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Marine Scene (September 2006) State of the Salmon
In many streams, including the Thompson and Fraser Rivers, water flows are very low and temperatures are one to three degrees Celsius higher than normal. Under these conditions many migrating sockeye salmon could die before they spawn. To protect salmon, water use must be restricted to provide as much cool water as possible. Trees and shrubs along stream edges (which provide important shade) must be maintained and replanted to reduce the impacts of high stream temperatures. The federal government must ensure enough salmon survive these difficult conditions to spawn, even if fisheries have to be curtailed and other uses of water restricted. For more chilled info visit our news release.
State of the oceans The BC government corroborates this in a new report, British Columbia’s Coastal Environment: 2006, which states “Sea surface temperature has risen along the entire coast, the largest increase noted in the Strait of Georgia and the North Coast.” The report further details increases in deep-water temperatures in South Coast inlets. The Provincial report also finds that: The David Suzuki Foundation is working with government and other stakeholders to address the root causes of climate change and to implement the policies and regulations required to successfully manage human activity on the complex and vital Pacific coast. The Canadian Fisheries Act It's one of the strongest pieces of environmental legislation in Canada. And it has been praised by jurisdictions around the world. So why change it? A coalition of BC business interests – including the mining, agriculture and forestry sectors - is calling for drastic changes to the federal Fisheries Act, claiming it stands in the way of economic growth. They say the hoops they, as industry, must go through in order to carry on their "benign" activities - like depositing "harmless" materials - is prohibitive. The industries behind the position paper say that "Under the Act, it is an offense to undertake work or activity that harms fish habitat or that leads to the depositing of ‘deleterious substances’ into water frequented by fish, without first obtaining an authorization from the DFO. A wide range of projects and activities that may affect fish habitat, including many that are minor and low-risk in nature, cannot proceed without prior approval of the DFO." This approval process, they claim, is hampering Industry. The problem is, who determines what activities are considered minor or low-risk? Are these industry proponents in a position to best determine what is good - or bad – for our fish and their habitat? It’s these very industries that have largely been responsible for the majority of the habitat loss that has occurred in Canada over the past few decades. What difference would changes to the Act mean to our fish? Currently, DFO Habitat officers, the monitoring and enforcement staff, are so few and far between that they could be listed as endangered. There are currently 162 fishery enforcement officers on the West Coast of Canada, attempting to patrol 947,800 square kilometers (roughly one officer for every 6,000 square kilometres) and hundreds of industries. With already little to no enforcement of the Act taking place, why does it need to be changed? So industry can proceed, as they are and have been, but without being required to do the annoying paperwork to make their activities legal, or without the fear they’ll be charged for damaging fish habitat in areas that they deem to be low risk. The main issue is, who is best to judge: trained DFO scientists with the public interest rather than corporate profits in mind, or Industry? We need to let the government know that Industry is not the best judge of healthy fish habitat, or our environment. What you can do Write to Fisheries and Oceans Minister Loyola Hearn - demand that he leave the Act as it is, beef up monitoring and enforcement staff (and budgets) and ensure industry is held accountable for its actions. Minister Hearn’s email address is Min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.
Confused about which type of fish to choose at your favourite restaurant or grocery store? We can help you make an informed decision.
Mercury contamination is also a concern. According to one calculation, a 170 lb person enjoying one 8-oz serving in one week ingests 410 per cent of their weekly allowable consumption of mercury. For more mercurial info: http://www.gotmercury.org/
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While 17 million sockeye salmon are forecast to return to the Fraser River this year, conditions don’t look very favourable. Seventeen million is a relatively large return compared to recent years. But to date, the actual number of salmon returning is lower than forecast, likely related to unusually warm ocean conditions over the past two years (see next article). 
For the second straight year, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has measured increases in the temperature of the Pacific Ocean. 
Green (good choice): Herring
Red (bad choice): Swordfish
