View Submissions
Summaries of submissions received by the commission are listed below. Click on the name of a submission to read it in its entirety. The number attached to each submission is used for internal tracking purposes and does not reflect the number of submissions received to that point.
The commission accepts submissions in both English and French, and submissions are displayed below in their original language. Submission summaries, however, are available in both English and French.
A ‘comments’ feature has been enabled to allow readers to respond to submissions. The comments feature is moderated by commission staff, and only relevant and respectful comments will be approved. Comments should also be concise (no more than one page in length). Readers wishing to leave a lengthy comment are encouraged to submit their thoughts as a submission, instead.
The summaries, submissions and comments displayed below and on subsequent pages do not necessarily represent the views of the Commissioner.
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Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Kintama Research Services Ltd Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Dec 15, 2023 Summary: Dr. David Welch submits this research proposal to report an important addition to his understanding of where sockeye smolt mortality occurs. In prior testimony at the commission, he reported that most mortality occurred after passing the northern end of Vancouver Island, but he has since re-analyzed his previously collected data to directly compare survival rates of acoustically tagged sockeye smolts migrating in the Strait of Georgia and then in Discovery Passage/Queen Charlotte Strait and found a level of higher mortality that may explain the 10-fold decline in Fraser sockeye survival seen since 1990. To address these issues, Dr. Welch and his colleagues designed a new study building off the results from the POST prototype array. |
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Submitter: Roy Wares Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 19, 2023 Summary: The commission should recommend the introduction of a code of science conduct to ensure the integrity of science used by decision makers and policy makers. |
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Submitter: Mark Holland Community: 150 Mile House Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: All evidence has to be heard. |
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Submitter: Dennis Reid Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 15, 2023 Summary: The commission should recommend an independent testing system for all diseases and parasites of wild and farmed salmon in BC and the removal of all fish farms from salmon migration routes and put them on land within two years. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Langley Date Submitted: Dec 19, 2023 Summary: Letters from 1987 show politicians’ support for continuing commercial fishing in light of land claims negotiations. |
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Submitter: robert williams Community: Parksville Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: Ensure all data is publicly available |
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Submitter: RICHARD PARADIS Community: VANCOUVER Date Submitted: Dec 16, 2023 Summary: Protect wild salmon stocks from corporate greed. |
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Submitter: Kirsten Nanson Community: Gibsons Date Submitted: Dec 16, 2023 Summary: The fish farm issue is a good example of how corporations are influencing our government, and how DFO seems completely unable or unwilling to address the continual decline of our common fishery resources. |
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Submitter: Priscilla Judd Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Dec 17, 2023 Summary: Some participants have manipulated information to keep it out of the hands of other participants and out of public view. The commission should explain the options for redress of contemptible behaviour by those who sought to prevent this inquiry from finding fault or stumbling upon it. |
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Submitter: Wild Game Fish Conservation International Community: Olympia Date Submitted: Dec 18, 2023 Summary: Given the expert testimony during the ISA / ISAv hearings it would be wise to remove open net Atlantic salmon feedlots from wild Pacific salmon migration routes. |
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Submitter: Priscilla Judd Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Dec 19, 2023 Summary: DFO are pawns of the global engineers who “get it done” with the help of corporate media, spin and professed benefits to the Canadian taxpayer. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove Date Submitted: Dec 19, 2023 Summary: A document shows that the government does not intend to settle land claims at the expense of the non-native fishing community. |
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Submitter: Ivan Doumenc Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 19, 2023 Summary: Links to blog entries about the commission’s proceedings. |
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Submitter: The SOS Marine Conservation Foundation Community: Port McNeill Date Submitted: Dec 19, 2023 Summary: This submission provides further information regarding recommendations made in the public submission to the commission 0244-TSMCF_226000 in light of recent developments regarding aquaculture. |
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Submitter: Lynn Erin Community: Anglemont Date Submitted: Dec 20, 2023 Summary: All farms should be moved off migratory salmon routes immediately. Research should be ongoing and transparent, and DFO’s mandate should be to protect wild fish. The precautionary principle should be used regarding all aspects of the aquaculture industry. |
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Submitter: Bruce Behrhorst Community: Surrey Date Submitted: Dec 20, 2023 Summary: Governments are supporting industries that pollute. |
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Submitter: Mary Russell Community: Port Hardy Date Submitted: Dec 20, 2023 Summary: DFO is incorrigible, because it has known ISA is here and done nothing but cover and deny. The Commissioner should come down with firm hand to assure that DFO will not be able to carry on as before. |
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Submitter: Dale Clark Community: Mission Date Submitted: Dec 22, 2023 Summary: Fish farms should be made to conform with laws that protect the environment. |
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Submitter: Bob sklapsky Community: Williams Lake BC Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The commission should re-examine how the federal government handled the egg importation and ISAv situation. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: 1993 letter to Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: It is critical that the commission state that those salmon fishermen have the priority when socio-economic considerations are mandated. |
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Submitter: Ross Sinclair Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: Commissioner Cohen should have his head read. |
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Submitter: Kathleen Woodley Community: Courtenay Date Submitted: Dec 15, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Charlotte Carey Community: Parksville Date Submitted: Dec 15, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Gary & Sharon Sinclair Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 15, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Vic Nelson Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 15, 2023 Summary: Remove fish farms from the ocean. |
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Submitter: John Nemec Community: Cleveland Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Dr. Catherine Slater MSc (Bio), JD Community: Quadra Island Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Charles Robichaud Community: Bowen Island Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: dave olsen Community: lasqueti Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Leona Jensen Community: Pender Island Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Ben Seaman Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: josepj Fudali Community: Abbotsford Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Adele Hollingsworth Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: Take fish farms out of the ocean. |
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Submitter: H. Dirk Ouelllette Community: Cobble Hill Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The evidence shows that salmon farming has a negative impact on wild stock and should be removed from coastal waters. |
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Submitter: Russ Purvis Community: McBride Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Ruth Zenger Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Gail Fleming Community: Lasqueti Is Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: Wild salmon should be the priority over farmed fish. |
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Submitter: david taylor Community: n. vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Ronda Murdock Community: Parksville Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: If we lose the pacific salmon there is nothing that the farmed fish industry could do to make up for that. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Bill Gower Community: Delta Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Guy Chouinard Community: Canmore Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: liz fox Community: Lantzville Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Geoff Gerhart Community: Whistler BC Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: C. William Wilcox Community: Virginia Beach Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: Start looking out for your citizens instead of corporations. |
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Submitter: elizabeth Wootten Community: West Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Gael Duchene Community: Tofino Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Carla Babcock Community: Delta Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Katherine Hepper Community: Langley Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: dawn yerex Community: prince george Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: Salmon farms should not be allowed in the ocean. |
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Submitter: hubert j vienneau Community: port hastings Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: Salmon farms should be moved onto land. |
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Submitter: Joanne Erikson Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Patrick Shannon Community: West Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Connie & JD Gallant Community: Quilcene Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Maryann Emery Community: Golden Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Wilfred Phillips Community: Madeira Park Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Deborah Rutman Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The governments of Canada and of British Columbia should take immediate action to alter and coordinate their regulations, policies and/or legislation to ensure that salmon farming is better regulated, and that open-net salmon farming is banned. |
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Submitter: susan bexson Community: sooke Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Melissa Mitchell Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Marilyn Swallow Community: Ladysmith Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Larry Tolton Community: Richmond Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Wayne Biffert Community: Williams Lake Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: George Orchiston Community: Powell River Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Gloria Wagner Community: SSI Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: John Corsiglia Community: Sooke Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: Salmon farms in the ocean are not private, the ocean is a shared resource. |
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Submitter: Peter Tebbutt Community: Powell River Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Karen Hansen Community: Prince Rupert Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Gordon Kerr Community: Edmonton Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Nathan Vadeboncoeur Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Jackie Cook Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The failure of the DFO to share key information with the public about the health of wild salmon seriously undermines the credibility of the government’s position that salmon farming is not a serious risk to the health of the BC coastal ecosystem. |
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Submitter: Ken Fogel Community: Stone Mtn. Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: As a consumer, I’m very concerned about the prevalence of the ISA virus that has been found in Atlantic salmon. |
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Submitter: Michelle Sun Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: Listen to Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Nadgelin Cliffe Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: John Stevens Community: Delta Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The Cohen Commission should demand that both the provincial and federal government open all of their information records to the public regarding diseases like ISA. |
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Submitter: Rita Frake Community: Kelowna Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: Independent studies should be carried out to monitor fish farms. |
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Submitter: Rick Dunaway Community: Cobble Hill Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: It’s time the federal fisheries did their job. |
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Submitter: Robert Jirava Community: Surrey Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Cory Matheson Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Dennis Ouellette Community: Prince George Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: paula foot Community: Duncan Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Byron Bona Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: John Winter Community: Langley Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Beau Doherty Community: Ottawa Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: lynne wheeler Community: fanny Bay Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: brian gunn Community: campbell river Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Cyndy and Frank Chidley Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Edwin Ochmanek Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Chris Galanos Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Daryl Kincaid Community: Whistler Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Steve Summers Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Rose Weaver Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Roland Alcock Community: Sooke Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Donna Martin Community: Salt Spring Island Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Catherine Schreiber Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Janet Simpson Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Robert Jones Community: Kelowna Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: will cardinal Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: Healthy fish are what matter. |
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Submitter: Joanna Dunbar Community: Powell River Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: andy keir Community: thetis island Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: James d Johnson Community: m Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Robert Knight Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Stephan Piernitzki Community: Nelson Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Christopher Clarke Community: Calgary Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: James Tasker Community: Sudbury Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Peter McLaren Community: Langley Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Michael Marcoux Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Robert Smith Community: Delta Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Karl Darwin Community: Lasqueti Island Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Doris Foster Community: Falkland Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Ruth Foster Community: Belcarra Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: William Orr Community: Surrey Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: S. Grant Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Dorothy Field Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Mike Fischer Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Mike Morrison Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: David Gordoon Baxter Community: Lee Creek, Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Margaret Pearson Community: Sechelt Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Kathryn Oseen-Senda Community: Seattle Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Chris Carter Community: Courtenay Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Dorothy Neilson Community: Delta Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Elizabeth Borek Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Wild Game Fish Conservation International Community: Olympia Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Buffy Bye Community: Quathiaski Cove Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Pamela Fitzpatrick Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Richard Chase Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: brad tIdswell Community: wInlaw Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Sheila Pratt Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Frank Seier Community: Powell River Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Matt Johnson Community: Sooke Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Heather Waddell Community: Sechelt Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Dennis Thompson Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Thomas Watts Community: Bellvue Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Greg Simmons Community: Surrey Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: ELIZABETH KEARNS Community: white rock Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Edward Gregr Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Lynn Stary Community: Burnaby Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Aline Piché Community: Cherryville Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Anders Treiberg Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: laura dupont Community: port coquitlam Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Margaret Yeo Community: Surrey Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Don Barthel Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Susan Bailey Community: Salt Spring Island Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Susan Hodges Community: Delta, Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Russell Stirrett Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Celia Nord Community: Chase Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Calvin Wrench Community: Sicamous Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Brian McKinlay Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Artist Response Team (ART) Community: Crofton Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Kim Fulton Community: Armstrong Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: ùThe hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Mae Quitzau Community: Pender Island Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: Wild salmon are in trouble from various threats like overfishing, climate change and salmon farms. |
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Submitter: Marie Campbell Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Eric Rinne Community: New Westminster Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: G Cotter Community: West Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Virginia Thurgood Community: Sechelt Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: John de Haan Community: Salt Spring Island Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Anne Bosch Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: I stand by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Helen Morris Community: NORTH VANCOUVER Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Robert Everatt Community: Kelowna Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: John Domovich Community: Qualicum Beach Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: Listen to the unbiased opinions of NGO biologists and take Ms. Morton’s input seriously. |
