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Submitter: Kerri Smith
Community: Ottawa
Date Submitted: June 15, 2010
Summary:
All aspects of the decline of Fraser River sockeye should be studied carefully, and there are many stakeholders who should have an opportunity to be part of the discussion. Losing a resource as invaluable as Fraser River sockeye would have devastating economic and ecological consequences.
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Submission:
With the serious decline of wild salmon populations in the Fraser River, all aspects of this problem should be studied carefully before any other actions are taken, including, but not limited to: new open net-cage farms; expansion of existing open net-cage farms; treatment of sea lice affecting juvenile salmon; commercial fishing licenses and practises.
For BC to lose an invaluable resource, and one that is so interconnected with almost all ecological systems, would have devastating econonmic and ecological consequences. A declinign population of salmon in BC means a lack of nitrogen for trees, a food source for insects and thereby migrating birds, and a food source for the vast number of species (bears, eagles, sea lions, wolves, cougars, etc.) sustained by the unique ecosystem conditions that have been so favourable in supporting a large variety and number of species.
There are many stakeholders in BC who should be part of the discussion. This is not an issue that affects only the minister of fisheries. This is about the forests, the rivers, the ocean, the salmon, the birds, the animals - a web of life impossible to dismantle and treat in part. |
