B.C. fishers await bumper salmon run

Kathryn Blaze Carlson
July 7th, 2010
National Post

Commercial fishers on British Columbia's Fraser River have stayed tied to the dock for the past three summers, waiting for a viable sockeye run that could fill their nets as they have in distant decades.

But this year, if rumours and federal projections prove true, anglers, commercial boats and First Nations bands alike might finally catch some respite.

The pre-season forecast from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans -- released late last month -- anticipates that 11.4 million sockeye will return this summer and, if the turnout south of the border is for once an indication, the Fraser River could soon be aflutter with fish.

Sockeye have already been eyed on the west side of Vancouver Island, and Washington State is seeing a record run of the fish in the Columbia River.

"Everyone out here has their fingers crossed, and they're hoping that the forecasts are somewhere in the ballpark," said Ernie Crey, fisheries advisor to the Sto: lo Tribal Council in the Fraser Valley region, and former advisor to the DFO.

"They hope it will point to Fraser River sockeye probably surviving into the future."

Mr. Crey said that although federal projections for the Fraser River run have been historically inaccurate -- last year the DFO predicted 10.3 million fish would show up, and only 1.3 million arrived -- the latest estimation may ring true.

This year marks the return of the fabled and populous Adams River run, which comes in the final year of the sockeye's four-year life-cycle and will comprise most of the late-summer sockeye run, Mr. Crey said. 

Read the full story in the National Post.

Read related story:

• Westcoaster; July 23, 2010; "Sockeye Run Reaches One Millon"
• Digital Journal, July 9, 2010; "Canadian Dept. of Fisheries & Oceans predicts good BC sockeye run"
• Nanaimo Bulletin; June 30, 2010; "Big sockeye run possible"