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Submitter: Ellen Rainwalker Community: Cumberland, BC Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Joy and Cam Finlay Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Jean Wyenberg Community: Gabriola Island Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Edward Davey Community: Burnaby BC Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: George Milligan Community: Bowen Island Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Susan Jones Community: Delta Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Stephen McKechnie Community: White Fox Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Helene Harrison Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Eric Alexandre Community: Courtenay Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Holly Wadden Community: S. Surrey Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Lynn Taylor Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: samuel malcolmson Community: toronto Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Esa Kuusisto Community: Ladtsmith Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Chris Wilkinson Community: West Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Jacquie Woods Community: Surrey Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Trudy Beaton Community: Courtenay Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Jim Wright Community: Richmond Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: glen stensrud Community: kamloops Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Donna Mackay Community: Port McNeill Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Jonathan Forster Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Fred Haskell Community: Bellingham Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Dianne Sanford Community: Roberts Creek Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Rev. Jordan Ellis Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Linnea Good Community: Summerland Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Janet Cotgrave Community: Halfmoon Bay Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Dale Townsend Community: Salmon Arm Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Mike Akerly Community: West Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Geoff Jordan Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: Fish farms should not be in open pens, but should be in closed containment and out of wild fish routes. |
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Submitter: Jeffrey Newman Community: 108 Mile Ranch Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Paul Fortin Community: Toronto Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Tyee Bridge Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Wilf Rimmer Community: Slocan Park Date Submitted: Dec 18, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: sandy mcnamee Community: white rock Date Submitted: Dec 16, 2023 Summary: Get salmon farms out of the ocean, they are killing our wild salmon stocks and harming our eagles, bears, forests and oceans. |
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Submitter: James Ronback Community: Delta Date Submitted: Dec 16, 2023 Summary: The Cohen Commission must direct DFO and others to improve their prediction performance and use new statistical tools. |
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Submitter: Katherine Cruickshank Community: Port Alberni Date Submitted: Dec 15, 2023 Summary: I would be interested to see if ISAV has ever been found in Alaskan salmon, particularly ocean-ranched salmon. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: Part two of a 1993 letter to Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. |
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Submitter: Tony Spencer Community: Creston Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: Move fish farms out of the ocean. |
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Submitter: Gillian Sanders Community: Meadow Creek Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: Make federal fisheries test farmed fish for disease and make the results public information. |
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Submitter: Diana Hardacker Community: Chemainus Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: Fish farms must be moved onto land. |
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Submitter: christine Powell Community: Saanich Date Submitted: Dec 16, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Ronald Gower Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 16, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: L Baile Community: Pender Island Date Submitted: Dec 16, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: Martin Hykin Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 15, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: nancy ingersoll Community: VERNON Date Submitted: Dec 15, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: hugh mcnab Community: bc Date Submitted: Dec 15, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: william heidrick Community: Courtenay Date Submitted: Dec 15, 2023 Summary: The hearings on ISAv should be live streamed. |
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Submitter: SUSAN EYRE Community: YAHK Date Submitted: Dec 15, 2023 Summary: I will be watching closely to see if you are working on behalf of Canada, or if you are selling our birthright away for profit to some corporation. |
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Submitter: Ryan Davis Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 15, 2023 Summary: Please do not allow Atlantic Salmon farming to occur. |
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Submitter: Priscilla Judd` Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Dec 16, 2023 Summary: A song for wild salmon |
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Submitter: Angela Koch Community: Quathiaski Cove Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: I would like to have the ISAv hearings live streamed. |
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Submitter: Royt Wares Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2023 Summary: A potential outcome of the Cohen Commission should be a better policy process in the DFO. DFO should give as much significance and funding to genomics and biosurveillance of the Pacific Salmon as it does to the Atlantic Salmon. DFO should ensure they have a properly funded biosurveillance system using all the tools of molecular genetics. It is prudent to remove fish farms from the migration routes of wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Dolores Shiels Community: Sointula Date Submitted: Dec 12, 2023 Summary: There are people out there that know the truth about ISA and fish farming and I trust that this commission is going to get to the bottom of it. |
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Submitter: Eileen Floody Community: Tofino Date Submitted: Dec 12, 2023 Summary: Salmon farming, of any kind is unsustainable and damages the environment. ISAv is present in BC waters, despite the denials of DFO. |
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Submitter: Jill Schroder Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 12, 2023 Summary: The commission should hold DFO accountable for its mandate to protect wild salmon. Fish farms must be removed from migratory routes of salmon and moved onto land. |
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Submitter: Charlie Bland Community: Heriot Bay Date Submitted: Dec 9, 2023 Summary: The commission should look at collusion between Fisheries and Oceans, the fish farm industry and the ministries in charge of fish health. Fish farms on the migratory routes of wild stocks should be stopped until more is understood about ISAv. |
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Submitter: Michael Fall Community: Ladysmith Date Submitted: Dec 8, 2023 Summary: DFO has not told the truth about what they know and in BC, should be disbanded and relieved of any responsibility for the protection of coastal flora and fauna. |
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Submitter: les braden Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 8, 2023 Summary: The conduct of DFO in failing to protect the ocean from ISAV is appalling and criminal and should be prosecuted. Turning the ISAV virus loose in BC is the same as a terrorist releasing anthrax in a postal station. I applaud Justice Cohen for his commitment to flushing out the truth of this matter. |
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Submitter: Bob Hannay Community: Errington Date Submitted: Dec 8, 2023 Summary: DFO is in a conflict of interest, so an internationally neutral and respected lab should gather and extensively test salmon from various points along the coast. Dr. Kristi Miller’s work should be funded and made public. |
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Submitter: Kevin Woudstra Community: Smithers Date Submitted: Dec 8, 2023 Summary: Politics cannot be allowed to influence scientific evidence and the DFO has lost all credibility. |
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Submitter: Mayana Slobodian Community: Toronto Date Submitted: Dec 8, 2023 Summary: Open pen fish farms are profit driven and irresponsible. |
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Submitter: Roy Wares Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Dec 8, 2023 Summary: The commission should recommend that the various molecular biologists in BC, the US and Norway develop a code of practice and performance standards to address ISAV and other viruses. Another recommendation should be that testing laboratories be independent of the regulatory agencies and overseen by an independent scientific panel. A third recommendation should be that if there is even a small probability of a virus being present in the wild salmon population, existing fish farms be isolated from the migratory routes of wild salmon. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Dec 7, 2023 Summary: What would wild salmon cost for the public at large if there was no commercial catch? |
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Submitter: Randy Gulak Community: Chilliwack, B.C. Date Submitted: Dec 7, 2023 Summary: The commission should discuss how to do more ISAv testing if DFO is announcing cutbacks in this very department. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Dec 6, 2023 Summary: Definitions for commercial fishermen and recreational fishermen are confusing. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Dec 6, 2023 Summary: Who are the stakeholders who derive their income from Total Allowable Catch (TAC) or Commercial Allowable Catch (CAC)? |
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Submitter: Wild Game Fish Conservation International Community: Olympia Date Submitted: Dec 5, 2023 Summary: Canadian and American scientists should work together to determine the impacts and course of action associated with recent and past detections of ISAv in wild Pacific salmon. |
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Submitter: Heather Orr/Lansdowne Community: Sointula Date Submitted: Dec 5, 2023 Summary: If the Canadian government doesn’t listen and put wild salmon and the coast first, we are all going to pay dearly. |
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Submitter: Kathy Parton Community: Sointula Date Submitted: Dec 3, 2023 Summary: Salmon farms are disease incubators hurting wild salmon. Positive ISAv results came from reputable labs. DFO cannot be trusted. Remove open net fish farms from the ocean. |
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Submitter: Alison Taylor Community: Halfmoon Bay Date Submitted: Dec 2, 2023 Summary: Ban caged salmon farms along the BC coast. |
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Submitter: Gary Flagel Community: Prince George Date Submitted: Dec 2, 2023 Summary: All documents on fish farming should be published for public review. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Dec 1, 2023 Summary: Without integrating all data coast-wide from commercial fishermen, there is minimal chance for a successful future for BC’s remaining salmon stocks. |
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Submitter: Sheila Pratt Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: Dec 1, 2023 Summary: Apply the precautionary principle and remove fish farms from their present locations long enough to allow for the revival of Fraser River sockeye salmon to know if they have affected the wild salmon. |
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Submitter: James Wilcox Community: Olympia Date Submitted: Nov 30, 2023 Summary: Legislation developed by US Senator Maria Cantwell and other west coast senators should be embraced by both Canada and the US who have so very much riding on healthy wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Willie Mitchell Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Nov 30, 2023 Summary: DFO has a conflict of interest regarding aquaculture. Review the leaked 2004 DFO draft manuscript showing ISA was identified eight years ago. |
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Submitter: Marcel Bauer Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Nov 30, 2023 Summary: Fish farms should be only allowed in inland, closed containment systems. |
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Submitter: Annika Putt Community: Burnaby Date Submitted: Nov 30, 2023 Summary: Low returns of Fraser River sockeye salmon in 2009 were most likely caused by poor physical and biological conditions in the Strait of Georgia, cumulative effects of high temperatures in the Fraser River, and various environmental stressors. To reverse the current decline in Fraser River sockeye productivity we must direct science towards specific management outcomes; create and maintain a comprehensive public database for BC salmon stocks; and put greater emphasis on salmon conservation in management plans and policies. |
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Submitter: keith temple Community: terrace Date Submitted: Nov 29, 2023 Summary: Profits to foreign-owned fish farm companies are influencing the federal and BC governments lack of action on forcing fish farms out of the ocean. |
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Submitter: Terry L Brown Community: Powell River Date Submitted: Nov 29, 2023 Summary: Recommend the creation of a ministry for the protection of fish and oceans, allowing regional field and science staff to run the show. Start implementing the Wild Salmon Policy. |
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Submitter: Darlene Mercer Community: Pitt Meadows Date Submitted: Nov 29, 2023 Summary: Independent third parties should test for the ISA virus in areas where Alexandra Morton says it has been confirmed. |
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Submitter: Bruce MacLeod Community: Horsefly Date Submitted: Nov 28, 2023 Summary: Ban all open net fish farm operations in Canada |
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Submitter: Mishah NIcoli Community: Spruce Grove Date Submitted: Nov 28, 2023 Summary: Save the wild salmon. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Donna Martin Community: Salt Spring Island Date Submitted: Nov 28, 2023 Summary: It is apparent that the ISA virus been introduced into BC waters by the salmon farming industry and DFO is trying to cover it up. Listen to Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Jeanette Helmer Community: Pemberton Date Submitted: Nov 28, 2023 Summary: Preserve salmon spawning streams and rivers. |
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Submitter: Sally Soanes Community: Parksville Date Submitted: Nov 27, 2023 Summary: Move fish farms onto land. |
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Submitter: Diana Hardacker Community: Chemainus Date Submitted: Nov 27, 2023 Summary: Stop putting our wild salmon at risk from disease from fish farms in our ocean. |
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Submitter: Jack Holliston Community: Lake Cowichan Date Submitted: Nov 27, 2023 Summary: Alexander Morton is the only person making the decline of wild salmon public knowledge. Two corrupt governments can be very hard on our health. |
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Submitter: lynn walker Community: Sointula Date Submitted: Nov 27, 2023 Summary: Get toxic fish farms out of the oceans and make all documents by Alexandra Morton public. |
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Submitter: Erin Early Community: whistler Date Submitted: Nov 27, 2023 Summary: Shut down fish farms or get them in pens on land. |
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Submitter: Darlene Heath Community: Coquitlam Date Submitted: Nov 27, 2023 Summary: Fish farms are to blame for the decline of sockeye. |
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Submitter: Rose Weaver Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Nov 26, 2023 Summary: Allowing salmon eggs to be imported from uncertified hatcheries is not looking after the resource responsibly. |
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Submitter: John Campbell Community: Gabriola Island Date Submitted: Nov 26, 2023 Summary: Why isn’t the government speaking for wild salmon like Alexandra Morton? |
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Submitter: Toby Lansel Community: Vancouver B.C. Date Submitted: Nov 26, 2023 Summary: Dismantle all salmon farms and charge those that are covering up the danger it poses to our wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Peter Tebbutt Community: Powell River Date Submitted: Nov 26, 2023 Summary: Hold DFO management accountable for the incidence of ISAV in BC. |
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Submitter: Betty Lou MacKeigan Community: Pender Island Date Submitted: Nov 26, 2023 Summary: Find the truth for the salmon people. |
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Submitter: bruce robertson Community: Powell River Date Submitted: Nov 26, 2023 Summary: Alexandra Morton is the most credible player in the inquiry process. |
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Submitter: Susanna Kaljur Community: Courtenay BC Date Submitted: Nov 26, 2023 Summary: DFO must prove to the public that there is no evidence of the ISA virus in BC waters. |
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Submitter: Judith Vetsch Community: Squamish Date Submitted: Nov 26, 2023 Summary: Say no to fish farms located in waters along the coast. |
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Submitter: Edward G. Hemmings Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Nov 26, 2023 Summary: Self-serving corporations and governments are destroying nature. God will one day put an end to these criminal endeavours. |
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Submitter: Geraldine Nagle Community: Voorhees Date Submitted: Nov 26, 2023 Summary: Protect wild salmon from diseases spread from fish farms. |
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Submitter: alexei marko Community: vancouver Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Open net salmon farms in BC should be prohibited until they can conclusively be proven not to harm wild stocks. |
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Submitter: Raynard von Hahn Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Recommend the establishment of an independent environmental protection organization to protect the environment and Pacific salmon. The DFO does not appear to be acting in the best interests of wild salmon. Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Wild Game Fish Conservation International Community: Olympia Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Protect wild salmon from human practices such as open pen salmon farming, irresponsible logging and hydropower. |
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Submitter: Angela Koch Community: Quathiaski Cove Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Commissioner Cohen is the only hope for wild salmon and should not wait until next year to make recommendations. Fish farming is a disgusting industry and should be put on land. |
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Submitter: Valerie & Kevin Sheppard Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Recommend that all fish farms be removed from BC waters immediately. |
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Submitter: Tammy Morris Community: Westholme Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: DFO is in conflict of interest, and whomever is not outraged enough to stand with Alexandra Morton is to blame. |
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Submitter: Larissa Ardis Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: The Cohen Commission should recommend development of an integrated data collection program, comprehensive research to evaluate identified links between and conflicting scientific conclusions about aquaculture and sockeye health, and action on governance problems (including contradictory mandate and industry capture) in fisheries management. |
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Submitter: Paul Fortin Community: Toronto Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: This process is corrupt and a waste of money. |
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Submitter: ron wilton Community: kelowna Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Who has the most to gain if Fraser River salmon were eradicated? Corporations would be able to create hydroelectric power on the Fraser if the salmon were gone, so perhaps they are at fault. |
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Submitter: laura finch Community: Duncan Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Fish farms spreading ISA and other diseases has to stop. |
