wildmanyeah
Crew Member
We paid 30 million for a Cohen commission when a single sockeye run crashed to a few million returning.
The silence and inaction this time around is scary for the future of salmon.
Rock slide in Fraser River, B.C., may hinder salmon passage
- Thread starter wildmanyeah
- Start date
We paid 30 million for a Cohen commission when a single sockeye run crashed to a few million returning.
The silence and inaction this time around is scary for the future of salmon.
littlechucky
Crew Member
Don't worry...Wilkinson in his new capacity of minister of the environment and climate change is stating we must step up our efforts on climate action. That will certain solve the problem for the fish.
ChinookExerciser
Active Member
Dec_2019_BigBarUpdate_trilatversion_Dec4Updated.pdf
http://frafs.ca/sites/default/files2/Dec_2019_BigBarUpdate_trilatversion_Dec4Updated.pdf
OKAY THIS IS NOT FUNNY WTF RIVERS WITH ZERO SPAWNERS WTF
http://frafs.ca/sites/default/files2/Dec_2019_BigBarUpdate_trilatversion_Dec4Updated.pdf
OKAY THIS IS NOT FUNNY WTF RIVERS WITH ZERO SPAWNERS WTF
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wildmanyeah
Crew Member
Yikes, thanks for the link
ILHG
Crew Member
The last thing I will do is give Trudeau an excuse,,,, but cant imagine trying to get something when you need to consult every party and band. Then also take "Traditional Knowledge" into account when it is an Engineering problem.
I mean look at the hoops you have to jump through to get any project built in BC.
Oh ya... And UNRIP
I mean look at the hoops you have to jump through to get any project built in BC.
Oh ya... And UNRIP
Our only hope is that FN get vocal.
DFO knew about this in the end of last fall.
This should be on the news every night!
Why aren't the anti fish farm enviros all over this!! Anybody who actually cares about salmon needs holding DFO accountable!
Say goodbye to ocean fishing!
DFO knew about this in the end of last fall.
This should be on the news every night!
Why aren't the anti fish farm enviros all over this!! Anybody who actually cares about salmon needs holding DFO accountable!
Say goodbye to ocean fishing!
GLG
Well-Known Member
Where is your proof that "DFO knew about this last fall" or are you just making stuff up.
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
Pressure on to move rocks the size of 'houses and cars' at Big Bar landslide
https://vancouversun.com/news/local...-size-of-houses-and-cars-at-big-bar-landslide
https://vancouversun.com/news/local...-size-of-houses-and-cars-at-big-bar-landslide
New report says Fraser River is most endangered waterway in B.C.
https://globalnews.ca/video/6261967/new-report-says-fraser-river-is-most-endangered-waterway-in-b-c
https://www.orcbc.ca/the-fraser-river-most-urgent-river-issue-for-2020/
https://globalnews.ca/video/6261967/new-report-says-fraser-river-is-most-endangered-waterway-in-b-c
https://www.orcbc.ca/the-fraser-river-most-urgent-river-issue-for-2020/
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GLG
Well-Known Member
Dec 13, 2019
Meeting with the new federal fisheries minister and several B.C. Members of Parliament from across the parties, the top priority was to reiterate the need for action now to clear the Big Bar landslide. This is an emergency that requires mobilization immediately, before already depleted salmon stocks start to return next summer. There has not been a crisis like this for wild salmon since the Hell’s Gate slide 100 years ago.
We have included a copy of the letter sent by Mike to all Members of Parliament after the recent election outlining PSF priorities for the new federal Parliament. Visit https://www.psf.ca/document-library/l... to access the letter.
We also encourage you to watch the new interview about Big Bar with PSF Vice President for Salmon, Jason Hwang. This is the second video in a new monthly series called Salmon Matter, filmed in partnership with Conversations that Matter.
