleasure to present the Wild Salmon Policy 2018-2022 Implementation Plan. This Plan does not focus…
BC’s Wild Salmon Advisory Council Report was released today. News Release posted on the Province of British Columbia’s website: The first step in the development of a renewed provincial approach to protecting and enhancing wild salmon, the Wild Salmon Advisory Council report, was made public to coincide with the start of the International Year of…
Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson should support changes to the way his department treats the science around salmon. Policy Options, October 4 by Stan Proboszcz and Craig Orr Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffled several cabinet positions in July, including the fisheries portfolio. Jonathan Wilkinson, MP for North Vancouver, BC, is now the first West Coast member…
Recovery Potential Assessment for Chilcotin River and Thompson River Steelhead Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) designatable units Summary This Recovery Potential Assessment (RPA) focuses on the Chilcotin and Thompson River Designatable Units (DU) of Steelhead Trout. Both of these DUs were assessed as Endangered by COSEWIC in an emergency assessment in January 2018. The estimated number of…
Thompson and Chilcotin Steelhead Trout: consultation on the potential emergency listing under the Species at Risk Act The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has performed an emergency assessment of both the Thompson and Chilcotin Steelhead Trout populations (or Designatable Units [DUs]) and found them to be endangered. Following an emergency…
Today the Department of Fisheries and Oceans released the final versions of the Northern and Southern Integrated Fisheries Management Plans (IFMPs). These documents contain information on the management approaches and decision guidelines for all species, management unites and major fishery areas. Northern IFMP Letter 2018. For the full IFMPs: North Coast IFMP South Coast IFMP
A new online portal was just launched to improve public access to science relevant to salmon management and conservation–Salmon-Net. Introduction email below: The primary goal of the website is to showcase recent and emerging science that is relevant to the conservation and management of Pacific salmon via a series of Science Spotlights. These spotlights provide a…
Apparent conflicts of interest between Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s science advisory process must be resolved to save endangered wild salmon stocks. Does Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFOs) science advisory process have integrity when tasked with answering questions on salmon farming? If there is any hope of changing the trajectory of many iconic but endangered wild…
In early April, a new science research article was released in the journal Marine and Coastal Fisheries detailing the numbers and biomass of salmon in the North Pacific Ocean. While total abundance is at a record high, much of that is comprised of hatchery origin fish. Many wild populations across BC and the Pacific Coast…
(Globe and Mail, December 4th, 2017, by Ivan Semeniuk) For centuries, sockeye salmon have raced up British Columbia’s Fraser River to spawn in the millions, completing an astonishing life cycle that spans four years and thousands of kilometres. Now, scientists have determined that many populations of Fraser River sockeye are in such alarming decline that they…
(Business in Vancouver, February 27, 2017) A new study by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans suggests a link between the Piscine orthoreovirus (PRV) and a disease of the heart in farmed Atlantic salmon from B.C. fish farms. The study, led by DFO scientist Kristina Miller, confirmed heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) disease in Atlantic…