Fraser River salmon fishery threatened as fish fail to appear
cbc.ca
Fraser River salmon fishery threatened as fish fail to appear
Last Updated Thu, 11 Aug 2005 15:03:21 EDT
CBC News
A shortage of sockeye salmon in British Columbia's Fraser River is raising fears that the commercial fishery may not take place this year.
A sockeye salmon hangs from a gill net as a fisherman brings the catch onboard. (CP file Photo)
The latest estimates now peg the number of fish at 2 to 5 million instead of a predicted summer run of 11 million.
It hasn't been determined if the salmon are simply running late or if they aren't coming at all.
Many of the runs have been below estimates. Biologists suggest temperatures, not mismanagement or poaching, are behind the delays or kill off.
Ocean temperatures have been higher than normal this year, which could delay the salmon by a week or two, said Mike Lapointe, chief biologist with the Pacific Salmon Commission.
"It's still possible that we'll get a fishable run out of this," said Lapointe.
"It's just that every day we go by where we haven't seen the test catches and the increases that we expect, is another day where we kind of have to ask ourselves whether there is going to be enough fish to fish on."
Not the first late run
Terry Slack, fisher.
Paul Ryall of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans holds out some hope for the season, noting runs have been late in other years.
"One set a record for lateness of 12 days," said Ryall. "And the other one right behind it was seven days late. So there still is some time here, but what we're seeing right now is not encouraging."
Terry Slack has fished for 55 years, but he figures this will be his last if the salmon fail to show up.
"It looks like we're probably not going to survive," said Slack, a gillnetter on the Fraser River. "We've had three bad seasons in a row on the boat." |
