Four British Columbia conservation groups on Friday responded to the Marine Stewardship Council’s certification of three pink salmon fisheries.
The groups — Watershed Watch, SkeenaWild, Raincoast Conservation Foundation and the David Suzuki Foundation — seek assurance that the 44 conditions cited in the certification will be met before offering full support for the certification.
The fishery improvements lie in three general areas: “First, oversight of fishing practices by independent third parties has been insufficient,” said Greg Knox of SkeenaWild. “This allows substantial numbers of other species, including endangered populations of chum, sockeye and steelhead salmon, to be discarded by fishers targeting pink salmon. Second, Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s failure to implement its Wild Salmon Policy means that sustainable fishing levels for salmon have not been defined. Finally, the impacts of fisheries on marine and terrestrial wildlife and habitat have no been fully considered.”
On example of the outstanding problems was revealed in a fishery that was opened along B.C.’s North Coast last week, according to the groups. In one 16-hour opening, more than 21,000 chum salmon were discarded in a fishery targeting pink salmon. Many North Coast chum stocks are depressed and a lack of monitoring means we don’t know how badly these fisheries may be harming at-risk salmon.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and industry have acknowledged these required improvements and have agreed to address them, said the groups. Their progress will be monitored in annual audits of the certification that conservation groups will participate in. Failure to make progress may lead to the fishery losing its MSC certification. Industry and conservation groups, along with the government officials responsible for meeting the conditions of certification, are concerned that anticipated budget cuts to DFO may put the certification at risk, noted the groups.
“This is the start of the process, not the end,” said Jeffery Young of the David Suzuki Foundation. “This certification highlights a number of problems with this fishery that must be addressed. It’s now up to the federal government to provide the resources necessary to improve this fishery and maintain certification.”
