———

 

 

Baie:

 

Finally, a missing fish inquiry

What’s the cause of record low sockeye runs?

 

pproximately 10 million salmon
were expected to head up the Fraser
River this summer. When 1.3

million—a tiny fraction of the prediction—
actually returned it was declared the worst

Earlier this month, it was finally
announced that there would be a formal
inquiry into the declining stocks. Trade
Minister Stockwell Day announced that
British Columbia Supreme Court Justice
Bruce Cohen would lead the inquiry into

the decline of sockeye salmon in the Fraser

River and make recommendations for

improving the sustainability of the sockeye

salmon fishery.
There are various factors that could

“Salmon encounter a multitude of hazards over the course of their

life without having to dodge fish farmers, sewage drainage pipes and

commercial nets.”

sockeye return on record.

The record low return prompted the
closure of the sockeye salmon fishery. The
effects of the low return and the resulting
closure were widespread, as salmon are
integral to First Nations and the fish
industry.

The Fraser River has been
experiencing dismal sockeye salmon returns
for years. The issue has not gone unnoticed
and environmentalists, scientists and
politicians have been calling for a judicial
inquiry.

have lead to the collapse. Groups of
environmentalists and scientists have been
preaching for years that the various fish
farms off B.C.’s coast have contributed

to increase pollution and sea lice, both of
which have negative impacts on juvenile
sockeye trying to reach the ocean.

Once the salmon reach the ocean, they

often encounter fleets of fishing boats. The
demand for fish has increased worldwide
leading some to believe that the collapse
could be the result of overfishing.

Perhaps the various environmental
effects ranging from pollution, habitat

destruction and global warming are

to blame. In “Promoting Sustainable
Fisheries,” Anne Platt McGinn states that
“climate change will have a greater impact
on the health of the world’s fisheries than
overfishing itself.”

In the end, Justice Bruce Cohen has
quite the task ahead of him and I will be
surprised if he can manage to pin point one
particular contributing factor, as I believe
the collapse is the result of various factors. I
imagine the pollution that Lower Mainland
residents have been dumping into the Fraser
River over the last century has not helped
matters. Salmon encounter a multitude of
hazards over the course of their life without
having to dodge fish farmers, sewage
drainage pipes and commercial nets. Global
warming has increased water temperatures.
Perhaps the Fraser River sockeye have

 

simply moved northward, into colder
waters. Whatever the case, salmon are a
keystone species. They bring diversity to
the waterways and surrounding ecosystems
in which they inhabit. Investigation,
answers and action are crucial.

The inquiry is to report back with
recommendations by May 1, 2011. It will
be interesting to see what happens over the
course of this year’s run. Hopefully, the
inquiry will identify some key problems
and implement measures to address said
problems all in time to prevent the Pacific
sockeye salmon from going the way of the
Atlantic cod.

 

 

Fuming? Nodding? Tell us what you think;
contact opinions@ theotherpress.ca with your
opinions about this or any other article

 

 

 

important messages for Copenhagen

 

   

   

By Trevor Doré, Opinions Editor

elegates from around the world
D: come together in Copenhagen

this December for the UN Climate
Conference—COP15. The conference will
attempt to get political power on the same
page in regards to tackling issues on climate
change, “one of the defining challenges of
this century.”

Copenhagen will be up against the odds
as it is not the first conference on climate
change. The first Earth Summit was held
in Stockholm in 1972, the Earth Summit in
Rio de Janeiro followed in 1992 and various
conferences have been held in between with
the most recent being the Kyoto Protocol.

The Copenhagen climate treaty will
replace the Kyoto Protocol, which was
put into place in February 2005. Kyoto
set targets for the reduction of greenhouse

8

ae
a

 

gas emissions. Unfortunately, many of the
parties that signed the treaty fell short of
their targets not to mention, the United
States didn’t even sign.

Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of
the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) believes
that the United States rejected Kyoto for
two main reasons: “Firstly, because it did
not involve action on the part of major
developing countries. Secondly, because
it was felt by the Bush administration
that Kyoto would be harmful to the U.S.
economy.” These issues along with the
plethora of environmental, economical,
political and social issues will need to be
addressed at the conference.

Over the course of the three-day
summit, delegates hope to address four
essential issues; how much are the
industrialized countries willing to reduce

their emissions of greenhouse gases? 2. How
much are major developing countries such
as China and India willing to do to limit the
growth of their emissions? How is the help
needed by developing countries to engage

in reducing their emissions and adapting to
the impacts of climate change going to be
financed? And how is that money going to
be managed?

Addressing these four issues is a big
undertaking for a three-day summit and the
past has shown that repeated attempts to
address environmental problems have been
unsuccessful as they continue to exist and
persist. It would be good to see some form
of established credibility and enforcement.
Goals should be set for a year from now,
five years from now and 10 years from
now. Countries should have to report to
ensure everyone is on track and keep the
momentum rolling.

   

 

While governments do have a lot of
power to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
and enforce laws to prevent pollution and
degradation of the planet, there is also
immense power in combined individual
action. As Margaret Mead once said, “Never
doubt that a small group of thoughtful
committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Perhaps the most powerful message we can
send to policy makers can be sent in our
combined individual actions.

Hopefully the Copenhagen Conference
will not be just a bunch of talk. Climate
change is a complex issue that needs
to be dissected, digested and dealt with
pragmatically -the sooner the better!

 

 

Fuming? Nodding? Tell us what you think;
contact opinions@theotherpress.ca with your
opinions about this or any other article