The decline of Pacific salmon appears to be yet another facet of an alarming problem: the Canadian government is unable to recognize and act on urgent policy problems.
I’ve had a slightly crazy idea about how to help turn this around. Acknowledging that overfishing is not the sole cause, I nevertheless wonder whether we should just close the commercial fishery entirely, and open the sports fishery more widely. I assume that the dollars to the economy per fish caught is much higher for the sports fishery. When I go away on a fishing trip I spend over $1000 (food, gear, gas, dining out while travelling) all in small coastal communities. I catch about 8-10 fish depending on how many family are with me. And that’s with me living on Vancouver Island; off-island fishers coming for a trip spend much more. All this economic benefit spread up and down the cost while catching what must be just a fraction of the fish caught by the commercial guys.
We should focus on farming, not catching salmon. I know that is a bit controversial, but I’ve been buying ocean-wise farmed salmon at Thrifty’s for years. I think it’s more responsible than supporting the dying commercial fishery.
Thanks for this article, it’s a tragedy.
I’ve had a slightly crazy idea about how to help turn this around. Acknowledging that overfishing is not the sole cause, I nevertheless wonder whether we should just close the commercial fishery entirely, and open the sports fishery more widely. I assume that the dollars to the economy per fish caught is much higher for the sports fishery. When I go away on a fishing trip I spend over $1000 (food, gear, gas, dining out while travelling) all in small coastal communities. I catch about 8-10 fish depending on how many family are with me. And that’s with me living on Vancouver Island; off-island fishers coming for a trip spend much more. All this economic benefit spread up and down the cost while catching what must be just a fraction of the fish caught by the commercial guys.
We should focus on farming, not catching salmon. I know that is a bit controversial, but I’ve been buying ocean-wise farmed salmon at Thrifty’s for years. I think it’s more responsible than supporting the dying commercial fishery.
So unfortunate that because humans are terrible, wildlife suffers.