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Submitter: Dave Secco Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Follow Alexandra Morton’s advice. |
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Submitter: hylton mcAlister Community: duncan Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Alexandra Morton makes a lot of sense and should be paid respect by politicians and bureaucrats. |
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Submitter: Norma Steer Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Stop open pen fish farming. |
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Submitter: Catherine Schreiber Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Examine information about disease in wild salmon, such as the ones dying along the Alouette and Pitt rivers. |
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Submitter: pauline sigurgeirson Community: Otautau Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: All information on disease should be available for public scrutiny and if the farmed salmon are responsible, they should be eliminated. |
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Submitter: John Campbell Community: Gabriola Island Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: DFO is derelict in its duty to protect both the fish and the fishery. Without the dedication of Alexandra Morton, this commission wouldn’t even exist. |
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Submitter: Brenda Guild Community: Salt Spring Island Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: The Commissioner should be able to find fault on the part of individuals, communities or organizations. |
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Submitter: Nicole Jean Community: Pemberton Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Thank you for reopening the hearings to try to learn what is spreading disease. |
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Submitter: diana schroeder Community: Courtenay Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Consider objective scientific research and recommend that it is impossible for open net farms to operate without harming wild salmon. |
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Submitter: David Silvercloud Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Alexandra Morton has no self-interest in exposing problems with the fish farm industry. |
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Submitter: Gabriella Wade Community: Penticton Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: The government has lost the confidence of its citizens by not getting rid of salmon farms in the ocean. |
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Submitter: Neil Bockman Community: Denman Island Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Fish farms are the source of the decline. The evidence shows that the ISA virus is in BC waters and actions must be taken immediately. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: bill andrews Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Salmon farms should be moved inland. |
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Submitter: Linda McPhie Community: Qualicum Beach Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: It is hard to remain optimistic about the chances of the survival of wild salmon because of fish farms and political interference. |
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Submitter: Rich ronyecz Community: qualicum beach Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: DFO is failing to protect wild fish from disease. Salmon farming is spreading ISA-like diseases. |
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Submitter: Renate Harvey Community: Surge Narrows Date Submitted: Nov 19, 2023 Summary: Salmon farms should be moved inland. |
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Submitter: Dorothy Field Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: The Commissioner should recommend the removal of fish farms from BC waters immediately. |
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Submitter: Dave Aharonian Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: The Commissioner should recommend that no new fish farms be allowed in BC waters until all the facts are known about diseases. |
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Submitter: Deborah Banks Community: Sparks Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Seriously investigate the viruses that are infecting wild sockeye. |
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Submitter: Jo-Ann Crawshaw Community: Quathiaski Cove Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Review DFO policies regarding disease. |
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Submitter: Alec Tidey Community: Lund Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Stop farmed salmon. |
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Submitter: Willem Mikkers Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: I advocate for closed containment in salmon farming. |
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Submitter: Susan Karamessines Community: Duncan Date Submitted: Nov 24, 2023 Summary: Stop fish farming in Clayaquot Sound. |
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Submitter: F. Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Nov 23, 2023 Summary: Thank you for facilitating further public discourse. |
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Submitter: Fred Knezevich Community: Williams Lake Date Submitted: Nov 19, 2023 Summary: We need to end the practice of ocean fish farming. |
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Submitter: Elise Roberts Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Nov 30, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Shannon Shepherd Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Nov 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Nan Kendy Community: Prince George Date Submitted: Nov 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Ammon McBain Community: Mission Date Submitted: Nov 27, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Peter Schorle Community: North Saanich Date Submitted: Nov 26, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: ricardo alms Community: wpg Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Dan Bouillet Community: Surrey Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: James Raymond Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Renate Harvey Community: Surge Narrows Date Submitted: Nov 19, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Roy Wares Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 3, 2023 Summary: Because of scepticism of the ability of DFO to manage ongoing risks to the Pacific fisheries, not just the Fraser River sockeye runs, the commission is urged to recommend Improved strategic management by the DFO, improved recognition of ecosystem services, marine spatial planning and better use of scientific information in informing policy makers |
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Submitter: Roy Wares Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 3, 2023 Summary: The Cohen Commission should address the issue of marine spatial planning and make recommendations that future policy directions at the DFO should include better strategic management, development of marine spatial planning, application to areas where there is ecosystem stress and better decision making based on marine spatial planning. |
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Submitter: Roy Wares Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 3, 2023 Summary: The Cohen Commission should include recommendations on how scientific evidence should be used in future policy making in the DFO. |
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Submitter: Brennan Lowery Community: Burnaby Date Submitted: Oct 3, 2023 Summary: Aquaculture-related pathogens, though lacking in data for the 2009 sockeye decline, adversely affect wild salmon populations throughout British Columbia and should be more intensively researched. |
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Submitter: SENS (Sustainable Environment Network Society) Community: Vernon B.C., Date Submitted: Oct 2, 2023 Summary: Inform the public about all the issues surrounding fish farms. |
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Submitter: Rick Driedger Community: Smithers Date Submitted: Oct 2, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Eileen Floody Community: Tofino Date Submitted: Oct 2, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Friends of Clayoquot Sound Community: Tofino Date Submitted: Oct 3, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Heike Milde Community: Hope Date Submitted: Oct 2, 2023 Summary: Fish farms have to be on land not in the ocean. |
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Submitter: William Arnold Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Oct 2, 2023 Summary: Open net fish farms are a direct threat to wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Zol Fox Community: Burnaby Date Submitted: Oct 2, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Myrna Franke Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 1, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Tanya Paz Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 1, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Liz Hancock Community: Maple Ridfge Date Submitted: Oct 1, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Alouette River Management Society Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: Sep 30, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Gary Edwards Community: Lone Butte Date Submitted: Oct 2, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: David Holt Community: Sidney Date Submitted: Sep 30, 2023 Summary: Fish farmers cause destruction to the environment. |
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Submitter: Nicole Driedger Community: Abbotsford Date Submitted: Sep 30, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Lorraine Williams Community: Sointula Date Submitted: Sep 30, 2023 Summary: Remove foreign-owned fish farms from the migration routes of salmon. |
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Submitter: Lyn Peters Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: Sep 30, 2023 Summary: Salmon should not be farmed in the ocean. |
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Submitter: Gary Marty Community: Abbotsford Date Submitted: Sep 30, 2023 Summary: We need to clearly identify the cause(s) of declining Fraser River sockeye salmon before we can consider cost-effective solutions. Better stock assessment, including telemetry studies, might help better define the problem, but comprehensive fish health assessment has greater potential to identify the cause of the problem. |
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Submitter: Doug Stanger Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: Sep 30, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Amanda Crowston Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: Sep 30, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Kelly Pearce Community: Hope Date Submitted: Sep 30, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Terry Nielsen Community: Courtenay Date Submitted: Sep 30, 2023 Summary: The commission should recommend policies to ban commercial fishing and expand salmon farming in BC as a means to relieve pressure on the wild stocks and raise tax revenue to address challenges faced by wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Richard Swanston Community: Delta Date Submitted: Sep 30, 2023 Summary: The lack of protection and follow up under the province’s Environmental Review Process is endangering salmon. For example, the Gateway Project requested changes that would affect salmon habitat after the process was completed. The CEAA process is also flawed and should be reviewed. |
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Submitter: Martin Schroder Community: New York Date Submitted: Sep 30, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: greg blanchette Community: Tofino Date Submitted: Sep 30, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Nick DiCarlo Community: Mill Bay Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: Salmon farms are a valuable asset to our economy. |
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Submitter: Tracy Raynolds Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: DFO should observe the precautionary principle, not promote aquaculture, fund Kristi Miller’s research and remove fish farms from migratory routes. |
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Submitter: Gillian Anderson Community: Merville Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: Roberts and Sturgeon Banks provide critical nursery areas for fish, crustaceans, nesting areas for migratory birds and feeding grounds for orca whales. But urbanization is endangering the estuary, and may be contributing to the decline of the salmon populations of the Fraser River. Notably, there is a lack of a master plan to protect remaining Fraser estuarine habitat, inadequate environmental assessment of development projects in the estuary, specifically DeltaPort, and inadequate habitat mitigation and compensation programs. |
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Submitter: Bill Nohr Community: Port Coquitlam Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Alec Tidey Community: Lund Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Lyle Perry Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: greig gjerdalen Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: First Nations Environmental Network Community: Tofino Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: John Comparelli Community: Tisbury Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Geoff Gerhart Community: Whistler BC Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: LEE UHRICH Community: ABBOTSFORD BC Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: sonja vernon-wood Community: Lee Creek Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: Wild salmon must survive. |
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Submitter: Scott Rogers Community: Simoom Sound Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Amy McConnell Community: Parksville Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Jill Schroder Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Philip Osborne Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Terry Dyck Community: Vernon Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Fish farms pollute waterways and harm wild fish. |
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Submitter: James Ronback Community: Delta Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Think about the harm that trace amounts of toxic and flammable jet fuel spills will do to the Fraser River estuary. |
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Submitter: Barbara Watson Community: Sidney Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Who Owns the Fish? Who Owns the Water? Watering down of the “precautionary principle” has happened to favour the growth of the aquaculture industry. |
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Submitter: pat gibson Community: heriot bay Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Laurent Saplairoles Community: Burnaby Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: David Larson Community: Hazelton Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Artist Response Team (ART) Community: Crofton Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Barbara Watson Community: Sidney Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Steelhead and Salmon Conservation Society Community: Olympia Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Huguette Allen Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Julie Andres Community: Roberts Creek Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Heather Menard Community: West Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: John Prentice Community: Richmond Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Jessica Marquette Community: vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Kim Anderson Community: Richmond Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Lisa Sterritt Community: Armstrong Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Jay Dickinson Community: 100 Mile House Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Sheila Pratt Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Rob Libera Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Jan Janzen Community: Tofino Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Cynthia Nelson Community: Burnaby Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Scott Dean Community: Ladysmith Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Maria Raynolds Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Mark Rose Community: West Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: renee rechtschaffner Community: west vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Colin Ford Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Helen Buck Community: Calgary Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: ken martin Community: north vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Tom Lachlan Community: PORT MOODY Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Paul Dean Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Mary Green Community: hagensborg Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Listen to Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: vic booth Community: nanoose bay Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: We cannot allow our wild salmon to be sacrificed in anyway for corporate profit. |
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Submitter: Eddie Gardner Community: Chilliwack Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton and fund Kristi Miller’s research. |
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Submitter: alex thomas Community: vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make all fish farms land based. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: GILLIAN MAXWELL Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Kate Sutherland Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Toni Pieroni Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: Anissa Reed Community: Qualicum Beach Date Submitted: Sep 27, 2023 Summary: Make public the document produced for the commission by Alexandra Morton. |
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Submitter: VENUS Network and the University of Victoria Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Sep 27, 2023 Summary: The VENUS cabled network of the University of Victoria has been observing environmental variables (temperature, salinity, oxygen, etc.) continuously since 2008 in the deep waters of the Strait of Georgia off the mouths of the Fraser River. In addition, sonars sense daily vertical migrations of zooplankton, many of which are part of the diet of juvenile salmon, as well as finfish (currently being identified) and whales. We are keenly interested in participating with DFO and other agencies in monitoring the ecosystem and environment of the Strait of Georgia. |
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Submitter: Toril Turner Community: Comox Date Submitted: Sep 26, 2023 Summary: Take open net fish farms off the migration routes of wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Sonja and Robert Johnson Community: North Saanich Date Submitted: Oct 7, 2023 Summary: Resolve the conflict of interest in having DFO responsible for both promoting the salmon farm industry and the sustainability of wild Pacific salmon. |
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Submitter: Heather Orr/Lansdowne Community: Sointula Date Submitted: Sep 27, 2023 Summary: A story about why open net pen fish farms should not be allowed in the ocean. |
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Submitter: Denise Aleksich Community: Sointula Date Submitted: Sep 27, 2023 Summary: If there is any chance that the fish farming industry is harming sockeye stocks, how can the reward be worth the risk of losing such an invaluable resource? |
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Submitter: J Peachy Gallery Community: Vancouver BC Date Submitted: Sep 26, 2023 Summary: A poem and photo of a rally for wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Rhiannon Midgley Community: Port Coquitlam Date Submitted: Sep 26, 2023 Summary: Get rid of fish farms. |
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Submitter: kristin st. cyr Community: victoria Date Submitted: Sep 26, 2023 Summary: Salmon are sacred and must be protected by removing fish farms. |
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Submitter: Jenn Evans Community: Goldriver Date Submitted: Sep 26, 2023 Summary: Does the fish farm industry not care about our ecosystems? |
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Submitter: Jaimie Parton Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 25, 2023 Summary: The evidence indicates that wild and open-net farmed salmon cannot co-exist in our coastal waters, and based on both economics and environment wild salmon are the obvious priority. |
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Submitter: Amy McConnell Community: Parksville Date Submitted: Sep 22, 2023 Summary: The Commissioner should recommend funding to Kristi Miller, removing fish farms from migratory routes, a separation from regulating and promoting aquaculture and no more funding to open net pen salmon aquaculture. |
