Fisheries Cmte. Predicts Fraser River Sockeye Fishery Closed In 2008

[hatrack]

Not to worry, it's only the biggest single sockeye salmon run in Canada . . .

OTTAWA -- "One of the Canada's richest fisheries, the Fraser River sockeye salmon run, will likely be shut down for the 2008 season due to a sharp decline in spawning stocks that may be related to climate change, a report by a Canadian government committee has concluded.

In a unanimous report released Tuesday, the Commons fisheries committee suggested that rising water temperatures are an important factor in "a major ecological disaster." It also blamed overfishing for the low spawning numbers last summer, and suggested the federal Fisheries Department must increase enforcement and research efforts.

The committee said 1.6 million fish, one-third of the total run, vanished in 2004. "These tragically low numbers mean that there will probably not be enough sockeye salmon to support commercial, recreation or aboriginal fishing on the Fraser in 2008," the committee said.

It estimated losses in the commercial fishery alone at $64.4 million in 2008. Based on the four-year life cycle of the sockeye, the committee said, "the forecast for 2012 and 2016 is bleak." The report makes no longer-term predictions, but committee members noted similarities to that of the Atlantic cod, which still hasn't recovered from a collapse many expected to be temporary."

EDIT

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=WST%20Canada%20Fraser%20Salmon