B.C. fishers are hungry to fill their nets with good catch of salmon and this year, as per prediction, anglers, commercial boats and First Nations bands alike might finally catch some respite. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has predicted that 11.4 million sockeye will return this summer and, if the turnout south of the border is for once an indication, the Fraser River could soon be aflutter with fish.
Ernie Crey, fisheries advisor to the Sto: lo Tribal Council in the Fraser Valley region, and former advisor to the DFO, expressed that everyone here is hoping that the forecasts are somewhere in the ballpark. He said that they hope it will point to Fraser River sockeye probably surviving into the future. The forecast says that this year marks the return of the fabled and populous Adams River run, which comes in the final year of the sockeye’s four-year life-cycle and will comprise most of the late-summer sockeye run.
As the prediction of having god run of salmon in Fraser River is getting hot day by day the London-based Marine Stewardship certified three B.C. sockeye salmon fisheries –Skeena, Nass and Barkley Sound — for sustainable fishing practices, but left Fraser River off the list as it has yet to meet their standards. Phil Eidsvik, spokesman for the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition, said despite all difficulty B.C. fisher have managed to rebuild their run in the past.
The federal Pacific Salmon Commission reported that the Fraser River is nearly on par with the average temperature for this time of year, and in a June 29 release said “migration conditions for sockeye entering the Fraser River are presently satisfactory.”Dr. Alexandra Morton, a biologist who won a B.C. Supreme Court challenge against provincial control of the fish-farming industry, said “it’s too early to tell” whether this year’s prospects point to a revival of Fraser River sockeye.