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Submitter: James Walters Community: Qualicum Beach Date Submitted: Sep 19, 2023 Summary: Wild salmon will be far better off and protected from further decline when farmed salmon is contained on land. |
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Submitter: Kathy Parton Community: Sointula Date Submitted: Sep 18, 2023 Summary: DFO should be removed from being responsible for wild salmon and fish farms should removed from the salmon’s migration routes. |
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Submitter: Mary Russell Community: Port Hardy Date Submitted: Sep 15, 2023 Summary: The deflection of the truth and denial of harm seems to be the norm within DFO, and it is not to be trusted with our wild salmon heritage. |
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Submitter: Carolyn Wold Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Sep 15, 2023 Summary: If there are going to be fish farms at all they must move to contained tanks on land. |
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Submitter: Dolores Shiels Community: Sointula Date Submitted: Sep 13, 2023 Summary: The government should spend $18,500 on a test that could save the wild salmon. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Kenneth Farmer Community: Dartmouth Date Submitted: Sep 12, 2023 Summary: Can this inquiry influence aquaculture expansion in Nova Scotia? |
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Submitter: Gary Marshall Community: Malahat Date Submitted: Sep 9, 2023 Summary: Without farmed salmon in the marketplace, wild salmon would be in further decline as fisheries react to market demand and prices. |
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Submitter: Susan Jones Community: Delta Date Submitted: Sep 9, 2023 Summary: The salmon’s decline comes from failure on the part of government to protect salmon, apply credible science and enforce laws and regulations. There seems to be political determination that certain projects and licenses will be approved, such as fish farms, the Gateway Deltaport expansion and the South Fraser Perimeter Road, regardless of the available science and knowledge that warns of residual adverse environmental effects. Detailed information from Freedom of Information requests is provided in this submission. |
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Submitter: Anissa Reed Community: Qualicum Beach Date Submitted: Sep 9, 2023 Summary: Remove fish farms from the wild salmon narrows and test farmed salmon for disease. DFO is in conflict on aquaculture. |
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Submitter: Max Thaysen Community: Manson’s Ldg. Date Submitted: Sep 9, 2023 Summary: The precautionary principle shows that open net pen fish farms should be banned. |
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Submitter: Peter Skipper Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Sep 8, 2023 Summary: The commission should recommend further research to learn about the possible brain tumours in Fraser sockeye and if salmon farms are to blame, and should recommend better independent inspections of fish farms. |
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Submitter: Priscilla Judd Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Sep 8, 2023 Summary: When asked about pre-spawning mortality of sockeye in the Shushwap, DFO’s Regional Director of Science wouldn’t say if the fish had been tested for IHNV coming from fish farms. Copies of correspondence with DFO are included. |
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Submitter: Dirk Gibbs Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 9, 2023 Summary: This submission is a copy of a letter to the Premier of BC thanking for releasing the provincial salmon farm disease records. The writer says “Unfortunately, withholding this critical information until now has harmed the people of the province of BC who depend on salmon.” |
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Submitter: T Bruce Community: Squamish Date Submitted: Sep 8, 2023 Summary: Closed containment is worth the long-term investment. |
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Submitter: stuart morrison Community: kelowna Date Submitted: Sep 8, 2023 Summary: There has been a purposeful distortion in the identity of Alexandra Morton at the hearings where she was addressed as “doctor.”Ms. Morton does not have a doctorate, she has a science degree only. |
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Submitter: Michelle Lawson Community: Cumberland Date Submitted: Sep 8, 2023 Summary: Stop fish farming. |
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Submitter: myna lee johnstone Community: saltspring island Date Submitted: Sep 8, 2023 Summary: Fish farms should be advised to move to closed containment on land, or else they must be shut down. |
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Submitter: Diane McNally Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Sep 7, 2023 Summary: DFO management and the salmon feedlot corporations don’t own wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Gayle Olson Community: Richmond Date Submitted: Sep 7, 2023 Summary: Remove farmed fish from the open ocean. |
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Submitter: Phil Dubrulle Community: Squamish Date Submitted: Sep 7, 2023 Summary: This submission is a copy of a letter to the Premier of BC thanking for releasing the provincial salmon farm disease records. The writer says “Unfortunately, withholding this critical information until now has harmed the people of the province of BC who depend on salmon.” |
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Submitter: Robert CH Harvey Community: Langley Date Submitted: Sep 7, 2023 Summary: Put an end to open net fish farming in BC. |
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Submitter: amber butler Community: Squamish Date Submitted: Sep 7, 2023 Summary: This submission is a copy of a letter to the Premier of BC thanking for releasing the provincial salmon farm disease records. The writer says “Unfortunately, withholding this critical information until now has harmed the people of the province of BC who depend on salmon.” |
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Submitter: Richard Swanton Community: Delta Date Submitted: Sep 6, 2023 Summary: Part of the problem with salmon populations is the various jurisdictions involved in the harvesting. Why are Americans allowed to catch Fraser River fish in such an inequitable fashion, and who is monitoring these trans-border fisheries? |
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Submitter: Mike McSorley Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Sep 5, 2023 Summary: The commission cannot dismiss the evidence pointing at fish farms for the decrease in wild stocks. |
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Submitter: John B. Sprague Community: Salt Spring Island Date Submitted: Sep 3, 2023 Summary: The commission should review the research of Dr. Elizabeth Boulding at the University of Guelph, who found that the genetics were quite different from sea-lice of wild and farmed salmon. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Elizabeth Anderson Community: Cortes Bay Date Submitted: Sep 3, 2023 Summary: If salmon farming is to continue it must be a land based operation with no outlet to natural water courses. |
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Submitter: greig gjerdalen Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 2, 2023 Summary: Biodiversity of our wild salmon is critical to the long-term health of our home. |
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Submitter: brian robson Community: west vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 2, 2023 Summary: I suggest that some of the scientists and their lawyers are obviously biased against fish farms. |
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Submitter: Bob Hannay Community: Errington Date Submitted: Sep 1, 2023 Summary: Unless this inquiry has the courage to make all this right, it appears most likely BC’s wild salmon will go the way of the cod fish of eastern Canada. |
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Submitter: Jim Barnum Community: N. Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 1, 2023 Summary: Coalition lawyers should be given more time to cross-examine witnesses about fish farming effects on wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Jeff Howard Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 1, 2023 Summary: We know far too little about our oceans’ ecosystems and their fragile balance to blindly introduce foreign species for profit. |
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Submitter: Denise Dufault Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 1, 2023 Summary: Make the provincial government stop inserting culverts into salmon-bearing streams to build the South Fraser Perimeter Road. |
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Submitter: Yolaine Petitclerc-Evans Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Sep 1, 2023 Summary: Governments are meant to protect people and assets, but who is in charge here? |
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Submitter: Ian MacKenzie Community: Kamloops Date Submitted: Sep 1, 2023 Summary: All anecdotal and database evidence must be released to the public who own the fish. |
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Submitter: Russ Jacobson Community: Langley Date Submitted: Sep 1, 2023 Summary: Get rid of fish farms in BC waters. |
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Submitter: Marjorie Simmins Community: Halifax Date Submitted: Sep 1, 2023 Summary: Canada should be a leader in saving a wild salmon fishery from the effects of fish farms. |
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Submitter: doug perry Community: Bby Date Submitted: Aug 31, 2023 Summary: The need to change from open net fish farms to closed containment pens has been proven. |
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Submitter: David Goldstein Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Aug 31, 2023 Summary: Do not allow open ocean fish farming to destroy our wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Susan Bailey Community: Salt Spring Island Date Submitted: Aug 31, 2023 Summary: Allow time for all questions at the inquiry to be fully asked and answered. |
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Submitter: neil brown Community: whistler Date Submitted: Aug 31, 2023 Summary: Fish farms should be permitted only in closed containment farms on land. |
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Submitter: LORNE GILCHRIST Community: NANOOSE BAY Date Submitted: Aug 31, 2023 Summary: This submission is a copy of a letter sent to the Premier of BC demanding that salmon farms be moved to land operations. |
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Submitter: Dennis Reid Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Aug 31, 2023 Summary: Everyone connected with the commission’s proceedings should transparently declare any connections they may have with the fish farms. |
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Submitter: Jim Bartlett Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Aug 31, 2023 Summary: If we discovered disease in humans like the one Dr. Miller found in salmon, every available lab would be working on the cause and cure. This issue is urgent. |
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Submitter: Patricia Walters Community: Qualicum Beach Date Submitted: Aug 31, 2023 Summary: The only safe place for fish farms is closed containment on land. |
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Submitter: Ted Davey Community: Burnaby BC Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: All information from this commission should be made public. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: brad tIdswell Community: vancouver Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Government should release evidence that proves fish farms are breeding disease. |
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Submitter: David Larson Community: Hazelton Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: DFO management should be investigated for competence and integrity. |
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Submitter: david wooldridge Community: maple ridge Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Wild salmon are sacred. |
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Submitter: Andrew Marr Community: Vernon Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Remove fish farms from the Fraser sockeye migration route. |
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Submitter: jack mattes Community: gabriola Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Get farmed salmon out of the ocean. |
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Submitter: Jen McGuinness Community: Brackendale Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Remove fish farms from the Fraser sockeye migration route. |
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Submitter: d cressman Community: Mayne Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Listen closely to the evidence on disease and fish farms. |
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Submitter: Richard Swanston Community: Delta Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: The Fisheries Act should have more controls over recreational activities that destroy riparian habitat. |
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Submitter: susan bexson Community: sooke Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Sample farmed salmon for DFO officers. |
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Submitter: Donald Sass Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Closed containment fish farming has proven to be viable so remove open net pens from Canadian waters. |
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Submitter: Bill Howell Community: Ottawa Date Submitted: Aug 28, 2023 Summary: Consult with experts on climate change such as Dr. Tim Patterson and treat any modelling based on General Circulation Models with a grain of salt. |
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Submitter: Teresa Bouchard Community: Whistler Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: There should be stricter environmental regulations for fish farms so they are not harming the ocean and all the living creatures in it. |
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Submitter: Darlene Mercer Community: Pitt Meadows Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Scientific anecdotal evidence and common sense show that fish farming should only be allowed in contained facilities. |
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Submitter: Chris Rudden Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Salmon farms cannot be placed on migration routes. |
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Submitter: Laurice Mock Community: Duncan Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Fish farms are causing cancers in wild fish and must be removed from the oceans. |
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Submitter: Adele Hollingsworth Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Farmed salmon are killing our wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Shelley McKeachie Community: Denman Island Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Fish farms are introducing disease and toxins into our waters and likely causing the decline of our wild salmon populations. |
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Submitter: Gail Cotter Community: West Van Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Put farmed fish in containment on land or shut them down. |
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Submitter: Ahava Shira Community: Salt Spring Island Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: It is time for the BC government to come clean and put an end to sea-based salmon farms. |
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Submitter: Robert Muckle Community: Delta Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Wild salmon must not be forced to migrate past fish farms any longer as they are contracting viruses in the process. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Bruce MacLeod Community: Horsefly Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Enhance existing wild stocks to their previous abundance and eliminate the need for farmed fish. |
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Submitter: Sandra Robson Community: Qualicum Beach Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Open pen fish farming is detrimental. Fish farming has huge potential but only on land within contained and separate systems. |
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Submitter: Michelle Boleen Community: Whitehorse Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: The rights of fish farm owners should not be put before the rights of all Canadians to have healthy wild salmon stocks. |
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Submitter: Hal Barber Community: Bowen Island Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Remove fish farms from the ocean. |
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Submitter: stuart bucholtz Community: langley Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Please rise above politics and stop fish farms from locating in the migratory pathways of our oceans. |
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Submitter: Edward Colberg Community: Calgary Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: We cannot afford to risk wild salmon in favour of farmed. |
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Submitter: Alan Dunham Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Remove salmon farms from migration paths of wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Katherine Hepper Community: Langley Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Fish farms need to be removed from our oceans to protect wild salmon. |
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Submitter: D. Drumm Community: Binbrook Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: I applaud the decision to make public the scientific data that suggests a link between wild salmon mortality and disease from farmed fish. |
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Submitter: Joan McConnell Community: Saltspring Island Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Err on the side of caution. Fish farms should await further research to prove they do no harm. |
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Submitter: Nancy Westwood Community: Parksville Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Fish farms, like any other industrial farm, need to contain and treat effluent. Those who covered up evidence of a virus need to be reprimanded in serious ways. |
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Submitter: Albert A. Gustaveson Community: Marcell Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Factory salmon farms are killing BC’s native salmon. |
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Submitter: Saul Arbess Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: The commission should recommend that the BC government remove all salmon farms from sockeye migration routes. |
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Submitter: Pacific Smoked Salmon ltd Community: Courtenay Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: Farmed Atlantic salmon must be taken out of the Pacific Ocean. |
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Submitter: lorna denning Community: victoria,b.c. Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: Remove fish farms from BC coastal waters. |
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Submitter: Hans Terlingen, MD Community: Tofino Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: There is cause for charges of conspiracy in the organization that is supposed to protect all fish. |
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Submitter: Charlotte Inman Community: Abbotsford Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: All fish farms must be removed from our coastal waters. |
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Submitter: Shannon Dovey Community: Sidney Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Get fish farms out of our oceans now. |
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Submitter: lyle koenders Community: alert bay Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Save wild salmon from fish farm diseases and pollution. |
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Submitter: Marianne Ketchen Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Stop knowingly killing the ocean floor. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Rick Ulmer Community: Salmon Arm Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: The small benefits of the fish farm industry to BC cannot be compared to the magnitude of the benefits of Fraser River sockeye. |
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Submitter: Stephen Garnett Community: Cowichan Bay Date Submitted: Aug 30, 2023 Summary: Close the fish farms before it is too late. |
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Submitter: Mark Ethier Community: Burnaby Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: Fish farms have caused the “disappearance” of wild salmon and should not be allowed to continue to operate in open water. |
