Second record-low sockeye return hits Fraser River
According to DFO, this year’s sockeye salmon return to the Fraser River was the second lowest on record. The Pacific Salmon Commission reported that only 456,800 sockeye passed through the river, barely surpassing the record low of 396,000 set in 2020.
For Chief Joe Alphonse, Tl’etinqox First Nation, the fate of the sockeye is a matter of survival, as the Tl’etinqox people depend on salmon as a significant food source. As a result, they have paused fishing on both sockeye and chinook stocks this year to help give already struggling salmon populations a chance to recover.
“We’re not trying to build it up just for our own benefit,” says Chief Joe Alphonse, Tl’etinqox First Nation. “If there’s a healthy Chilko Lake run, it benefits everyone downriver.”
One immediate action the Canadian government can take to protect wild Pacific salmon is to accelerate the removal of ocean-based salmon farms in BC prior to the 2029 ban.