BC’s sockeye salmon situation hasn’t improved much since last week when commercial fishermen were told they will not likely be allowed to drop nets in the Fraser River this summer.
The latest assessment from the Pacific Salmon Commission’s Fraser River Panel shows numbers haven’t changed from last week when the total return was estimated to be about 2.3-million fish.
Because most of the run has already passed, monitors are not expected to allow any commercial or recreational operations on the Fraser River.
Concerns were raised in 2009 when numbers hit a record low. The following year, more than 25-million sockeye returned to BC spawning grounds.
Last year, four million were counted.
Barry Rosenberger is with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, “What we have is a relatively better return than four years ago, so hopefully we end up with successful spawning from these fish, and that will bode better hopefully for into the future on this cycle.”
Rosenberger says we’re past the peak of the return this year, so it’s unlikely there will be much of a change now.
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