The worst year on record was 2009, when fewer than 1.5 million sockeye showed up. (Photo: Stock File/ DFO)

Fraser sockeye salmon fishery opens

CANADA
Monday, August 16, 2010, 23:40 (GMT + 9)

British Columbia’s (BC) Fraser River commercial sockeye salmon fishery opened for the first time since 2006 earlier this month. Gillnetters were allowed to fish in the river for three hours.

"For the first time in four years, you are going to be able to go to your local fishmonger, or the dock, or your local supermarket, and find wild Fraser River sockeye on the shelf, and that's a great day for BC," asserted Phil Eidsvik with the BC Fisheries Survival Coalition.

The sockeye runs have been a lot more robust than anticipated, told Barry Rosenberger with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), reports CBC News.

"The trends so far this year are that we are getting more fish. They are coming in a little later than expected, but generally, things have been very favourable," he said.

Seven to 11 million sockeye are forecast to show up in the Fraser River this year, the majority of them beginning late this month and running through September.

Meanwhile, environmentalists and First Nations groups worry the commercial fishery may have been opened before it has fully replenished.

Although Ernie Crey with the Sto:lo First Nation is hopeful, he warned there could be trouble ahead because it is foreseen that most of the sockeye salmon will return at the end of August.

"I don't know why these fish survived this year, why it wasn't a repeat of last year, but it's a happy occasion that it isn't a repeat of last summer," he commented. "The juvenile fish that went to sea four years ago to make up this year's returning adult population are in fact showing up, and they're showing up in numbers that are roughly twice the strength that was forecast at the beginning of the season."

One of the worst years on record was 2009, with fewer than 1.5 million sockeye spotted in the Fraser River – a paltry fraction of the 11 million originally expected. The fishery was consequently closed for the third year in a row, and a federal investigation opened in June to investigate the stock’s collapse.

The Cohen Commission will start holding public forums across BC this month.

Related articles:

- BC sockeye decline investigation launched
- Fraser River groups, individuals granted standing
- Missing salmon stocks to be probed: PM

By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

Print