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Submitter: Frances Riley Community: Prince Rupert Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: The commission should consider all the biological evidence from the fish farm disease database. |
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Submitter: Elizabeth Borek Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: Fish farms are the source of disease killing wild salmon and must be removed at no cost to BC taxpayers. |
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Submitter: Barry Magrill Community: Richmond Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: Get rid of farmed salmon. |
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Submitter: NEVILLE BRADLEY Community: COQUITLAM Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: Don’t eat farmed salmon. |
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Submitter: Gordon Wadley Community: Smithers Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: The Commissioner must sanction those responsible for harming wild salmon stocks. |
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Submitter: Jonathan Hill Community: Coquitlam Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: Aquaculture businesses must demonstrate environmental neutrality with respect to their operations and should fund testing. |
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Submitter: Marc DeGagne Community: Winnipeg Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: People must be willing to pay a higher price for responsibly raised closed containment farmed salmon. |
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Submitter: Jill Schroder Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: Salmon farm disease records should be available to the public. |
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Submitter: Colleen Underwood Community: Cowichan Bay Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: Release the facts and help us to save wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Amy McConnell Community: Parksville Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: We have a right to see the fish farm disease records. |
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Submitter: Erin Crampton Community: Winnipeg Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: What is this inquiry doing for our Canadian waters and fish stocks? |
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Submitter: Steelhead and Salmon Conservation Society Community: Olympia Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: Given the potential global impacts, it is vitally important that any and all disease and treatment data associated with open salmon feedlots be made available to the public. |
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Submitter: laura finch Community: Duncan Date Submitted: Aug 28, 2023 Summary: Make public the disease records from the Marine Harvest fish farm company. |
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Submitter: Rick Driedger Community: Smithers Date Submitted: Aug 27, 2023 Summary: If a majority of the population is not in favour of fish feed lots then the government must excise them out of our waters immediately. |
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Submitter: Cherizar Gagne Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Aug 27, 2023 Summary: To keep our province pristine, Dr. Miller must be allowed to test farmed salmon before the commission comes to any conclusions. |
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Submitter: ron schultz Community: Cityprince george Date Submitted: Aug 25, 2023 Summary: Test one fish from each fish farm immediately. |
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Submitter: Holly Arntzen Community: Crofton Date Submitted: Aug 25, 2023 Summary: Dr. Kristi Miller must be allowed to test Atlantic salmon from fish farms. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Alexis Baker Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Aug 25, 2023 Summary: It is not acceptable for the hearings to end before Atlantic farmed fish in BC is tested. |
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Submitter: Anissa Reed Community: Qualicum Beach Date Submitted: Aug 25, 2023 Summary: The inquiry cannot come to a proper conclusion until Kristi Miller is allowed to test farmed Atlantic salmon. |
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Submitter: Charles Stewart Community: Penticton Date Submitted: Aug 25, 2023 Summary: Funding should be found for Dr. Kristi Miller to carry out her research. |
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Submitter: Charles Stewart Community: Penticton Date Submitted: Aug 25, 2023 Summary: Not only is salmon farming a root cause of the degradation of wild stocks, so is our pollution of the rivers and oceans. |
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Submitter: Derek Stobbart Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Aug 25, 2023 Summary: DFO should act on the risk from fish farms to protect the wild fish stocks and the health of the oceans. |
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Submitter: garret schumacher Community: squamish Date Submitted: Aug 24, 2023 Summary: The most sustainable way for recovery of the sockeye would be to only allow personal harvest and close commercial harvest until the salmon stocks have recovered. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Aug 22, 2023 Summary: What is the relationship between Management Adjustment for Fraser sockeye and Management Adjustment applied to other salmon species co-migrating within the same environmental conditions? |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Aug 22, 2023 Summary: Overescapement will ensure that even strong stocks will become weak stocks. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Aug 20, 2023 Summary: DFO needs information on stock enumeration, stream surveys and more for critical data analysis. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Aug 18, 2023 Summary: Traditional Aboriginal Knowledge should really be called “wisdom” and evaluated based on the wisdom of certain choices. |
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Submitter: Jill Schroder Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Aug 18, 2023 Summary: Open net pen salmon farms must be required to transition to closed containment immediately. |
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Submitter: Dennis Reid Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Aug 18, 2023 Summary: Releasing disease data from fish farms will not financially affect the companies as they claim, as their share prices are already dropping. |
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Submitter: Ron Kinch Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Aug 18, 2023 Summary: National media should cover the commission’s hearings. |
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Submitter: Jim Traynor Community: Lillooet Date Submitted: Aug 16, 2023 Summary: The Province should create a Wild Salmon Watershed Reserve with an on-going commission to regulate development there that affects wild fish. |
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Submitter: Nory Esteban Community: Invermere Date Submitted: Aug 15, 2023 Summary: It’s time to stop open net cage fish farming. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Aug 14, 2023 Summary: What does DFO mean by the term “priority access” for sport fisheries? |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Aug 13, 2023 Summary: There should be a clear distinct management policy for sport fisherman, the commercial sport industry and the commercial net fleet. |
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Submitter: F Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Aug 11, 2023 Summary: Experimental fisheries proposals are allocated 5 per cent of coastwide sockeye total allowable catch regardless of a given commercial allowable catch. |
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Submitter: F. Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Aug 11, 2023 Summary: Why are sports fishermen allocated sockeye based on total allowable catch and not commercial allowable catch? |
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Submitter: Les Blackie Community: White Rock Date Submitted: Aug 7, 2023 Summary: DFO must remember that they are working for the preservation of wild salmon. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Gordon Hartman Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Aug 4, 2023 Summary: There should not be reluctance by government to having scientific research such as the paper by Dr. Miller, discussed with the public. We need a structure that permits thoughtful public response and feed-back to such scientific findings. |
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Submitter: barry skrobot Community: centerville Date Submitted: Aug 3, 2023 Summary: Remove open net salmon farms near migration paths of wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Richard Jang Community: Burnaby Date Submitted: Aug 2, 2023 Summary: Protect wild salmon from open pen fish farms. |
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Submitter: Robert Blair Community: Surrey Date Submitted: Aug 2, 2023 Summary: Act now to remove the threats from open pen salmon farms. |
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Submitter: Brian Voth Community: Lund Date Submitted: Aug 2, 2023 Summary: Remove open pen salmon farms. |
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Submitter: gwenda stafford Community: Nelson Date Submitted: Aug 2, 2023 Summary: The government must listen to their experts and act on their research. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Jul 30, 2023 Summary: There should be separate management policies for sport fishermen and commercial net fisheries. |
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Submitter: James Wilcox Community: Olympia Date Submitted: Jul 30, 2023 Summary: The Steelhead and Salmon Conservation Society commends the Cohen Commission for its work and looks forward to reviewing its findings regarding farmed Atlantic |
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Submitter: Tom Henderson Community: Mill Bay Date Submitted: Jul 30, 2023 Summary: Listen to Alexandra Morton regarding wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Jul 30, 2023 Summary: Past management of the coastal net fleet should be examined. |
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Submitter: Margaret Pearson Community: Sechelt Date Submitted: Jul 28, 2023 Summary: Scientists working for the government should be heard. |
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Submitter: Priscilla Judd Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Jul 28, 2023 Summary: Email correspondence from Dr. Laura Richards in November 2010 discusses Sockeye sampled from Nadina River that tested positive for infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV). |
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Submitter: David Baxter Community: Chase Date Submitted: Jul 28, 2023 Summary: Best of luck to the commission in is efforts to bring the enquiry to its conclusion. |
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Submitter: Peter Hillis Community: Rossland Date Submitted: Jul 27, 2023 Summary: Make information regarding fish farms public and close down open net pen leases. |
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Submitter: Michael Cameron Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Jul 27, 2023 Summary: Fish farms are having a significant impact on salmon stocks. |
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Submitter: Canadian Federation of University Women Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Jul 25, 2023 Summary: The Canadian Federation of University Women urge the Government of Canada and the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans to enforce the Fisheries Act to eliminate pollution of fish and their habitat in Canada’s coastal and inland waters. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Jul 24, 2023 Summary: Highest priority management issues regarding salmon catch allocation. |
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Submitter: Priscilla Judd Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Jul 22, 2023 Summary: Research exists on the state of the ocean that should not be duplicated. If the ocean collapses then the planet will collapse. |
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Submitter: Lynn Perrin BGS MPP Community: Abbotsford Date Submitted: Jul 19, 2023 Summary: The JAMES sewage treatment plant dumps effluent into the Fraser River just west of the Mission Bridge, which may play a role in the reduction of salmon in the Fraser River. |
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Submitter: Neville Gosling Community: Surrey Date Submitted: Jul 19, 2023 Summary: More integrity is needed in government and fish farm operators, and fish farms should be removed from protected waters. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Paul Craik Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Jul 17, 2023 Summary: Mounting evidence points to open net fish farms as the cause for the decline of wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Sandy McNamee Community: White Rock Date Submitted: Jul 16, 2023 Summary: Stop net cage salmon farming in the ocean. |
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Submitter: Kira Neumann Community: Black Creek Date Submitted: Jul 14, 2023 Summary: Scientific evidence shows how dangerous open net salmon farming and importing salmon eggs are to the well-being of wild salmon stocks. |
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Submitter: R G Persson Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Jul 14, 2023 Summary: Scientific evidence shows how dangerous open net salmon farming and importing salmon eggs are to the well-being of wild salmon stocks. |
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Submitter: Judith Plant Community: Gabriola Is Date Submitted: Jul 14, 2023 Summary: No fish farms in Clayoquot Sound. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Jul 14, 2023 Summary: Review the effect of DFO management decisions on the commercial salmon fleet and coastal communities. |
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Submitter: Kenny Yamanaka Community: Richmond Date Submitted: Jul 13, 2023 Summary: Salmon farms benefit only the company owners. |
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Submitter: Heather Stephen Community: Gillies Bay Date Submitted: Jul 13, 2023 Summary: Open pen fish farms are not a good idea. |
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Submitter: David Larson Community: Hazelton Date Submitted: Jul 11, 2023 Summary: The commission should make public information about infectious diseases and fish farm operations. |
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Submitter: Priscilla Judd Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Jul 10, 2023 Summary: Drastic action is needed within a decade to prevent irreversible changes to marine ecosystems. |
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Submitter: darryl choronzey (Going Fis Community: owen sound, ontario Date Submitted: Jul 29, 2023 Summary: Remove fish farming pens from saltwater and replace the supervisors presently in charge of the situation. |
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Submitter: Gordon Holliday Community: Port Sorell, Date Submitted: Jul 3, 2023 Summary: To eliminate their interference with native salmon species, fish farms in natural waterways should be closed down. |
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Submitter: Max Ledbetter Community: Kitchener Date Submitted: Jun 19, 2023 Summary: Effective fisheries management is hampered by incomplete data, computational errors, unacknowledged mistakes, speculation, ambition, prejudice, politics, favouritism, jargon, fictitious mathematical models, and downright lies. |
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Submitter: Michael Healey Community: Peachland Date Submitted: Jun 7, 2023 Summary: The attached paper, recently published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, deals with the cumulative impacts of climate change on salmon using Fraser sockeye as a model. Although the findings of this paper refer to effects that will occur over the next several decades, the results may be relevant to any forward looking projections by the commission. |
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Submitter: Dave Clyne Community: Cultus Lake Date Submitted: May 29, 2023 Summary: Since the late 1990s, Cultus Lake residents have observed Cultus sockeye returning earlier than they once did. Residents have expressed concern that in mid-August, when Cultus sockeye are now arriving, the Sweltzer Creek migratory corridor may be too warm. |
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Submitter: anneliese cooley Community: ladysmith Date Submitted: May 27, 2023 Summary: There should be no farmed salmon. |
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Submitter: Rod Matheson Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: May 27, 2023 Summary: If salmon farming is permitted to continue in coastal waters it will have devastating effects on wild salmon and their habitat. Evidence shows that salmon farms pollute the sea and attract sea lice and marine predators, and that escaped farmed salmon destroy the genetic integrity of wild salmon. The Commissioner must not obscure the truth of salmon farming with misleading information provided by vested corporate interests. |
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Submitter: Brian McKinlay Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: May 25, 2023 Summary: Science-based evidence about the harm caused by open net cage salmon farms must be taken seriously by the commission. The salmon farming industry must be held accountable for its actions. |
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Submitter: Hugh Kerr Community: Garibaldi Highlands Date Submitted: May 25, 2023 Summary: Fish farms should be required to publicly divulge information about the chemicals they use to treat sea lice. The lack of such information hampers the study of the relationship between fish farms and returning salmon. |
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Submitter: Deborah Silverman Community: Friday Harbor Date Submitted: May 24, 2023 Summary: There should be no salmon farms in Clayoquot Sound. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Mark Buecker Community: Pitt Meadows Date Submitted: May 18, 2023 Summary: The attached report concludes that turbidity spikes from large forest fire seasons and storms are the most likely cause of the collapse of Fraser sockeye. Other species of salmon are less affected because they spawn closer to the coast, and have less turbidity to travel through. Sockeye may also be spawning sooner in order to avoid late-summer forest fires. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove Date Submitted: May 11, 2023 Summary: The attached submission calls on DFO to respond to the issues addressed in the 1997 public meetings held by Samuel Toy, Independent Advisor to Minister of Fisheries and Oceans on Intersectoral Allocation of Pacific Salmon. DFO should compare the management policies resulting from Mr. Toy’s report to current policies. |
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Submitter: b cecill Community: gibsons Date Submitted: May 2, 2023 Summary: It is dismaying that the commission has banned the publication of disease-related information. The commission is supposed to be public, and disease information ought to be immediately reported to the appropriate government agencies. |
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Submitter: Bill Hepler Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: May 1, 2023 Summary: The restrictions placed on Alexandra Morton with respect to sharing disease information with the public plays in to the suspicion that DFO and the BC Ministry of Agriculture are tools of the salmon farming industry. Farmed salmon diseases constitute a significant risk to wild stocks, and it is important that information about outbreaks be made public. |
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Submitter: priscilla Judd Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Apr 28, 2023 Summary: The following submission requests that Tolko Industries postpone its planned use of pesticides near Lumby until the commission has determined the effects of pesticides on Fraser sockeye. The submission suggests that pesticides contribute to the loss of salmon and salmon habitat, and recommends alternative methods, such as manual removal, to control vegetation growth on forestry blocks. |
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Submitter: Donna Schellenberg Community: Penticton, Date Submitted: Apr 20, 2023 Summary: Please look after our environment. Wild salmon are crucial to the circle of life. |
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Submitter: BRUCE PROBERT Community: Aldergrove Date Submitted: Apr 12, 2023 Summary: The following submission offers a critique of DFO’s catch allocation system. |
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Submitter: BRUCE PROBERT Community: aldergrove Date Submitted: Apr 12, 2023 Summary: DFO has promoted the misconception that overfishing is the cause of the decline of salmon stocks in order to deflect criticism from its inept management of the fishery. |