Now is the time for all of us who care about Pacific salmon to contact your Member of Parliament and Provincial MLA’s to make sure both levels of government have all the resources and encouragement they need to act now on Big Bar. You are also encouraged to reiterate the need for action on the other key PSF priorities outlined in Mike's letter.
tincan
Well-Known Member
For those who don't want to follow another link to the letter here is what it said (sorry about the formatting but copy/paste from .pdf doesn't always go well:
Dear MP,
Congratulations on your election to the House of Commons. My colleagues at the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) and I look forward to working with you in the future. I also write to outline several important policy and budget priorities that we ask you to consider in the 43rd Canadian Parliament.
Following a divisive political season, I believe we should acknowledge that Pacific salmon are of concern to a wide spectrum of business, political, community and Indigenous leaders, and their conservation can be an issue of “collective resolve” for citizens and MP’s across partisan divides.
PSF’s vision is two-fold. First, healthy, sustainable and naturally diverse populations of Pacific salmon for the benefit of ecosystems and Canadians for generations to come. Second, effective stewardship of natural resources in B.C. and the Yukon that involve communities in decisions affecting Pacific salmon.
This has been a particularly challenging year for Pacific salmon, leading many to the conclusion that we are in a “salmon crisis.” Sockeye returns to the Fraser River this year are the lowest on record. Certain Chinook stocks from the B.C. Interior were predicted to return in such dwindling numbers that widespread fisheries closures were established in the spring. The tipping point came in July with the Big Bar rockslide in the Fraser River near Kamloops, which obstructed the passage of thousands of salmon trying to return to their natal streams to spawn.
Despite the challenges, there are reasons to be optimistic. First, Pacific salmon are resilient and have been adapting for millions of years. Second, British Columbians are passionate about sustaining Pacific salmon, with more than 35,000 volunteers across the province who regularly volunteer on important conservation and restoration projects. Third, we have a world-class “salmon network” of scientists, conservation organizations and Indigenous leaders with the knowledge and wherewithal to work hand-in-glove with governments to sustain Pacific salmon for future generations.
Recent commitments to Pacific salmon made by the federal and provincial governments, such as the B.C. Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF), represent significant steps forward. Still, what we need now and most urgently is the political leadership to do much more for Pacific salmon. This will mean major increases and on-going investments by the federal government that expand programs like the Salmon Conservation Stamp, DFO’s Salmonid Enhancement Program, and the Oceans Protection Plan, including the Coastal Restoration Fund and BCSRIF that directly support communities and non-governmental organizations like PSF.
It will be up to all MP’s from all parties in British Columbia to make Pacific salmon an urgent priority. We have no time to waste given the state of many Pacific salmon stocks. PSF is calling on our B.C. MP’s to urgently advance federal government policies and a 2020 budget that will address the crisis situation faced by Pacific salmon.
Here are several recommendations for you and other B.C. MP’s to advance in Ottawa.
URGENT ACTION ON BIG BAR SLIDE: The Big Bar obstruction in the Fraser River is the major and present issue for Pacific salmon in British Columbia. We recently communicated with the Minister of Fisheries calling for continued urgency and vigilance to remove this major obstruction before salmon start returning next spring. Affected salmon stocks that spawn above the obstruction are already of critical conservation concern, prompting significant fishing restrictions last year. The federal and provincial government have worked hard and in a coordinated fashion to open some passage for Pacific salmon. We understand that large numbers of salmon did make it past the rockslide, but that the main factor that allowed passage was the drop in water levels that occurred naturally in late August. While this was good news for a few salmon populations, the impediment to salmon migration during higher flow periods remains and continues to pose a serious migration risk for salmon in 2020. There has not been a problem of this proportion for Fraser River salmon in the last 100 years, since the Hell’s Gate rockslide in 1914! Failure to fully restore salmon passage will have serious biological, economic and socio-cultural consequences that will have repercussions for years to come. This situation should be considered an on-going national emergency that merits every government and private sector resource at our disposal to open this obstruction before winter weather makes such an effort impossible.
