Ottawa, first nations spar over sockeye

Adrian Nieoczym August 22, 2010
The Globe and Mail

In a stunning turnaround, sockeye salmon have returned to Osoyoos Lake in the B.C. Interior at levels not seen in more than 60 years.

But instead of setting off celebrations, their arrival has ignited a battle for control of the fishery between local first nations and the federal government.

At 250,000, this summer’s sockeye run is the largest since the 1930s, when U.S. dam construction on the Columbia River decimated fish stocks. Salmon in Osoyoos Lake, which straddles the U.S.-Canadian border, reached a low of about 10,000 a year in the late 1990s.

After years of depressed runs, the dispute in the Interior is taking place during a summer when sockeye salmon numbers are surprisingly buoyant all over the province, increasing pressure on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to allow more fishing and exacerbating tensions with native groups.

The high numbers in Osoyoos Lake this year prompted the DFO to allow both a limited commercial fishery, open only to local first nations, as well as a 10-day recreational fishery, open to all anglers.

It’s the first time recreational fishing for sockeye has been allowed on the lake since fishing regulations were introduced about 50 years ago, said the DFO’s chief of resource management for the B.C. Interior, Les Jantz. The recreational fishery opened on Aug. 13 and closed on Aug. 22.

The decision sparked outrage at the Okanagan Nation Alliance, a group of seven first nations that has been spearheading a project to restore the salmon run for more than a decade. For the past six years, those efforts have included releasing millions of salmon fry into nearby rivers.

The provincial and federal governments are both providing scientific and financial support to the project, but the bulk of the funding comes from power utility districts in Washington State.

“We’re just now beginning to see the fruits of our labour,” said the ONA head, Chief Stewart Phillip. “Then overnight, DFO makes this grandiose public announcement that they’re going to open up a recreational fishery without any real consultation with our elected leadership.”

Read the full story in The Globe and Mail

Related stories:

• Penticton Western News; August 19, 2010; "Groups divided over spawning salmon numbers"