B.C. judge to head salmon inquiry

Mark Hume and Bill Curry
November 5, 2009
The Globe and Mail

British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen has been appointed to head a sweeping judicial inquiry into the collapse of the most important salmon run on the West Coast.

Justice Cohen will investigate "the causes for the decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon including, but not limited to, the impact of environmental conditions, aquaculture, predators, diseases, water temperature and other factors that may have affected the ability of sockeye salmon to reach traditional spawning grounds or reach the ocean."

Details of the inquiry were being released this morning in Vancouver by Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to hold the inquiry is being called a last, best hope to avert a fisheries disaster on the West Coast.

This is our chance to save B.C. salmon from going the way of Atlantic cod,” Phil Eidsvik, a spokesman for the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition, said Thursday after Mr. Harper's surprise announcement in Ottawa.

Read the full story in The Globe and Mail.

Read related stories in:

• The New Westminister News Leader; November 25, 2009; "MP Peter Julian says salmon action can be taken today". 
• The Economist; November 19, 2009; "British Columbia's salmon socked".
• The Courier-Island; November 18, 2009; "Salmon farmers welcome inquiry".
• The Globe and Mail; November 6, 2009; "B.C. Judge given broad powers to probe collapse of salmon stock".

See The Globe and Mail's online Q&A related to the Judicial Inquiry; November 9th; "Discuss how to save B.C.'s salmon stock with Fisheries Survival Coalition spokesman Phil Eidsvik". 

Read the biography on Mr. Justice Cohen.

Read the full press release from The Office of The Prime Minister.

Read the Terms of Reference of the Judicial Inquiry.

Access the Cohen Commission website.

Read background stories on the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye