Tourist operators fear for Glendale salmon runs

Campbell River Mirror
September 30, 2010

Fish farms are being blamed by the Wilderness Tourism Association (WTA) for plummeting salmon returns to the Glendale Creek in Knight Inlet.

“We are seeing a disturbing trend,” Dean Wyatt, owner of the Knight Inlet Lodge, said in a press release issued by the WTA. “In 2004 we had pink returns of about 660,000. That number dropped to 182,000 in 2006 and 15,000 in 2008. And now it looks like less than 20,000 are coming back to Glendale, similar to 2008. With 4.8 million fish leaving the Glendale in 2009, a worst-case scenario should have seen 40,000 salmon return.”

Wyatt’s numbers are based on the most recent DFO bulletin reporting results of a Sept. 13 survey of salmon in Knight Inlet indicator streams.

The bulletin says, “Pink are near peak spawn in most systems except Glendale, which is typically later than the other monitored systems. Returns to date are similar to slightly better than brood returns observed at similar times in 2008 except for Ahnuhati. The Kakweiken River has the highest concentration of pinks out of all the systems monitored. Numbers in Glendale have increased significantly since the last flight but there is little indication in the lower river or approach waters that any more pinks will return.”

A press release from the WTA, a vocal aquaculture opponent, blamed fish farms for the situation.

“While British Columbians are celebrating the massive returns of Fraser River sockeye salmon, other key BC salmon runs are experiencing a drastic collapse,” the WTA release says.

Read related story: Courier Islander; September 29, 2010; "Trying to figure out the problem"