MP wants summit on salmon

Jennifer Moreau
September 12, 2009
Burnaby Now

Burnaby-New Westminster MP Peter Julian is renewing calls for an emergency summit on the millions of missing sockeye in the Fraser River and asking the federal government to step up fish farm regulations.

Julian said the provincial government is respecting a February Supreme Court ruling that it will not be overseeing fish farms, which he said has left a regulatory void.

"The federal fisheries minister has done absolutely nothing to fill that void," Julian said. "No one in Ottawa seems to be aware of how serious the situation is on the West Coast."

In July, Fisheries and Oceans Canada was forecasting 10.6 million sockeye salmon would return to the Fraser this year. The new overall estimate is 1.3 million, roughly one in eight of what was expected.

No one knows what happened to the sockeye, but one theory is that sea lice from infested fish farms is a contributing factor - that's part of the reason Julian wants the federal government to step up regulations.

Read the full story on Burnaby Now

Read related story in the:

• Nanaimo Daily News; September 21st; "Biologist wants inquiry on salmon stocks"
• Maple Ridge Times; September 22nd; "Call for salmon review derided by local MLA"
• TheProgress.com; September 22nd; "Sockeye disaster prompts call for public review by BC Minister"