Lower Fraser River dead to salmon, forum told

Black Press
September 23, 2010
Campbell River Mirror

Optimism for the future of the Fraser River’s iconic salmon was in short supply at a public forum of the Cohen Commission in New Westminster Monday.

Many of the 60 participants predicted this summer’s record sockeye run will prove a flash in the pan, giving way to further stock declines.

Several speakers told inquiry head Bruce Cohen they believe much of the fishery’s trouble stems from habitat destruction through industrialization of the lower river, particularly the north arm between Richmond and Vancouver that some said seems dead to salmon.

“There’s something terribly wrong here,” retired fisherman Terry Slack said, noting development covers most of the banks of those channels.

Slack also pointed to Metro Vancouver’s sewage treatment plants, which pump “a river of effluent” out every day, hurting juvenile salmon.

“We have to get these plants to clean up,” he said.

Read the full story in the Campbell River Mirror