Serious Trouble For Wild Atlantic Salmon By
P.J.Wall
Long ago most, if not all, Nova Scotia’s rivers had healthy wild Atlantic salmon populations. Today few have any. Why? Many factors are, and continue to be, at fault. Amongst them: commercial fishing, open pen aquaculture, habit destruction, poaching, climate change, high seas mortality and perhaps the chief one, poor management. All have led to the “king of fish” being listed as endangered in many rivers. Now, the organization known as the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), an independent group of experts who assess the biological status of species in Canada, has recommended the salmon of more rivers be placed on the species at risk list. Forty six of those rivers are on the Atlantic coast of Cape Breton from Cape North around to the Canso Causeway. Several drain into the Bras d’Or lakes. Once listed, fishing for any species in those rivers will, in all likelihood, be prohibited. To get to this situation is incomprehensible.
Since the closure of the commercial Atlantic salmon fishery in Atlantic Canada the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), the Federal department primarily responsible for the species, has done little to prevent this massive calamity. In their defence, for years, their budgets have been reduced by governments that seem little interested in the environment and its impact on the social and cultural fabric of the country. In this case rural Atlantic Canada. Were it not for volunteer organizations like the Atlantic Salmon Federation, its affiliates and other like-minded volunteer organizations, like Wild Salmon Unlimited, it’s very likely there wouldn’t be wild Atlantic salmon left to assess.
Adding insult to injury a recent decision by the DFO to demolish an active state-of-the-art hatchery, on the Mersey River in Nova Scotia, will have a serious impact on wild Atlantic salmon restoration at this critical time. This action appears to be a clear indication that DFO is ramping up the abandonment of its mandate to manage wild Atlantic salmon. All attempts by community organizations and volunteer groups to take over and run that hatchery were rejected by DFO and Nova Scotia Power, who owns the land on which the hatchery is located. It seems if DFO won’t, or can’t, manage Atlantic salmon they don’t want anyone else doing it either. It’s a travesty.
One can only imagine the impact of having that facility available to rear salmon. Perhaps the slippery slope toward extinction would slow somewhat and our rivers would gradually creep back to, once again, be the economic hub of rural communities, providers of a First Nations food fishery and an important healthy outdoor activity for our children and grand-children. After all, healthy rivers make healthy societies.
With a Federal election coming this year let’s all do our part and engage the candidates in the dialogue about the critical state of our wild salmon resource and its impact on our rural way of life. Then, mark your “X” for the one who will work hardest toward its restoration. Once that’s done keep his/her feet to the fire throughout the mandate. We just cannot afford to let this vital species disappear. Footnote: P.J.Wall is Vice-President of Wild Salmon Unlimited (WSU).