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Submitter: BRUCE PROBERT Community: Aldergrove Date Submitted: Apr 10, 2023 Summary: The commission should clarify the definitions of various phrases (listed in the submission) which have been used during the hearings. |
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Submitter: BRUCE PROBERT Community: Aldergrove Date Submitted: Apr 10, 2023 Summary: The commission must try to understand the experiences of commercial fishers, whose access to income, retirement options and asset values are totally controlled by DFO, and who are treated as racist criminals when they attempt to stage protest fisheries. The commission must determine an appropriate definition of ‘socio-economic’. |
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Submitter: Tammy Harris Community: Courtenay Date Submitted: Apr 9, 2023 Summary: The commission should investigate whether hatchery salmon are spreading disease to wild Fraser sockeye. In particular, the commission should consider the Technical Report being prepared by Dr. Craig Stephen at the Centre for Coastal Health. |
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Submitter: Brady Bevilacqua Community: Burnaby Date Submitted: Apr 9, 2023 Summary: The commission should investigate whether increased crab fishing has caused the decline of Fraser sockeye. Crab larvae are vital to the ecosystem and food chain. |
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Submitter: Shuswap Waterfront Owners Association Community: Scotch Creek Date Submitted: Apr 6, 2023 Summary: The Shuswap Waterfront Owners Association (SWOA) represents 260 waterfront properties on Shuswap Lake. It believes that a firm grounding in science is imperative to understanding the state of the fishery and controlling habitat destruction. The documents attached to this submission serve, in the opinion of SWOA, as a counterpoint to the vested interests of many of the submissions received by the commission to date. The documents include a report on the use of Shuswap Lake foreshore by juvenile salmonids, a report of a DFO workshop related to fish habitat, and notes from a presentation on salmon habitat in Shuswap Lake. |
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Submitter: Rosemary Hart Community: vancouver Date Submitted: Apr 5, 2023 Summary: Salmon farming must be done on land-based farms in order to protect our remaining natural ecosystem. |
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Submitter: Howard Shafer Community: Coquitlam Date Submitted: Apr 5, 2023 Summary: If more hatcheries were built there would be more wild salmon. To fund additional hatcheries, commercial fishing boats and recreational fishers should pay a ‘hatchery tax.’ Fishermen would recoup these payments from the larger catches resulting from the hatcheries. |
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Submitter: Ken M. Jacobs Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Mar 19, 2024 Summary: The commission should obtain disease information for wild salmonid hatcheries. Each year, over six billion salmon are released by hatcheries. These fish may contain diseases that affect wild salmon runs. |
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Submitter: Robert Fearn Community: Restone Date Submitted: Mar 19, 2024 Summary: Humans have slowly decimated the natural resources on British Columbia’s south coast. Overfishing, logging, and government inaction have contributed to the decline of salmon and salmon habitat. DFO is responsible for ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Fraser sockeye fishery, and it must demonstrate wisdom in protecting this natural resource. |
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Submitter: Mike Morry Community: Brentwood Bay Date Submitted: Mar 17, 2024 Summary: The commission should consider shutting down the commercial net fishery, which would immediately benefit all wild salmon. Like other agricultural products, all fish for human consumption should be supplied by fish farms, and wild fish should be left to the sport fishery. |
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Submitter: Bernadette Keenan Community: Surrey Date Submitted: Mar 15, 2024 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Kamloops public forum as part of the submission by Bernadette Keenan.) |
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Submitter: James Tasker Community: Sudbury Date Submitted: Feb 18, 2024 Summary: It is very discouraging to watch the vitality of the BC salmon fishery wane under DFO oversight. A growing body of evidence indicates a correlation between in-ocean aquaculture and disease outbreaks in wild ocean fish. The commission should protect BC waters from disease, chemical contamination and environmental degradation, and it should recommend the establishment of a data-driven, transparent and scientific process for understanding how to protect salmon stocks while supporting a sustainable wild fishery. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Feb 14, 2024 Summary: The attached letter contains annotated summaries of reports by the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council on issues such as salmon in the Strait of Georgia, marine survival, climate change, ecosystem-based management, risks to Fraser sockeye, financial resources for conservation, and stock assessment. It describes the mandate of the Council and its pledge to provide impartial information to the public on the commission’s final report, and expresses the hope of Council members that the commission will review and endorse its January 2010 advisory report calling for the transition to ecosystem-based management. |
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Submitter: Robert G. McCandless Community: Delta Date Submitted: Feb 10, 2024 Summary: The attached letter recommends that the commission examine DFO’s policies related to the issuing of finfish aquaculture licenses under the new Pacific Aquaculture Regulations. The letter argues that the regulations appear to permit site-specific exemptions to section 36 (3) of the Fisheries Act, thereby departing from DFO’s decades-old practice of regulating habitat alteration by industry. The letter also suggests that the new regulations may offer little support in protecting Fraser sockeye. |
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Submitter: Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Environmental Council Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: Feb 10, 2024 Summary: The attached letter from the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Environmental Council to the Honourable Gail Shea describes DFO’s response to reports of dead fish in the North Alouette River. The letter calls for improvements to DFO’s investigation and staff training methods, as well as for the revision of a memorandum of understanding between DFO and Environment Canada regarding their shared duty to protect rivers, fish and fish habitat. |
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Submitter: Kim Fulton Community: Armstrong Date Submitted: Feb 5, 2024 Summary: I am very disappointed that the commission has been given more time to complete its mandate. The extension is unreasonably long and expensive. Rather than spending money on legal proceedings, the commission should take immediate steps to implement the precautionary principle and address viral diseases from open net fish farms. |
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Submitter: Priscilla Judd Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Jan 23, 2024 Summary: The Veta la Palma fish farm in Spain is a perfect business model for a sustainable planet and should be emulated in BC, particularly in wetland areas such as the Shuswap River. The commission should try to convince DFO to help land owners develop these kinds of fish farms, and to prohibit BC’s exiting fish farm monocultures. |
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Submitter: Michelle Nickerson Community: Mission Date Submitted: Jan 23, 2024 Summary: It is concerning that the disruption of redds by subsequent waves of spawning sockeye is ignored when calculating the effective spawner numbers used in various prediction models, including the Fraser River Sockeye Spawning Escapement Initiative. Omitting redd disruption could lead the models to over-predict the size of future runs. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Jan 21, 2024 Summary: The commission should decide whether it is relevant to its mandate to address issues related to the ownership of commercial fishing vessels. |
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Submitter: Daniel Strachan Community: röschenz Date Submitted: Jan 18, 2024 Summary: The loss of BC’s wild salmon would be a major tragedy for the province, Canada and the world. The commission should do the right thing and recommend that fish feedlots be shut down. |
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Submitter: Richard Holmes Community: Likely Date Submitted: Jan 12, 2024 Summary: The commission should consider advising Canada to implement a levy for all adult sockeye caught in the fisheries. The funds could be utilized for research, monitoring, restoration, enhancement, and education, which would complement the limited work presently undertaken in the freshwater environment. |
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Submitter: Al Cowan Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Jan 11, 2024 Summary: DFO protects the aquaculture industry at the expense of wild Pacific salmon, which are a vital link in the ecology of the West Coast and must be protected. Fish farms should be put on land and made to adhere to all environmental regulations. |
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Submitter: Richard Overstall Community: Smithers Date Submitted: Jan 11, 2024 Summary: This submission focuses on the respective roles of values-based and science-based information in the management of a natural resource such as the Fraser River sockeye stocks. It does so by examining the setting of conservation benchmarks under Canada’s Wild Salmon Policy, which are intended to inform managers when a particular salmon stock is approaching extirpation or when it may be fished at a sustainable level. The submission concludes that the majority of marine fish stocks are overexploited because short-term political interests nearly always trump sound scientific advice, and it offers a way of deciding among the government’s fisheries policies, its scientific advice and its risk management strategies. |
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Submitter: Alan Haig-Brown Community: New Westminster Date Submitted: Jan 6, 2024 Summary: The attached article, from a recent edition of the UK-based Fishing News International, describes the failure of 2010’s great sockeye return to provide all the jobs and revenues to fishermen that would be expected from a public resource. |
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Submitter: Mark Buecker Community: Pitt Meadows Date Submitted: Jan 5, 2024 Summary: The decline in salmon stocks in 2007 and 2008 is attributable to the increased temperature, dryness, erosion and turbidity resulting from the 2003 and 2004 wildfire seasons, some of the worst on record. Similarly, the very large salmon collapse in 1962 was caused by the 1958 fire season, the largest in BC’s history. Evidence of the relationship between fire seasons and salmon declines is offered in the attached documents. Further research in the area of erosion and forest fires is necessary to protect aquatic ecosystems and, ultimately, salmon. |
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Submitter: Priscilla Judd Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Dec 26, 2023 Summary: An article from the Journal of the British Columbia Historical Federation entitled “The Use of Saltings on the BC Coast” may assist the commission to better understand impacts on Fraser sockeye habitat. The article states that saltings, an old term for land which is regularly flooded by salty water, should be recognized for their ecological importance and be treated as a valuable natural resource. |
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Submitter: Barbara Watson Community: Sidney Date Submitted: Dec 21, 2023 Summary: The presence of 58 aquaculture sites in Rockfish Conservation Areas is an example of how DFO’s commitment to aquaculture has been prioritized over the protection of a species at risk. Aquaculture sites also reduce small vessel operators’ access to anchorages and safe havens, which represents a failure by Transport Canada to keep man-made debris out of public waterways and protect mariners’ rights of navigation. The adoption of closed containment technology would not resolve this issue, as aquaculture sites would continue to obstruct public waterways. The solution is to replace water tenures with land tenures. |
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Submitter: Bruce Probert Community: Aldergrove, Date Submitted: Dec 15, 2023 Summary: In its investigation of DFO’s management of the commercial fishery, the commission should consider several specific questions pertaining to the Sockeye Allocation Policy, the use of sockeye equivalents and stakeholder consultation processes. The commission should recommend that commercial fishermen be paid not to fish in years of low abundance, which would provide relief while maintaining the infrastructure to harvest strong returns. |
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Submitter: john prentice Community: Richmond Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: Removing fish farms from the ocean will eliminate a potential cause of the decline of wild sockeye, narrowing the focus to other variables, such as pollution in the Fraser River. Removing fish farms will also restore balance to the marine environment. |
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Submitter: fiona devereaux Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2023 Summary: The lack of salmon has a devastating nutritional, social and spiritual effect on First Nations communities on Vancouver Island. Fish are connected to First Nations culture, and their loss jeopardizes the health and wellbeing of First Nations communities. |
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Submitter: Chelsey Osborne Community: Port Alberni Date Submitted: Dec 1, 2023 Summary: Non-governmental scientific research proves that fish farms on the migratory routes of wild salmon play a role in the dramatic decrease of salmon returns. The practice of fish farming, which spreads diseases to wild salmon, must be moved to land or stopped completely. |
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Submitter: David Anderson Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Dec 1, 2023 Summary: The issue of artificial on-land treatment of Victoria’s sewage has no significant relevance to the Fraser sockeye. The net effect of Victoria’s sewage outfalls, when all factors are taken into account, is that it has little impact on Pacific salmon and what there is can be expected to be positive. Proceeding with the decision to implement artificial on-land sewage treatment will waste money that could be better spent on science work on salmon and oceans. Should the commission decide to consider this subject as part of their deliberations, it should seek input from the people who are the actual experts in this field. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Priscilla Judd Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Nov 28, 2023 Summary: Sewage in Lumby is seeping into the Bessette Creek where wild sockeye, chinook, and endangered coho spawn. The commission should consider the recent legal action against fish farmers in Puget Sound, in which the Washington State Assistant Attorney General showed that technology capable of processing salmon fecal matter exists. This technology, particularly Dr. Ron Lavigne’s vegetated sand bed system, should be considered for B.C. |
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Submitter: Bharbara Gudmundson Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Nov 27, 2023 Summary: The attached documents, including media articles, academic reports, photos and correspondence with the Ministry of Environment, detail how garbage leachate is systematically spread on the streets of North American communities by compactor garbage trucks. The leachate drains into creeks, rivers, lakes and oceans, poisoning both humans and fish. |
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Submitter: C.R. Estuary Protection Group Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Nov 25, 2023 Summary: Attached to the submission is a DFO memo about a virus that may cause lesions in sockeye salmon, as well as a news article about a disease recently identified in Norwegian farmed salmon also linked to lesions. The commission must address why DFO kept information about this disease secret. It must also determine whether Atlantic salmon in B.C. fish farms have been tested for the disease, and it should recommend that disease and sea lice information on B.C. fish farms be made public. |
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Submitter: Ted Harlson Community: Brampton Date Submitted: Nov 22, 2023 Summary: The need to act to restore salmon is understandable. Humanity’s record has generally been to improve nature to the benefit of our standards of living. In its deliberations, the commission should consider that the fish farm industry has the potential to provide salmon for future generations. The industry’s skills and knowledge should be applied to the construction of more fish farms. |
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Submitter: Colleen Underwood Community: Cowichan Bay Date Submitted: Nov 21, 2023 Summary: Salmon farmers must be held accountable for what they are doing to wild salmon populations. Salmon farms need to be moved completely to closed containment. |
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Submitter: Nicky Haigh Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Nov 18, 2023 Summary: The effects of harmful algal blooms (HABs) on wild salmon in BC have long been underestimated and need to be addressed. The attached document shows that there is a strong correlation between naturally occurring blooms of the fish-killing alga Heterosigma akashiwo in the southern Strait of Georgia, during the time period when juvenile sockeye pass through this area after exiting the Fraser River, and poor returns of adult sockeye two years later (Rensel, Haigh, and Tynan, 2010. Harmful Algae 10: 98-115. doi:10.1016/j.hal.2010.07.005). The recurring and persistent HABs seen in this area may be responsible for a great deal of the low returns and decline of Fraser River sockeye since 1989, and in particular the disastrous return in 2009. |
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Submitter: Alejandro Frid Community: Bowen Island Date Submitted: Oct 29, 2023 Summary: The hypothesis that juvenile Fraser sockeye have been impacted by parasites and disease originating from fish farms must be tested. The hypothesis that the 2010 Fraser sockeye cohort experienced rates of disease and parasite exposure that differed from previous years must also be tested. To do so rigorously, disease and stocking information for all fish farms on migratory routes must be disclosed for the entire period of their operation. It is also essential that priorities for the conservation and sustainable use of salmon consider the role that salmon play in subsidizing terrestrial ecosystem with marine nutrients. |
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Submitter: Douglas Hanson Community: Hornby Island Date Submitted: Nov 15, 2023 Summary: To ensure rigorous sampling and an accurate set of findings, the commission should include data on all fish farms in its research on the farmed and wild salmon fisheries. |
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Submitter: Robert Mercereau Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Nov 11, 2023 Summary: The decline of Fraser River sockeye, which are an icon to the province and the country, is a major problem that needs to be addressed. Among the multiple factors contributing to the decline are open cage fish farms, which cause disease and sea lice outbreaks. It is shocking that the commission is not seeking the full disclosure of data from salmon farms, as this data is paramount to any study on the decline of salmonids. The commission should seek the full disclosure of this data and make it publically-available. |
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Submitter: Frank Mitchell Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Nov 11, 2023 Summary: There is no sound justification for keeping data on the rates of infection and sea lice on salmon farms secret. The issues are difficult enough without having the facts systematically obscured. |
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Submitter: Carol Wagner Community: Salt Spring Island Date Submitted: Nov 11, 2023 Summary: Salmon farming is not natural. The harm it is doing to nature has been proven. |
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Submitter: sheri farinha Community: parksville Date Submitted: Nov 11, 2023 Summary: The commission should do everything within its mandate to ensure the public has the information needed to understand the problems arising from farmed fish. |
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Submitter: John Newcomb Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Nov 11, 2023 Summary: Don MacDonald, the researcher charged by the commission to investigate the effects of contaminants on Fraser River sockeye, is a co-director of the Sustainable Fisheries Foundation. I am concerned that Mr. MacDonald’s involvement in this organization, as well as his previous research, may impair his ability to make impartial conclusions about the impacts of sewage on salmon health. The commission should ensure that any links made between sewage and salmon health are based on sound evidence, and that any conclusions drawn from Mr. MacDonald’s study be peer-reviewed before publication and distribution. |
