Harper government must call for international summit on salmon crisis in B.C.

VANCOUVER - The Harper government must call for an international summit to get to the bottom of the vanishing sockeye salmon in the Fraser River and find solutions to assist those whose livelihood depend on the fishery, Liberal MPs said today.”This is a crisis, both from an economic and environmental perspective,” said Liberal Critic for Western Economic Diversification Sukh Dhaliwal said. “When you’ve got some nine million salmon mysteriously vanishing from the Fraser River, the ripple effect that has is potentially devastating for both the fishing industry and the ecosystem. The government cannot ignore this crisis.”

Liberal Fisheries Critic Gerry Byrne said although the exact cause of the biggest salmon disaster in recent history is not known, what is known is that the Conservatives made it more difficult to get these important answers through significant cuts to the Science for Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture program, and to scientific research in general.

Byrne called on Minister Gail Shea to commit to reversing the cuts her government has imposed and to offer assurances that assistance will be offered to those affected.

“The Conservatives have been negligent in the responsible stewardship of Canada’s fisheries and the environment,” he said.

Both MPs called on the government to immediately convene all partners on both sides of the border for an international summit to examine what happened, what the overall impacts may be and what can be done to mitigate any economic and environmental damage.

“This is an industry that is particularly vital to the Aboriginal communities along the Fraser River,” said Mr. Dhaliwal. “But there are also multi-million dollar commercial boats that have been docked because they have no salmon to catch. This is devastating to our local economy.”

“And, of course, the potential impact on the river’s ecosystem - on those plants and animals that rely on the sockeye migration - is huge,” added Mr. Byrne. “The government must do what it can to find out if this is just a temporary disaster, or if it’s something more permanent.”