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Submitter: Ruth Nicholl
Community: Victoria
Date Submitted: July 9, 2010
Summary:
The undue influence of the salmon farming industry on elected governments, the lack of understanding among DFO decision makers about West Coast salmon, and the unwillingness of governments to give credence to the work of Alexandra Morton is concerning. The commission should take a serious and unbiased look at the decline of West Coast salmon and not be influenced by shareholders in the salmon farming industry.
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Submission:
I am concerned and uneasy about what I see as undue influence of the salmon farming industry on our elected governments. The industry appears to 'have the ear' of the people we elect in a way that neither the effected First Nations nor the interested general citizenry do. - It is also probable that many decision makers in the federal department of fisheries simply do not grasp the facts about the west-coast salmon bio-systems: for example, that 'salmon' out here are members of not one but five species, each with unique habits and needs; that each river system has its own unique 'families' of these various species; that the forests in the valleys are marked in one-of-a-kind ways by the salmon that swim up the rivers.
So, when the Fraser River sockeye didn't return in the anticipated numbers this past year, it is a complicated issue affecting the entire Fraser river drainage system; if there is a nice run next year, I fear that there will be a return to 'business as usual' by technocrats who assume that all's well. But it won't be well: the family of sockeye salmon that vanished this year will still be truly endangered, 8/9ths of them dead without spawning.
The unwillingness of governments to give credence to the dedicated and careful work of Alexandra Morton, nor to accept that she has nothing to gain and a great deal to lose personally by her work, is worrying. She is a Canadian voter, willing to risk her personal safety, financial security and professional reputation to save the wild salmon. She is convinced, from her extensive research, that open-net salmon farms are contributing to the loss of the indigenous wild salmon. Many scientists have reviewed her work and found it close to flawless. This Commission of Inquiry is long-overdue but, we hope, not too late. From the bottom of my heart, I ask that this Commission take a serious and unbiased look at the decline of the west coast salmon, all the species and all the runs, and not be influenced by the shareholders who demand high return on their investments in the salmon farming industry. This is about species survival. Thank you. |