RESTORE ADEQUATE BUDGET FOR STOCK ASSESSMENT: Quality stock assessment data is fundamental in order to properly manage conservation of Pacific salmon and maintain fisheries. Unfortunately, DFO’s ability to meet well-established salmon assessment programs has experienced significant reductions during the last decade with deleterious effect. For example, lack of stock assessment data was cited recently by the Canadian Pacific salmon industry when it voluntarily suspended its Marine Stewardship Council eco-certification of B.C. chum, pink and sockeye, including Fraser River sockeye. Funds have been provided by the current government to restore some of the shortfalls in meeting DFO’s obligations. Still, we estimate that the DFO Pacific region’s current stock assessment budget is down by roughly 25%. The result is a decreasing number of assessment projects and activities further fueling the public unease that DFO is not adequately tracking fish status nor on top of the events affecting fisheries sustainability. Dramatically improving DFO stock assessment of Pacific salmon will also be required for the implementation of the recently renewed Pacific Salmon treaty with the United States.
MORE RESOURCES FOR DFO’S SALMON ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM: The federal Salmonid Enhancement Program (SEP) needs a major infusion of new funds to support community enhancement and conservation of Pacific salmon. This program works closely with PSF and focuses on vulnerable salmon stocks, provides harvest opportunities, and improves fish habitat to sustain salmon populations. It does so by empowering people in Indigenous and community organizations across British Columbia. Despite many successes, the SEP budget has had no inflationary adjustments for 15 years, resulting in a loss of about $6M in annual spending power over that time. A ripple affect is that PSF’s network of thousands of volunteer salmon stewards are struggling to maintain stewardship programs and community enhancement infrastructure. More is urgently needed amidst salmon declines to upgrade small-scale community hatchery infrastructure, build more spawning and rearing habitat, and expand low-cost innovative technology and citizen science.
INCREASE SALMON CONSERVATION STAMP TO AT LEAST $10: An important companion step is to increase the cost of the federal Salmon Conservation Stamp from $6 to at least $10 for the support of community-based Pacific salmon conservation, enhancement and restoration. Funds from this user fee are granted by PSF to a network of 340+ volunteer salmon stewardship groups across British Columbia and every $1 from the Stamp generates another $7 in value with local fundraising and volunteerism! This is a user-fee adjustment, thus no direct cost relative to the federal budget. The minimum $4 adjustment accounts for inflation compounded since 1996, as well as increased demand from community-based grantees. This adjustment will generate another $1 million annually (based on past Salmon Stamp sales), with an expected $6 million in leverage. PSF needs MP support to encourage DFO to proceed with the consultation required by the Services Fee Act as soon as possible. (See attached proposal.)
MOVE TO CLOSED-CONTAINMENT SALMON FARMING: The new Government has committed to a transition from open-net-pen to closed-containment salmon aquaculture in British Columbia by 2025. PSF called for this transition in 2018 because of the combination of three key considerations: the report of the B.C. Minister of Agriculture Advisory Committee on Finfish Aquaculture; the results of our own research (Strategic Salmon Health lnitiative); and the chronically low abundance of many wild Pacific salmon populations. We look forward to learning more about next steps and, in the interim, will continue to strongly encourage that DFO’s management of aquaculture put the health and well-being of Pacific salmon first.
All of us at the Pacific Salmon Foundation and thousands of “salmon stewards” in British Columbia look forward to your leadership on behalf of Pacific salmon during the 43rd Canadian Parliament. We welcome the opportunity to discuss these ideas and to work with you to urgently address the challenges facing Pacific salmon.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Meneer
President and CEO
Pacific Salmon Foundation
Dear MP,
Congratulations on your election to the House of Commons. My colleagues at the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) and I look forward to working with you in the future. I also write to outline several important policy and budget priorities that we ask you to consider in the 43rd Canadian Parliament.
Following a divisive political season, I believe we should acknowledge that Pacific salmon are of concern to a wide spectrum of business, political, community and Indigenous leaders, and their conservation can be an issue of “collective resolve” for citizens and MP’s across partisan divides.
PSF’s vision is two-fold. First, healthy, sustainable and naturally diverse populations of Pacific salmon for the benefit of ecosystems and Canadians for generations to come. Second, effective stewardship of natural resources in B.C. and the Yukon that involve communities in decisions affecting Pacific salmon.
