Cohen Inquiry Live Feed

Just got this in as well:

Don Staniford posted in Supporters of Wild Salmon Circle Watch Live via CTV News - the final Cohen Commission report is out in minutes! “Watch Live”/“Cohen Report Tracker”/“Flying the Flag”/“Report Released Today” - Green Around the Gil http://www.facebook.com/l/PAQGGmRIi...ckerflying-the-flagreport-released-today.html Watch Live online here! Press conference starts at 12.30pm Pacific Standard Time (31 October) - details online here Here's a Global News Update including (in full online here): “Watch Live: Cohen report on sockeye salmon” (CTV News, 31 October) “Report on sockeye salmon collapse to be released” (The...
 
Heres the jist on salmon farms

GET THE HELL OUT!!

Lorne

Holy **** of the government does anything with this report there will be HUGE changes to the salmon farm industry that are AMAZING for our wild fish.

Some other quick comments for Justice Cohen.

Porperly fund the DFO
Cap current levels or salmon farms!!
Remove farms unless THEY CAN PROVE they are not harmful. Not the other way around!
DFO should no longer be reasponsible for promoting salmon farming as it is a conflict of interest according to thier other mandates like the wild salmon policy! They should not be promoting an industry that may be doing harm to wild stocks. were his exact words
Prohibit salmon farms unless DFO is sure their risk is minimal and he advises DFO to listen to ANY research that suggest otherwise.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I can just see Harper! Umm we gave Norway the oceans just like we are giving China the oil sands. Predict nothing will change, 27 million down the tube!
 
VANCOUVER - A public inquiry into the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye run recommends sweeping changes, but didn't come up with a single "smoking gun" that explains the salmon's disappearance.

In a report that runs more than 1,000 pages, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen makes 75 recommendations stemming from his investigation into why millions of sockeye vanished from the 2009 Fraser River fishery.

Among them, Cohen recommends a 12-year freeze on the controversial practice of net-pen salmon farming around the Discovery Islands, on B.C.'s central coast, saying salmon farms have the potential to introduce disease to wild salmon.

The commission also said there is a conflict within Fisheries and Oceans Canada between conservation of wild stocks and promotion of the aquaculture industry.

Cohen recommends the government remove the responsibility for promotion of salmon farming as an industry from the Fisheries Department's mandate.

Cohen also expressed concern about recent changes to the federal Fisheries Act, which he warns appear to be taking DFO in a very different direction than the one laid out in his report.


Read more: http://bc.ctvnews.ca/report-on-sockeye-salmon-collapse-released-1.1018399#ixzz2AuW6FEQj
 
Not quite sure what to make of all this. I suspect - given Harpers' recent assualt on nearly every mechanisim put in place to protect Pacific Salmon - not much is going change - except to continue to get worse.

Besides getting the fuggin' fish-farms out of our waters, I am also going to advocate for the full implementation of the Wild Salmon Policy, that the Fed has all but ignored for the last 7 yrs.

Gonna' look for a link to the report so I can read it; I'll post the link here if I find it. Or, maybe someone else will...
 
Beginning immediately and continuing
until at least September 30, 2020, the
Department of Fisheries and Oceans
should ensure that
• the maximum duration of any licence
issued under the Pacific Aquaculture
Regulations for a net-pen salmon farm in
the Discovery Islands (fish health subzone 3-2) does not exceed one year;
• DFO does not issue new licences for
net-pen salmon farms in the Discovery
Islands (fish health sub-zone 3-2); and
• DFO does not permit increases in
production at any existing net-pen
salmon farm in the Discovery Islands
 
Revising and applying siting criteria for
salmon farms
15 The Department of Fisheries and Oceans
should explicitly consider proximity to
migrating Fraser River sockeye when siting
salmon farms.
16 After seeking comment from First Nations
and stakeholders, and after responding
to challenge by scientific peer review, the
Department of Fisheries and Oceans should,
by March 31, 2013, and every five years
thereafter, revise salmon farm siting criteria
to reflect new scientific information about
salmon farms situated on or near Fraser
River sockeye salmon migration routes as
well as the cumulative effects of these farms
on these sockeye.
17 The Department of Fisheries and Oceans
should apply revised siting criteria to all
licensed salmon farm sites. Farms that no
longer comply with siting criteria should be
promptly removed or relocated to sites that
comply with current siting criteria.
 
