Submission 0077-PORTER

Submitter: Dave Porter

Community: Nanaimo

Date Submitted: June 17, 2010

Summary:
The commission should investigate the extent to which ocean ranched salmon from Alaska, Russia, Japan and Korea compete with and prey on wild sockeye in the North Pacific.

Submission:
Dear Cohen Commission,As a Fisheries/Aqauculture Student at VIU, I feel a major factor is missing in your investigation, that being 'Salmon Ranching' aka 'Ocean Ranching'. Up to 5 Billion pink, coho and Chinook smolt are hatchery raised in Alaska, Russia, Japan and Korea each year and then released into the North Pacific to augment those country's fisheries. This obviously has an effect on all Oncorhynchus species, including O. nerka/sockeye while at sea. Although this is not done in Canada, wild Pacific Salmon know no international boundaries and compete with ocean farmed salmon in the same feeding areas. Ocean ranched salmon could well be preying on wild salmon smolts, as ocean ranched smolts can be much larger than wild smolts when released.
I hope this important though largely unknown practise can be included in the Cohen Commission. Kind Regards, Dave Porter.

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Comment List

Name: Eric Becherer

Date Created: June 22, 2010

Comment:
There is much evidence to suggest the carrying capacity of many areas of the Pacific has been reached or exceeded. Predation is not the only problem associated with ranching. Overgrazing, disease transfer, competition for habitat and food, and incidental by-catch are also very real consequences. We also ranch in Canada, on a smaller scale, the SEP is in fact a publicly funded ranching program. Perhaps DNA from a variety of "product of Alaska" sockeye should be done to find out how much of it is from the Fraser.