This has been a particularly challenging year for Pacific salmon, leading many to the conclusion that we are in a “salmon crisis.” Sockeye returns to the Fraser River this year are the lowest on record. Certain Chinook stocks from the B.C. Interior were predicted to return in such dwindling numbers that widespread fisheries closures were established in the spring. The tipping point came in July with the Big Bar rockslide in the Fraser River near Kamloops, which obstructed the passage of thousands of salmon trying to return to their natal streams to spawn.
Despite the challenges, there are reasons to be optimistic. First, Pacific salmon are resilient and have been adapting for millions of years. Second, British Columbians are passionate about sustaining Pacific salmon, with more than 35,000 volunteers across the province who regularly volunteer on important conservation and restoration projects. Third, we have a world-class “salmon network” of scientists, conservation organizations and Indigenous leaders with the knowledge and wherewithal to work hand-in-glove with governments to sustain Pacific salmon for future generations.
Recent commitments to Pacific salmon made by the federal and provincial governments, such as the B.C. Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF), represent significant steps forward. Still, what we need now and most urgently is the political leadership to do much more for Pacific salmon. This will mean major increases and on-going investments by the federal government that expand programs like the Salmon Conservation Stamp, DFO’s Salmonid Enhancement Program, and the Oceans Protection Plan, including the Coastal Restoration Fund and BCSRIF that directly support communities and non-governmental organizations like PSF.
It will be up to all MP’s from all parties in British Columbia to make Pacific salmon an urgent priority. We have no time to waste given the state of many Pacific salmon stocks. PSF is calling on our B.C. MP’s to urgently advance federal government policies and a 2020 budget that will address the crisis situation faced by Pacific salmon.
Here are several recommendations for you and other B.C. MP’s to advance in Ottawa.
URGENT ACTION ON BIG BAR SLIDE: The Big Bar obstruction in the Fraser River is the major and present issue for Pacific salmon in British Columbia. We recently communicated with the Minister of Fisheries calling for continued urgency and vigilance to remove this major obstruction before salmon start returning next spring. Affected salmon stocks that spawn above the obstruction are already of critical conservation concern, prompting significant fishing restrictions last year. The federal and provincial government have worked hard and in a coordinated fashion to open some passage for Pacific salmon. We understand that large numbers of salmon did make it past the rockslide, but that the main factor that allowed passage was the drop in water levels that occurred naturally in late August. While this was good news for a few salmon populations, the impediment to salmon migration during higher flow periods remains and continues to pose a serious migration risk for salmon in 2020. There has not been a problem of this proportion for Fraser River salmon in the last 100 years, since the Hell’s Gate rockslide in 1914! Failure to fully restore salmon passage will have serious biological, economic and socio-cultural consequences that will have repercussions for years to come. This situation should be considered an on-going national emergency that merits every government and private sector resource at our disposal to open this obstruction before winter weather makes such an effort impossible.
RESTORE ADEQUATE BUDGET FOR STOCK ASSESSMENT: Quality stock assessment data is fundamental in order to properly manage conservation of Pacific salmon and maintain fisheries. Unfortunately, DFO’s ability to meet well-established salmon assessment programs has experienced significant reductions during the last decade with deleterious effect. For example, lack of stock assessment data was cited recently by the Canadian Pacific salmon industry when it voluntarily suspended its Marine Stewardship Council eco-certification of B.C. chum, pink and sockeye, including Fraser River sockeye. Funds have been provided by the current government to restore some of the shortfalls in meeting DFO’s obligations. Still, we estimate that the DFO Pacific region’s current stock assessment budget is down by roughly 25%. The result is a decreasing number of assessment projects and activities further fueling the public unease that DFO is not adequately tracking fish status nor on top of the events affecting fisheries sustainability. Dramatically improving DFO stock assessment of Pacific salmon will also be required for the implementation of the recently renewed Pacific Salmon treaty with the United States.
