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Plight of Fraser sockeye a ‘science issue,’ salmon authority says
By LARRY PYNN, Vancouver Sun
A member of the scientific advisory panel for the Cohen commission of inquiry into the decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon questions whether the exercise is necessary to resolve what is a science issue.
“I don’t believe you needed to go to a judicial inquiry,” said Brian Riddell, a 30-year scientist with the federal fisheries department who is now chief executive officer of the Pacific Salmon Foundation. “I’m sure there are strong political reasons on why it was done.”
Riddell said salmon decline is a “science issue” and that if the inquiry highlights the need for more research to be done into the marine system “then it could be worthwhile.”
However, he said it’s a “sad comment on resource management” that Canada had to go as far as ordering a judicial inquiry and that separating the politics from the science is going to be a challenge.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper last November appointed B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen to conduct the commission of inquiry into continuing low sockeye returns on the Fraser.
Cohen is not to find fault for the decline, but is to make recommendations for “improving the future sustainability of the sockeye salmon fishery in the Fraser River including, as required, any changes to the policies, practices and procedures of the [fisheries] department ….”
The commission is expected to release its terms of reference in early June.
“I’ve only met Justice Cohen once and he seemed like a very honest, upright sort of guy,” Riddell said. “But he’s going to have a real challenge in keeping it focused because I think people will have lots and lots of old baggage to present.”
The commission announced last month it had appointed six “eminent fisheries experts” to its scientific advisory panel. The others are: Carl Walters, a professor in the University of B.C. Fisheries Centre; Paul LeBlond, emeritus oceanography professor at UBC; John Reynolds, a salmon and ecosystems expert at Simon Fraser University; Patricia Gallaugher, director of SFU’s Centre for Coastal Studies; and Thomas Quinn, professor at the University of Washington in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.
Sea lice and salmon farms are a topic certain to surface at the inquiry, an issue that has become too polarized and pervasive, Riddell continued.
“B.C. does not need to continue this debate. This is not positive for us and it’s not helping the communities that want to have salmon farming. And it’s not helping us talk about conservation of wild salmon.
“Maybe it’s best for media.”
He said the future of salmon farming may come down to a social choice for British Columbians, despite the economics of the industry or the desire of some coastal communities to have farms.
“You could very well be at a point of saying, ‘Is B.C. the place for salmon farming?’ Is it really consistent with Beautiful B.C. … and all these slogans we throw out? Maybe salmon farming is at odds with those.”
With the federal government set to take over management of salmon farming from the province, there may be an opportunity for improving the situation, including perhaps a closer look at closed-containment farms rather than open-net farms where farmed and wild stocks can intermix.
“They understand the sensitivities,” he said of the federal government. “I hope they have good people thinking seriously about the new regulations.”
Before joining the foundation in February 2009, Riddell served as science head of salmon and freshwater ecosystems at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo.
He played an instrumental role in producing the federal government’s 2005 wild salmon policy, which, in part, emphasizes the importance of maintaining the genetic diversity of wild salmon and their habitats and ecosystems, and recognizes the cultural importance of the salmon harvest.
The foundation has an annual budget of almost $10 million to support a wide range of groups working on the conservation and recovery of Pacific salmon.
lpynn@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/technol...thority+says/3036099/story.html#ixzz0oA1L9dEV
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www.JimsFishing.com
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Plight of Fraser sockeye a ‘science issue,’ salmon authority says
By LARRY PYNN, Vancouver Sun
A member of the scientific advisory panel for the Cohen commission of inquiry into the decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon questions whether the exercise is necessary to resolve what is a science issue.
“I don’t believe you needed to go to a judicial inquiry,” said Brian Riddell, a 30-year scientist with the federal fisheries department who is now chief executive officer of the Pacific Salmon Foundation. “I’m sure there are strong political reasons on why it was done.”
Riddell said salmon decline is a “science issue” and that if the inquiry highlights the need for more research to be done into the marine system “then it could be worthwhile.”
However, he said it’s a “sad comment on resource management” that Canada had to go as far as ordering a judicial inquiry and that separating the politics from the science is going to be a challenge.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper last November appointed B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen to conduct the commission of inquiry into continuing low sockeye returns on the Fraser.
Cohen is not to find fault for the decline, but is to make recommendations for “improving the future sustainability of the sockeye salmon fishery in the Fraser River including, as required, any changes to the policies, practices and procedures of the [fisheries] department ….”
The commission is expected to release its terms of reference in early June.
“I’ve only met Justice Cohen once and he seemed like a very honest, upright sort of guy,” Riddell said. “But he’s going to have a real challenge in keeping it focused because I think people will have lots and lots of old baggage to present.”
The commission announced last month it had appointed six “eminent fisheries experts” to its scientific advisory panel. The others are: Carl Walters, a professor in the University of B.C. Fisheries Centre; Paul LeBlond, emeritus oceanography professor at UBC; John Reynolds, a salmon and ecosystems expert at Simon Fraser University; Patricia Gallaugher, director of SFU’s Centre for Coastal Studies; and Thomas Quinn, professor at the University of Washington in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.
Sea lice and salmon farms are a topic certain to surface at the inquiry, an issue that has become too polarized and pervasive, Riddell continued.
“B.C. does not need to continue this debate. This is not positive for us and it’s not helping the communities that want to have salmon farming. And it’s not helping us talk about conservation of wild salmon.
“Maybe it’s best for media.”
He said the future of salmon farming may come down to a social choice for British Columbians, despite the economics of the industry or the desire of some coastal communities to have farms.
“You could very well be at a point of saying, ‘Is B.C. the place for salmon farming?’ Is it really consistent with Beautiful B.C. … and all these slogans we throw out? Maybe salmon farming is at odds with those.”
With the federal government set to take over management of salmon farming from the province, there may be an opportunity for improving the situation, including perhaps a closer look at closed-containment farms rather than open-net farms where farmed and wild stocks can intermix.
“They understand the sensitivities,” he said of the federal government. “I hope they have good people thinking seriously about the new regulations.”
Before joining the foundation in February 2009, Riddell served as science head of salmon and freshwater ecosystems at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo.
He played an instrumental role in producing the federal government’s 2005 wild salmon policy, which, in part, emphasizes the importance of maintaining the genetic diversity of wild salmon and their habitats and ecosystems, and recognizes the cultural importance of the salmon harvest.
The foundation has an annual budget of almost $10 million to support a wide range of groups working on the conservation and recovery of Pacific salmon.
lpynn@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/technol...thority+says/3036099/story.html#ixzz0oA1L9dEV
Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250