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Submitter: Sheila Pratt Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: Nov 11, 2023 Summary: It was very disappointing to read that Justice Cohen requested very limited data from only 21 open net-cage salmon farms over a five year period along Fraser River sockeye migration routes. How can an Inquiry be considered valid if it asks for only some of the relevant information? |
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Submitter: Ivan Askgaard Community: Powell River Date Submitted: Nov 11, 2023 Summary: DFO should invest in further scientific research to determine the precise effect of sea lice on wild salmon and to identify juvenile sockeye migration routes. It may be that the strength of the 2010 return was a result of their migration, as smolts, through the Juan de Fuca Strait rather than past fish farms. DFO should also apply the precautionary principle to aquaculture as it has to other fisheries. If the effects of fish farms are unknown, they should be contained or moved onto land until information is available. |
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Submitter: Dora Kevis Community: Greenwood, BC Date Submitted: Nov 10, 2023 Summary: Fish farms are deliberately concealing their record on disease from the public record, and governments are colluding with fish farms to permit this practice and to allow the importation of diseased salmon eggs. Net-containment fish farms should be completely removed from wild fish-bearing waters. The logging industry has also done its share of harm. The new draft aquaculture regulations are concerning due to their ambiguity and because they aim to grant fish farm companies immunity from the laws that safeguard the wild. |
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Submitter: Jim Flight Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Nov 8, 2023 Summary: It must not be forgotten that salmon are sacred to indigenous peoples, not to colonizers and DFO. It is evident that DFO is concerned with protecting the commercial fishery at the expense of the indigenous way of life. It is time to recognize that an Aboriginal fishery could be sustained were it not for the ongoing circumvention of the requirement to prioritize conservation and food, social and ceremonial needs above other fisheries. |
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Submitter: Richard Holmes M.Sc. R.P.Bio Community: Likely Date Submitted: Nov 8, 2023 Summary: Annual funding should be provided for the Horsefly sockeye spawning channel, which could be an integral part of the enhancement of the Quesnel and Horsefly watersheds. The federal government should also consider providing funds to accommodate a Chair in Freshwater Fisheries Research at the University of Northern British Columbia and the Dr. Max Blouw Quesnel River Research Centre. The Chair could use these institutions’ existing resources and the local watershed’s broad sockeye ecosystem to conduct important research on Fraser River sockeye. |
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Submitter: Timothy Parsons Community: Brentwood Bay, BC Date Submitted: Nov 7, 2023 Summary: The predictive success of biological disciplines such as medicine and agriculture stem from their careful monitoring and diagnosis of problems rather than their use of models. Despite the development of fisheries oceanography, which attempts to study all the interactions of the ocean food chain in order to estimate the abundance and survival of fish species, the complexity of fisheries models has prevented them from presenting accurate or useful forecasts. To address this shortcoming, funding agencies should consider joint funding of collaborative research on the ocean life of salmon, about which very little is known. Funding would permit events such as the sudden appearance of a plankton bloom in the Gulf of Alaska or a surge in salmon populations to be followed and analyzed in near-time and forecasts to be issued with more certainty. |
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Submitter: Darlene Arsenault Community: Sayward Date Submitted: Nov 3, 2023 Summary: Scientific evidence shows that fish farms cause pollution and are detrimental to wild fish stocks and other marine wildlife. DFO’s fish farm responsibilities are in conflict with its other duties. Wild salmon are the cornerstone of the coastal ecosystem and must not be allowed to disappear. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Billy Proctor Community: Simoom Sound Date Submitted: Nov 2, 2023 Summary: In the early 1990s, DFO hosted a meeting in Alert Bay at which local fishers identified appropriate areas, or zones, for fish farms to be located. Today, 12 fish farms are located in zones that were identified as being dangerous to wild salmon, and chum and pink runs in the Broughton Archipelago have declined. The size of the 2010 Fraser sockeye return may have been caused by the simultaneous return of three- and five-year old sockeye, as well as by the absence of an IHN outbreak on fish farms when the 2010 return migrated north to the Pacific Ocean as smolts. |
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Submitter: Barbara Watson Community: Sidney Date Submitted: Nov 1, 2023 Summary: The pollution generated by aquaculture feedlots is extremely harmful to the entire B.C. coast, including humans and Fraser sockeye. The attached photos are a visual reminder of the ugliness of feedlots compared to the province’s natural beauty. The photos emphasize the slow deterioration of aquaculture infrastructure over time, and illustrate the industry’s aesthetic impact on B.C.’s coastal waterways. |
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Submitter: David McPhee Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 29, 2023 Summary: I would hope that the Commissioner will cause attention to be paid to the scientific and economic potential of onshore fish farming. |
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Submitter: Chief Judy Wilson Community: Chase Date Submitted: Oct 28, 2023 Summary: (The attached documents were provided to the commission at the Kamloops public forum as part of the submission by Chief Judy Wilson.) |
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Submitter: Don DeMill Community: Delta Date Submitted: Nov 7, 2023 Summary: |
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Submitter: Michelle Nickerson Community: Mission Date Submitted: Oct 28, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Kamloops public forum as part of the submission by Michelle Nickerson.) |
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Submitter: Wetland Alliance: The Ecological Response Community: Salmon Arm Date Submitted: Oct 28, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Kamloops public forum as part of the submission by Wetland Alliance: The Ecological Response.) |
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Submitter: Jim Prudhomme Community: Kelowna Date Submitted: Oct 28, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Kamloops public forum as part of the submission by Jim Prudhomme.) |
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Submitter: Alan Haig-Brown Community: New Westminster Date Submitted: Oct 28, 2023 Summary: The commission should recommend that DFO’s “No Net Loss” policy be upgraded to restore more estuary habitat, which migrating salmon fry require to transition from fresh to saltwater. DFO must also be funded and given the responsibility of monitoring and maintaining all new and existing estuary restorations. To ensure the continued presence of Canadian fishers on the rivers and along the coast, the commission should recommend the implementation of an owner-operator provision for the salmon fishery such that the holder of a licence must be onboard the boat when it is fishing. |
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Submitter: Barbara Watson Community: Sidney Date Submitted: Oct 27, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Victoria public forum as part of the submission by Barbara Watson.) |
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Submitter: Priscilla Judd Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Oct 27, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Kamloops public forum as part of the submission by Priscilla Judd.) |
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Submitter: Jim Baird Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Oct 26, 2023 Summary: A version of the phenomenon highlighted by Dr. Timothy Parsons as a potential cause of the size of the 2010 Fraser sockeye run – a massive bloom of diatoms due to volcanic ash – has the potential to produce a limitless renewable energy source and significant economic activity for Canada. The Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion method, explained in the attached letter, offers the potential to convert the heat the oceans are accumulating due climate change into productive energy, as well as provide secondary benefits to salmon and other aquatic species. |
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Submitter: Marilyn Weland Community: Duncan Date Submitted: Oct 26, 2023 Summary: In Chile, there is extensive newspaper coverage of the viruses and disease present in salmon farms. The commission should take a firm stand against the pressures exerted by international aquaculture businesses and protect wild stocks from the disease caused by fish farms. |
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Submitter: Mary Russell Community: Port Hardy Date Submitted: Oct 26, 2023 Summary: DFO’s draft new regulations for the aquaculture industry would loosen the bonds of environmental constraint on the industry and harmonize the various regulatory agencies, ministries and governments of Canada towards the goal of expanding aquaculture. Doing so could prevent the public from gaining the knowledge necessary to take corrective action. The decision to administer the regulations through Memoranda of Understanding emphasizes their lack democracy and accountability. It is hoped that the commission can rectify this state of affairs. |
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Submitter: Dorothy Field Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Oct 26, 2023 Summary: British Columbians care deeply about the health of wild salmon, which are core to the vitality of the province. Conservation of wild salmon must be the primary goal of the public and of resource managers. The commission is urged to uphold the Fisheries Act and to apply the precautionary principle. Also attached are two poems about sockeye salmon. |
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Submitter: Carolyn Herbert Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Oct 26, 2023 Summary: Federal and provincial oversight of the aquaculture industry is failing due to poor communication between ministries. It is concerning that foreign aquaculture companies are not being held accountable to Canadian laws that prevent the use of environmentally-harmful substances. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency must be provided with data about pathogen outbreaks on salmon feedlots, and fish farms must be inspected by the government. |
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Submitter: Shawn Wiese Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: Oct 25, 2023 Summary: Canadians have the right to know what the effects of open pen fish farming are on the ecosystem. |
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Submitter: Lower Shuswap Stewardship Society Community: Enderby Date Submitted: Oct 25, 2023 Summary: The Lower Shuswap Stewardship Society requests that the Commissioner be given complete health and disease data for all salmon farms since the decline of Fraser sockeye began. Without a full data set, the commission’s investigation will be flawed and incomplete. |
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Submitter: Mary Russell Community: Port Hardy Date Submitted: Oct 25, 2023 Summary: DFO has betrayed Canada’s wild fisheries and the public trust by colluding with salmon farmers, despite evidence that the industry is harmful to wild salmon. Escaped Atlantic salmon, which have established themselves on the B.C. coast, are a direct threat to wild salmon because they introduce exotic diseases such as ISA and compete for food and habitat. DFO’s proposed aquaculture regulations would put the fish farming industry above the Fisheries Act. In addition, the aquaculture industry uses SLICE, which was banned for use on human food, in an irresponsible manner. The commission should ask the industry to release its disease records, and encourage the development of a Canadian, closed-containment industry. |
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Submitter: Colin Commandeur Community: Abbotsford Date Submitted: Oct 25, 2023 Summary: The strength of the 2010 sockeye return does not prove that fish farming causes no harm, just as one cold winter does not disprove global warming. Studies by Scandinavian countries have found that sea lice, disease and concentrated waste from open net-pens are harmful to wild and hatchery-raised salmon. Fish farms, unlike other factors affecting salmon, are one variable that can be controlled, and they should be removed. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: William Green Community: Burlington Date Submitted: Oct 25, 2023 Summary: Drift net fishing and the use of sonar have a devastating effect on Fraser sockeye. Consequently, the commission should recommend limits on the number of vessels from Canada and the U.S. that may engage in the commercial fishery, that all nets be limited to 100 meters or less and that enforcement efforts be increased to prevent overfishing. B.C. salmon are a Canadian resource and must be protected by Canadian law against predatory fishers. |
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Submitter: Lana Simon Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 25, 2023 Summary: Fish farming is concerning as it may lead to the eventual loss of wild salmon. The commission should order the full disclosure of disease information so the public can learn if salmon farmers are responsible for the decline. The Commissioner has the opportunity to be the pivotal force that allows wild salmon to remain healthy for generations. |
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Submitter: Elina Kurahashi Community: Abbotsford Date Submitted: Oct 24, 2023 Summary: I wish that my children’s children will inherit a world with wonders such as the Weaver Creek salmon run. |
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Submitter: Linda MacIntosh Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 24, 2023 Summary: The attached report, “Evaluating Alaska’s Ocean-Ranching Salmon Hatcheries”, identifies four potential impacts of hatchery salmon on wild salmon: genetic risk from straying and mixing populations, fish disease transfer, strain on the carrying capacity of the ocean, and the accidental catch of wild salmon in hatchery salmon fisheries. The commission should consider these impacts, particularly the second and fourth impact, in its investigation of Fraser sockeye. |
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Submitter: Jean Crowe Community: Kamloops Date Submitted: Oct 22, 2023 Summary: I urge the commission to recommend that salmon farms be closed, and that the paving over of wetlands and streams be stopped. Increased vigilance of all BC waters must be mandated before BC’s salmon habitat is completely destroyed. Put this to the voters: will business or a healthy environment be our future? |
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Submitter: Frank Dwyer Community: Kamloops Date Submitted: Oct 22, 2023 Summary: The commission should view the decline of Fraser sockeye in the context of the ongoing disappearance of other salmonids. The West Coast scientific community has very little knowledge about what happens to salmonids and the factors explaining the decline. What is needed overall is less argument, greater caution and much more knowledge through objective and independent scientific inquiry. |
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Submitter: Annie Ryan Community: Toronto Date Submitted: Oct 22, 2023 Summary: The federal budget should include funding for closed-containment pilot projects to facilitate the transition from open net-cage to closed-containment aquaculture. |
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Submitter: Lorraine Wood Community: Vavenby Date Submitted: Oct 22, 2023 Summary: Commercial fishing should not occur in sheltered and inland waters, smaller nets must be used by all fishers, fish farms should be fallowed, enforcement and information gathering must be improved, and a plan for abnormally hot years must be developed. |
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Submitter: Area “A” Crab Association Community: UCLUELET Date Submitted: Oct 21, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Nanaimo public forum as part of the submission by the Area “A” Crab Association.) |
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Submitter: Matt Macey Community: Comox, Date Submitted: Oct 21, 2023 Summary: It is frustrating that so many public submissions have targeted salmon farming. The commission should recognize that salmon farming is only one of many issues to examine. Urbanization, predation, non-retention fisheries, and, in particular, hatcheries, likely have a much more profound effect on wild salmon. The commission should conduct an extensive investigation of hatcheries and their threat to salmon abundance and biological diversity. |
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Submitter: Philip Claydon Community: Kamloops Date Submitted: Oct 20, 2023 Summary: Ensuring that future generations have the opportunity to enjoy, harvest and celebrate Pacific salmon requires transparent, accountable and well-funded leadership; an increase in the monetary value of fish; an active and effective system of volunteers to protect fish ecosystems and engage the public; the restriction of commercial fishing to selective methods and locations along the Fraser River; and the expansion of sport fishing opportunities. |
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Submitter: Joseph Lacuna Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 19, 2023 Summary: It has been proven that open net-pen fish farms on wild salmon migratory routes play a large part in the decline of salmon returns. If they are here to stay, fish farms should be moved onto land. |
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Submitter: Jean Clark Community: Enderby Date Submitted: Oct 18, 2023 Summary: It is imperative that the commission be allowed full access to all coastal fish farm disease data. Incomplete data will invalidate this aspect of the commission’s work and make it impossible to link years of decline with potential disease contamination by aquaculture. |
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Submitter: Kim Fulton Community: Armstrong Date Submitted: Oct 18, 2023 Summary: Education of the public is one of the keys for maintaining Pacific salmon runs. It is important that educational programs such as DFO’s “Salmonids in the Classroom” and “Stream to Sea” continue to be funded and supported. The precautionary principle must be applied to the aquaculture industry and the use of chemical compounds in consumer products. The environment must be made a priority over the economy. |
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Submitter: Ted Wild Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Oct 18, 2023 Summary: The aquaculture industry provides much needed employment in B.C. communities. From an environmental perspective, fish farms appear to be doing what is necessary to protect the environment, and safety, testing, and monitoring appear to be among their top priorities. |
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Submitter: Gillian Sanders Community: Kaslo Date Submitted: Oct 17, 2023 Summary: The commission should investigate the disease records of fish farms near the mouth of the Fraser River to determine if there is a correlation between disease outbreaks and the decline of wild stocks. |
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Submitter: james macneill Community: vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 15, 2023 Summary: Ocean fish farming supports the coastal economy, particularly in areas hard hit by the decline of forestry, and it provides employment for First Nations and remote communities. Anti-fish farm activists are funded by U.S. groups whose purpose is the destruction of the aquaculture industry and the loss of B.C. jobs. It is disturbing that the media reports the claims of anti-fish farm activists as truth. The record 2010 return of Fraser sockeye shows that wild salmon can thrive in the presence of fish farms. |
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Submitter: James Mellors Community: Vernon Date Submitted: Oct 15, 2023 Summary: The commission’s recommendations, which will influence the future of wild salmon stocks, should be made binding on all parties. Other species and runs of salmon are likely being affected by the same factors as sockeye, and the commission should make secondary recommendations to address these species. Fraser sockeye runs were generally sustainable until fish farms were placed directly on their migratory routes. Reports indicate that fish farms transmit the IHN virus and sea lice to migrating wild salmon. It is concerning that aquaculture companies, many of which are foreign-owned, refuse to provide records of viral outbreaks. The aquaculture industry should adopt closed-containment technologies. |