MORE RESOURCES FOR DFO’S SALMON ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM: The federal Salmonid Enhancement Program (SEP) needs a major infusion of new funds to support community enhancement and conservation of Pacific salmon. This program works closely with PSF and focuses on vulnerable salmon stocks, provides harvest opportunities, and improves fish habitat to sustain salmon populations. It does so by empowering people in Indigenous and community organizations across British Columbia. Despite many successes, the SEP budget has had no inflationary adjustments for 15 years, resulting in a loss of about $6M in annual spending power over that time. A ripple affect is that PSF’s network of thousands of volunteer salmon stewards are struggling to maintain stewardship programs and community enhancement infrastructure. More is urgently needed amidst salmon declines to upgrade small-scale community hatchery infrastructure, build more spawning and rearing habitat, and expand low-cost innovative technology and citizen science.
INCREASE SALMON CONSERVATION STAMP TO AT LEAST $10: An important companion step is to increase the cost of the federal Salmon Conservation Stamp from $6 to at least $10 for the support of community-based Pacific salmon conservation, enhancement and restoration. Funds from this user fee are granted by PSF to a network of 340+ volunteer salmon stewardship groups across British Columbia and every $1 from the Stamp generates another $7 in value with local fundraising and volunteerism! This is a user-fee adjustment, thus no direct cost relative to the federal budget. The minimum $4 adjustment accounts for inflation compounded since 1996, as well as increased demand from community-based grantees. This adjustment will generate another $1 million annually (based on past Salmon Stamp sales), with an expected $6 million in leverage. PSF needs MP support to encourage DFO to proceed with the consultation required by the Services Fee Act as soon as possible. (See attached proposal.)
MOVE TO CLOSED-CONTAINMENT SALMON FARMING: The new Government has committed to a transition from open-net-pen to closed-containment salmon aquaculture in British Columbia by 2025. PSF called for this transition in 2018 because of the combination of three key considerations: the report of the B.C. Minister of Agriculture Advisory Committee on Finfish Aquaculture; the results of our own research (Strategic Salmon Health lnitiative); and the chronically low abundance of many wild Pacific salmon populations. We look forward to learning more about next steps and, in the interim, will continue to strongly encourage that DFO’s management of aquaculture put the health and well-being of Pacific salmon first.
All of us at the Pacific Salmon Foundation and thousands of “salmon stewards” in British Columbia look forward to your leadership on behalf of Pacific salmon during the 43rd Canadian Parliament. We welcome the opportunity to discuss these ideas and to work with you to urgently address the challenges facing Pacific salmon.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Meneer
President and CEO
Pacific Salmon Foundation
Fish Fingers
New Member
Well I know they are currently reviewing proposals provided by public companies to remove all or a large portion of the rock. Hope they pick the contractor soon and get enough of that rock out of the way! I do not know why anyone would be apposed to blasting that out of there, the only wrong action is inaction. I give more credit to someone who tries and fails then someone who sits and never tries at all. Pick a contractor and lets "get the popcorn ready!"
Cheers FF
fish4all
Well-Known Member
Good luck getting the upriver nets out.
ChinookExerciser
Active Member
Big Bar Landslide On June 23rd, 2019, DFO was notified of a landslide near Big Bar, British Columbia and on June 29, a Unified Command Incident Management Team was established in Lillooet, B.C. with personnel representing the governments of Canada, British Columbia and First Nations. From July to September, almost 700 personnel, external experts and contractors were directly involved in the hands-on-response in Lillooet, and at the slide site, with dozens more supporting the efforts virtually, in a variety of different capacities. While some early estimates of very poor salmon returns due to the rockslide are circulating, work is ongoing to finalize the scientific evaluation around the fish migration, spawning and mortality data, which will be released once completed (likely March). Some runs of salmon, particularly Early Stuart Sockeye
and Fraser Spring 52 and Summer 52 Chinook, are expected to have low numbers of spawners in part due to migration barriers early in the summer at the Big Bar Rock slide. Continued sustained efforts will be required both in the short and long-term, possibly even into years ahead, to reduce the impact of the landslide on future salmon returns. Recognizing the need to prepare for next season, DFO is currently pursuing and planning to more effectively assist salmon migration in 2020, should this be required. Additional management measures to close or curtail fisheries to protect Fraser salmon stocks migrating to spawning areas upstream of the rockslide will likely be required for the 2020 season; further discussion with First Nations and advisory groups will occur on management measures that will be required in 2020.