In a nutshell...

Move the management of fish farms away from DFO into a separate entity - DFO is in a Direct "Conflict of Interest" in their current role;

Fish Farm siting to be severely scrutinized, and removed in any area where there is any reason to perceive they could negatively impact wild stocks;

The latest changes to the Fisheries Act (especially regarding Habitat) are Problematic and should be revisited - Habitat is CRITICAL for sustainable fish populations;

DFO Pacific "must be adequately resourced", especially so Enforcement. Enforcement should be "scaled up".

More than a little critical of DFO (but did give credit where due to Front Line Troops) as expected. Also critical to some extent of the Harpo Regime regarding the omnibus bills and obscured changes to Habitat & the Fisheries Act.

Many recommendations regarding Directed & Focused Research.

All in all a rather Fine Job IMHO!

Copies of the Final Report are now online, and can be found here: http://www.cohencommission.ca/en/FinalReport/

It will be interesting (and likely Frustrating) to see the spin Harpo et al's paid MouthPieces put on this over the next little while. Given their current direction, seemingly completely opposite of what is recommended in the Report - I ain't holding my breath regarding anything remotely resembling Positive Change.

That said, KUDOS to Cohen for a job rather Well Done! :cool:

Cheers,
Nog
 
Does this not form the framework for a VERY STRONG class action lawsuit against the Cronnies in Ottawa?

Time is certainly a factor but given the response by Harper he could be on thin ice.
 
I'm halfway though the report and I really like what I am seeing. How Harper could possibly ignore this is beyond me. If he doesn't implement these recommendations he will be deliberately contributing to the decline of the salmon fishery in British Columbia. Try selling that policy in the next election. say goodbye to the 21 conservative held seats in BC.
 
I'm halfway though the report and I really like what I am seeing. How Harper could possibly ignore this is beyond me. If he doesn't implement these recommendations he will be deliberately contributing to the decline of the salmon fishery in British Columbia. Try selling that policy in the next election. say goodbye to the 21 conservative held seats in BC.


how the hell are you 1/2 way through the 1,000 page report?? fast reader I suppose :) I'm still working through the comments here and will get into the report shortly but so far from what I've read and seen online in videos, etc it sounds like it is quite a scathing report in regard to DFO and fish farms. Justice's rarely use strong language so to hear Cohen say words like "troubling" and "regrettable" and "serious and irreversible" is about as harsh as it gets. Looking forward to getting into the guts of the report and reading more responses from people on here. If anyone finds any good relevant articles please post here for all to read. So once we digest this over the next couple days what are the next steps? How can we make sure this $26 million report doesn't just serve as a place-mat in Ottawa? I know Fin Donnely asked the Con's in a recent session if they would be willing to implement Cohen's recommendations but got a standard political reply along the lines of "we'll take it into consideration" blah blah. Anyways, overall a very good day for wild fish loving Canadians I would say. Let's parlay this into something meaningful.
 
From the report.........

Salmon farms along the sockeye migration
route in the Discovery Islands have the potential to
introduce exotic diseases and to exacerbate endemic
diseases which can have a negative impact on
Fraser River sockeye. Disease can cause significant
population declines, and, in some situations – for
example, if a disease were to wipe out a vulnerable
stock of Fraser River sockeye – such effects could be
irreversible. I therefore conclude that the potential
harm posed by salmon farms to Fraser River sockeye
salmon is serious or irreversible.
 
Back
Top