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Where have all the salmon gone?

We are pleased to present our newest columnist, Van Andruss of the Yalakom.

From time immemorial, salmon have made their way up the great river systems of B.C., to the benefit of not only human settlements, but also of all species of life.

The main outlines of this miraculous cycle are well known.

Following geomagnetic and olfactory clues, ocean-going individuals at maturity return to spawn in the rivers and streams where they were born. Their young (called smolts) grow to size in lakes to which the rivers and streams are connected, then return to mother ocean to complete their growth cycle.

The runs in the not-very-distant past were said to be so numerous that you could walk across the river on their backs. But in recent decades, stocks have dwindled, and in 2009 the sockeye run was so meagre as to cause alarm.

Numbers produced by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) are not reliable. While DFO estimated a return of 10.5 million, what actually occurred was just over 1 million. The obvious question is why? Why so few?

It is obviously hazardous to be a salmon, and it is reasonable to suppose that many factors are involved in the decline of their numbers. To name but a few, there is global warming and the clearing of stream-sides of vegetation that raises the temperature of the streams and rivers; there is the increased toxicity of the ocean, industrialization and commercial development, large-scale agriculture, oil bearing pipelines, mines with leaks from tailing ponds, dams and hydro-electric projects, including the latest “green” independent power projects.

One probable “cause” of the lack of salmon is relatively new on the scene. I refer to open-net salmon farms. Sharp controversy has emerged around their impact on wild salmon. Figures differ, of course, but approximately 130 salmon farms have sprung up along the B.C. coast. Most are not locally owned. Ninety per cent are Norwegian, serving shareholders in Europe.

The farms, raising mainly Atlantic salmon, contain huge numbers of fish – as many as 90,000 in a single pen – with nothing but a net separating the horde from open waters. Farms are located in bays and protected sites. They are polluters. The fish – highly susceptible to disease – are dosed with chemicals and antibiotics, freely dispersed along with fecal matter and feedlot waste into the salty surround.

The worst problem is that the open-net method breeds swarms of sea lice, parasites that attach themselves to both penned-up victims and the wild salmon smolts that pass by farms on their migrating routes to the ocean. Apparently, more than two sea lice will kill a smolt. Literally millions are thought to be affected. A single salmon farm can generate 73 times more sea lice than natural levels. (Closed-containment systems might prove to be a viable alternative.)

Social objections to farmed salmon cannot be overlooked. The fish that feed the salmon farms come in huge quantities from places like Peru and Chile where local ecosystems are consequently impoverished.

Here in B.C., fish farms are regularly sited in First Nations’ traditional territories without the latter’s approval, and bring toxic effluent to all the sea life on which coastal communities depend.

Farmed salmon are equally toxic for humans. For example, since the Atlantic meat is grey, red dye (a manufactured chemical) is used to put them in the pink!

Shocked by the collapse of the 2009 Fraser River sockeye run, a local food activist group – Lillooet Food Matters – organized a forum in November to consider what might be done about the problem. The newly formed group is called Salmon Talks. They have met once a month since November, and will continue to meet.

Salmon Talks have come up with several actions to get the ball rolling. A public education forum is planned, as well as a Wild Salmon Café (with emphasis on “Wild”), similar to the annual Planet Peace Café on Earth Day, with food and entertainment. And here’s one suggestion for us all to consider: Insist on wild salmon in stores or restaurants.

Before closing, let me add that over-fishing and provincial fisheries mismanagement by DFO are claimed by many to be the main culprits of the recent collapse, and that DFO is presiding over the demise of Pacific salmon just as they did over Atlantic cod.

As for the immediate governmental response, true to form, there will be an inquiry. It’s called the Cohen Inquiry (or Commission). As if time were of little concern, it promises to come up with a report in 18 months.

Meanwhile, Salmon Talks has broadened its concern beyond sockeye to all wild salmon. If you wish to participate in the discussion, phone Roger Barrett at 250-256-7553, or send a fax to 866-840-7391.

For further information, see online sources at the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform, www.farmedanddangerous.org, or the Georgia Strait Alliance, www.georgiastrait.org.

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