and Fraser Spring 52 and Summer 52 Chinook, are expected to have low numbers of spawners in part due to migration barriers early in the summer at the Big Bar Rock slide. Continued sustained efforts will be required both in the short and long-term, possibly even into years ahead, to reduce the impact of the landslide on future salmon returns. Recognizing the need to prepare for next season, DFO is currently pursuing and planning to more effectively assist salmon migration in 2020, should this be required. Additional management measures to close or curtail fisheries to protect Fraser salmon stocks migrating to spawning areas upstream of the rockslide will likely be required for the 2020 season; further discussion with First Nations and advisory groups will occur on management measures that will be required in 2020.
If we don't hear something about this issue in the first week of January I am going to be seriously concerned. If normal water conditions prevail ( and we know nothing is normal anymore) there are about 10 weeks to get this done. Having worked for this Department and knowing the bureaucracy involved, I really doubt a solution will be found in time.
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
The solution is to have a blasting program where you turn the big rocks into small rocks and let the river take away the small rocks.
As you put it now the only issue is bureaucracy and perhaps getting a contractor to do the work. If I was a private company I would steer away from the project way to much exposure to rush it,
As you put it now the only issue is bureaucracy and perhaps getting a contractor to do the work. If I was a private company I would steer away from the project way to much exposure to rush it,
fish4all
Well-Known Member
The Premier’s office organized a technical briefing late last year.
Essentially, about 275,000 fish made it past the slide, mainly by natural passage, with some 60,000 being transported, most of which were unlikely to spawn.
Early Stuart sockeye (<100 spawners out of 21,000), mid and Upper Fraser spring 1.3 chinook are at grave risk of extinction. Early summer and summer sockeye and mid-Fraser 1.3 summer chinook are at “considerable” risk of extinction. The slide is expected to prevent passage for most of the 2020 migration season.
The site is very remote (the slide went unnoticed for more than six months) requiring crews to scale the rock face for access and some 110,000 cubic metres of debris under the surface.
The goal of the Joint Command (DFO, FLNRO and FN) is to restore sustained natural passage. It has taken extensive advice from the Armed Forces, US Army Corps of Engineers, Rio Tinto and other mining and construction companies. Remediation work risks further slides.
With water flow dropping recently to under 600 cubic metres per second, the federal government has just contracted Peter Kiewit Sons ULC to remove rock and debris between now and March before spring freshet makes further operations impossible.
Some limited strategic enhancement took place in 2019 and is under consideration for 2020.
The consequences for all South Coast fisheries are likely to be severe.
Essentially, about 275,000 fish made it past the slide, mainly by natural passage, with some 60,000 being transported, most of which were unlikely to spawn.
Early Stuart sockeye (<100 spawners out of 21,000), mid and Upper Fraser spring 1.3 chinook are at grave risk of extinction. Early summer and summer sockeye and mid-Fraser 1.3 summer chinook are at “considerable” risk of extinction. The slide is expected to prevent passage for most of the 2020 migration season.
The site is very remote (the slide went unnoticed for more than six months) requiring crews to scale the rock face for access and some 110,000 cubic metres of debris under the surface.
The goal of the Joint Command (DFO, FLNRO and FN) is to restore sustained natural passage. It has taken extensive advice from the Armed Forces, US Army Corps of Engineers, Rio Tinto and other mining and construction companies. Remediation work risks further slides.
With water flow dropping recently to under 600 cubic metres per second, the federal government has just contracted Peter Kiewit Sons ULC to remove rock and debris between now and March before spring freshet makes further operations impossible.
Some limited strategic enhancement took place in 2019 and is under consideration for 2020.
The consequences for all South Coast fisheries are likely to be severe.
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