OTTAWA--"B.C. fishermen are being called upon to pay for failed DFO policies that have brought coho to the brink of extinction", said John Cummins, M.P. (Delta-South Richmond).

To understand this year's collapse of coho stocks we must look back to 1994, for it is the number of spawners in 1994 that is the source of this year's stocks.

In 1994 the Department of Fisheries instituted an aggressive fishing policy in an attempt to block returns to American fishermen. This race to catch the last fish dramatically increased the incidental coho catch. According to John Fraser, in his report on the 1994 fisheries disaster, that policy brought the Adams River run to within 12 hours of extinction.

We are now reaping the result of that aggressive fishing policy in 1994.

Government inaction over the destruction of habitat on Vancouver Island also had a serious impact on coho survival rates. The construction of the Vancouver Island highway severely damaged at least 30 salmon bearing streams.

The Pacific Stock Assessment Review Committee report, upon which the Minister based today's announcement, was also highly critical of departmental coho stock assessments: The Committee found that "there is virtually no credible information about coho status on the Central Coast". A widespread problem, the report asserted, was "the apparent erosion of the utility of coho escapement data...largely due to reduced survey effort".