John Cummins, M.P. Delta-South Richmond

News Release

December 16, 2002

No Action Taken on Fraser's Recommendations

OTTAWA- Today John Cummins, M.P. (Delta-South Richmond) wrote the Minister of Fisheries to ask what action he had taken to comply with the Hon. John Fraser and the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council's recommendation that all salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago be fallowed by the end of February 2003 to ensure the survival of the endangered pink salmon runs:

Dear Minister:

On November 25, 2002 the Hon. John Fraser, P.C., Chair of the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council, advised you to complete the fallowing of all salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago by the end of February to ensure the safe passage of juvenile salmon as they move into the marine environment in 2003.

The Council advised that fallowing be completed by the end of February 2003 to ensure the safe passage of the salmon. A failure to take immediate action, the Council concluded, might lead to irreparable harm to the Broughton Archipelago pinks.

A significant number of the farms are already fallow and a number have fish ready to market.  Unfortunately, there continue to be reports of the restocking of fallowed sites. Such restocking flies in the face of the recommendations of the Council and may make the protection of
young pink salmon, as recommended by Mr. Fraser, virtually impossible.

You are charged by Parliament with the protection of wild salmon and their habitat through the Fisheries Act. The Auditor General advised Parliament in February 2001 that your Department failed to meet its legislative obligations under the Fisheries Act to protect wild salmon stocks and habitat from the effects of salmon farming. Now the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council advises that you have failed to protect pink salmon in the Broughton Archipelago and that failure to act now could lead to irreparable harm to the pink stocks.

The people of British Columbia have a great respect for the Hon. John Fraser and an abiding love for British Columbia's wild salmon heritage. What actions have you taken to comply with Mr. Fraser and the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council's recommendation that all salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago be fallowed by the end of February 2003 to ensure the survival of the endangered pink salmon runs?

"No action has been taken by the Minister of Fisheries since being advised by John Fraser that sea lice from fish farms had decimated pink salmon runs in the Broughton Archipelago and that all fish farms must be fallowed by the end of February 2003," Cummins concluded.

Contact: John Cummins, M.P.
(613) 992-2957 or cell (604) 970-0937