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Submitter: Paul Kendrick Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Oct 15, 2023 Summary: The size of the 2010 Fraser sockeye run suggests that salmon farms did not affect the 2009 run. Instead, sockeye are likely impacted by a variety of complex issues, such as ocean survival rates, water temperature, unusual plankton blooms, low dissolved oxygen levels, predation and competition from ranched Alaskan salmon. The commission should focus on scientific evidence rather than unsubstantiated opinion, and conduct its investigation in an open and objective manner. |
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Submitter: Ron Kyle Community: goldriver Date Submitted: Oct 15, 2023 Summary: Despite claims that the aquaculture industry is responsible for the collapse of wild sockeye, 2010 saw the best returns of wild salmon in perhaps 100 years. It should not be forgotten that the aquaculture industry, which provides healthy food and jobs, was started in response to the collapse of salmon runs due to overfishing, mining and logging near salmon streams, and environmental factors. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Joel Durand Community: Campbell RIver Date Submitted: Oct 15, 2023 Summary: The 2009 annual fish health report confirms that BC farm-raised salmon are very healthy. Previous annual reports have been available online since 2003. If fish health and aquaculture is of interest to the commission, then it should investigate interactions between wild salmon and the billions of hatchery-raised salmon that are released each year. |
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Submitter: Ann Vansnick Community: Sayward Date Submitted: Oct 15, 2023 Summary: DFO harvest management should be investigated in the context of the annual release of billions of hatchery salmon into the Pacific Northwest. According to a new study in Marine Coastal Fisheries, the combined abundance of wild and hatchery fish leads to overharvesting of the wild stock. |
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Submitter: James Costello Community: Ucluelet Date Submitted: Oct 14, 2023 Summary: The opposition to salmon farming is attempting to mislead the public and harm the reputation of the salmon farming community. It is essential to remember that fluctuations in run sizes and concerns over declining stocks were present before the advent of aquaculture and were a key factor in its development. The Cohen Commission should consider all the factors affecting wild salmon and resist calls to focus on salmon farming as the culprit in the decline of some wild salmon populations. |
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Submitter: Elena Edwards Community: Mission Date Submitted: Oct 14, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Chilliwack public forum as part of the submission by Elena Edwards.) |
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Submitter: Peter Harper Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Oct 14, 2023 Summary: Critics of the salmon farming industry make statements on conjecture rather than science. The record return of wild salmon indicates that salmon farms do not harm wild stocks. Instead of salmon farms, the public should focus instead on the numerous environmental factors that are known to be detrimental to wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Donald Costin Community: Chilliwack Date Submitted: Oct 14, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Chilliwack public forum as part of the submission by Donald Costin.) |
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Submitter: Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance Community: Prince George Date Submitted: Oct 14, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Prince George public forum as part of the submission by the Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance.) |
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Submitter: Richard Wadden Community: Sechelt , B.C. Date Submitted: Oct 14, 2023 Summary: I have worked in the aquaculture industry for about 15 years. Some of my brothers and a sister in law have worked in this industry for longer. I consider ourselves to be ethical persons and we would not be in this industry if we thought we were doing harm. |
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Submitter: Sabra Woodworth Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 14, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Chilliwack public forum as part of the submission by Sabra Woodworth.) |
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Submitter: Tim Tyler Community: Coquitlam Date Submitted: Oct 14, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Chilliwack public forum as part of the submission by Tim Tyler.) |
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Submitter: Tim Dayton Community: Langley Date Submitted: Oct 14, 2023 Summary: The commission must examine the pollution and destruction of habitat in the Fraser River and other major sockeye spawning rivers. Special attention should be paid to the increased and persistent presence of chemicals such as estrogen (birth control) from treated and untreated sewage, on fish reproduction and survival. |
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Submitter: Bob Rezansoff Community: Delta Date Submitted: Oct 13, 2023 Summary: (The attached documents were provided to the commission at the New Westminster public forum as part of the submission by Bob Rezansoff.) |
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Submitter: David Loewen Community: Prince George Date Submitted: Oct 13, 2023 Summary: (The attached presentation was provided to the commission at the Prince George public forum as part of the submission by David Loewen.) |
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Submitter: Pete Erickson Community: Fort St. James Date Submitted: Oct 13, 2023 Summary: (The attached presentation was provided to the commission at the Prince George public forum as part of the submission by Pete Erickson.) |
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Submitter: Don Staniford Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 13, 2023 Summary: (The attached presentation was provided to the commission at the New Westminster public forum as part of the submission by Don Staniford.) |
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Submitter: Darrel McEachern Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: Oct 12, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the New Westminster public forum as part of the submission by Darrel McEachern.) |
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Submitter: John Madden Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 12, 2023 Summary: (The attached documents are a supplement to the submission by John Madden at the New Westminster public forum.) |
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Submitter: Victor Guerin Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 12, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the New Westminster public forum as part of the submission by Victor Guerin.) |
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Submitter: Sieglinde STIEDA Community: Mission Date Submitted: Oct 10, 2023 Summary: The commission should recommend that salmon farms be closed, that the paving over of wetlands and streams be stopped, that salmon ecology be added to the curriculum in B.C. schools and that public education about the importance of salmon be increased. |
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Submitter: Fred and Linda Hawkshaw Community: Terrace Date Submitted: Oct 7, 2023 Summary: (The attached documents were provided to the commission at the Prince Rupert public forum.) |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Laurie Watt Community: New Westminster Date Submitted: Oct 7, 2023 Summary: Open net-cage salmon feedlots are killing wild salmon in plain view of DFO, which has the impossible dual responsibilities of promoting aquaculture and protecting wild salmon. Promotion of aquaculture should be transferred from DFO to another ministry. |
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Submitter: Timothy R. Parsons Community: Brentwood Bay Date Submitted: Oct 7, 2023 Summary: A paper by Roberta Hamme reports on the phenomenal growth of a diatom bloom in the Gulf of Alaska starting in 2008. At that time, the salmon returning in 2010 would have been in the midpoint of their growth cycle and could benefit most by the expanded food chain, while the 2009 sockeye would have been ending their period of maximum growth. This may explain the difference in return sizes between 2009 and 2010, and suggests that the forecasting of sockeye returns should be based more on food conditions in the Gulf of Alaska. |
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Submitter: Rick Glumac Community: Port Moody Date Submitted: Oct 6, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the New Westminster public forum as part of the submission by Rick Glumac.) |
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Submitter: Environmental Law Centre, Faculty of Law, Universi Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Oct 6, 2023 Summary: (The attached documents were provided to the commission at the Victoria public forum as part of the submission by Paddy O’Reilly.) |
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Submitter: Paul Dean Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 6, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the New Westminster public forum as part of the submission by Paul Dean.) |
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Submitter: Celia Brauer Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 6, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the New Westminster public forum as part of the submission by Celia Brauer.) |
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Submitter: Michael Barkusky Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Oct 6, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the New Westminster public forum as part of the submission by Michael Barkusky.) |
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Submitter: Barbara Leyward Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Oct 5, 2023 Summary: Hatchery salmon may be a threat to Fraser sockeye. They have a competitive advantage due to their size, and may pose genetic and health risks. |
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Submitter: UVic Environmental Law Centre Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Oct 5, 2023 Summary: (This video was provided to the commission at the Victoria public forum as part of the submission by the University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre.) |
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Submitter: Harold Sewid Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Oct 5, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Victoria public forum as part of the submission by Chief Harold Sewid.) |
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Submitter: Social Ecology Institute of British Columbia Community: Cowichan Bay Date Submitted: Oct 4, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Victoria public forum as part of the submission by Daniel Lousier.) |
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Submitter: Vicky Husband Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Oct 4, 2023 Summary: (The attached documents were provided to the commission at the Victoria public forum as part of the submission by Vicky Husband.) |
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Submitter: The SOS Marine Conservation Foundation Community: Port McNeill Date Submitted: Oct 4, 2023 Summary: (The attached documents were provided to the commission at the Victoria public forum as part of the submission by Eric Hobson.) |
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Submitter: Artist Response Team Inc. Community: Crofton Date Submitted: Oct 4, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Victoria public forum as part of the submission by Holly Arntzen.) |
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Submitter: Jim McIsaac Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Oct 4, 2023 Summary: (The attached documents were provided to the commission at the Victoria public forum as part of the submission by Jim McIsaac.) |
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Submitter: Andrea Carol Anderson Community: Heriot Bay Date Submitted: Oct 4, 2023 Summary: My vision is that this commission will support and require the DFO to honour the concept of sustainability and give DFO workers the permission and authority they need to act to protect ecosystems and fish. Damaging practices and cover-ups by open- net farms need to be disallowed, and farms required to move to closed containment. Sensible harvesting is well-addressed in Chapter 5 of “Assu of Cape Mudge: Recollections of a Coastal Indian Chief” by Harry Assu and Joy Inglis. |
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Submitter: Chris Marks Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Oct 4, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Victoria public forum as part of the submission by Chris Marks.) |
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Submitter: Capt Robert Karliner Community: Delta Date Submitted: Oct 1, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Steveston public forum as part of the submission by Captain Robert Karliner.) |
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Submitter: Joy Thorkelson Community: Prince Rupert Date Submitted: Sep 30, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Prince Rupert public forum as part of the submission by Joy Thorkelson.) |
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Submitter: Jerry Phillips Community: Qualicum Beach Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: DFO does not have sufficient local staff. It makes decisions for political and commercial reasons, rather than for scientific ones. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Les Hack Community: Chilliwack Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: The commission should recommend that for five years following its conclusion an annual report be produced showing which of the commission’s recommendations have been approved or implemented. As public accountability is implicit in the commission’s mandate, such a report would be both justifiable and expedient. |
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Submitter: Northern Native Fishing Corporation Community: Prince Rupert Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Prince Rupert public forum as part of the submission by Mabel Mazurek.) |
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Submitter: North Coast-Skeena First Nations Stewardship Socie Community: Prince Rupert Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Prince Rupert public forum as part of the submission by Cristina Soto.) |
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Submitter: Gary Coons Community: Prince Rupert Date Submitted: Sep 29, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Prince Rupert public forum as part of the submission by Gary Coons, MLA, North Coast.) |
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Submitter: Kevin Onclin Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Sep 27, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Campbell River public forum as part of the submission by Kevin Onclin.) |
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Submitter: Donna Gaudard Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Sep 27, 2023 Summary: DFO should take a stronger stand in support of wild fish. Fish farms should operate in land-based, closed containment systems. |
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Submitter: Ward Griffioen Community: Powell River Date Submitted: Sep 27, 2023 Summary: Given their diet, it is unlikely that salmon smolts view fish farms as potential feeding sites. For this reason, fish farms are likely not the cause for the decline of wild sockeye populations. |
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Submitter: Tannis Reynolds Community: Fraser Lake Date Submitted: Sep 25, 2023 Summary: The scale of threats to wild sockeye salmon must be measured. Anyone who harms wild salmon should be held accountable and required to pay a fee towards making a more sustainable future. A thorough investigation into responsible fisheries management is necessary. |
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Submitter: J. David Cox Community: Surge Narrows Date Submitted: Sep 25, 2023 Summary: The commission’s Terms of Reference should be rejected for failing to permit the Commissioner to lay blame or investigate marine issues such as climate change, fishing by foreign nations, food supply changes and the El Nino effect. The commission should consult with people who have real fisheries experience, rather than with former DFO staff. The commission should recommend that DFO be dismantled and reconstructed as a citizen-driven organization headquartered on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. All resources should be dedicated to salmon enhancement programs, and industry must be required to undertake enhancement efforts similar to those in the forestry industry. |
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Submitter: Rod Naknakim Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Sep 24, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Campbell River public forum as part of the submission by Rod Naknakim.) |
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Submitter: Barry Milligan Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Sep 24, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Campbell River public forum as part of the submission by Dr. Barry Milligan, Fish Health Manager at Grieg Seafood BC.) |
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Submitter: Marine Harvest Community: Comox Date Submitted: Sep 24, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Campbell River public forum as part of the submission by Greg Gibson, Environmental Assessment Biologist at Marine Harvest Canada.) |
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Submitter: Wilderness Tourism Association Community: Cumberland Date Submitted: Sep 24, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Campbell River public forum as part of the submission by Evan Loveless on behalf of the Wilderness Tourism Association.) |
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Submitter: Marine Harvest Canada Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Sep 24, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Campbell River public forum as part of the submission by Brad Boyce, Senior Fish Health Technician at Marine Harvest Canada.) |
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Submitter: Campbell River Estuary Protection Group Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Sep 24, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Campbell River public forum as part of the submission by Leona Adams on behalf of the Campbell River Estuary Protection Group.) |
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Submitter: Pat McGuire Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Sep 24, 2023 Summary: The commission should listen to the will of the public, including First Nations, and recommend the permanent removal of fish farms on Fraser salmon migration routes in order to protect wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Intertribal Treaty Organization Community: New Westminster Date Submitted: Sep 23, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Lillooet public forum as part of the submission by Saul Terry.) |
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Submitter: Kim North Community: Lillooet Date Submitted: Sep 23, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Lillooet public forum as part of the submission by Kim North.) |
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Submitter: Norm Leech Community: Lillooet Date Submitted: Sep 23, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Lillooet public forum as part of the submission by Norm Leech.) |
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Submitter: Mike Leach Community: Lillooet Date Submitted: Sep 23, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Lillooet public forum as part of the submission by Mike Leach.) |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Kerry Coast Henselwood Community: Lillooet Date Submitted: Sep 23, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Lillooet public forum as part of the submission by Kerry Coast Henselwood.) |
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Submitter: Sandy Le Monnier Community: Port Coquitlam Date Submitted: Sep 22, 2023 Summary: There is evidence that Atlantic salmon fish farms on salmon migratory routes are harmful to native wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Pamela Ballard Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Sep 21, 2023 Summary: I am proud to be part of the aquaculture community. |
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Submitter: janet walker Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 20, 2023 Summary: Open net fish farms must be legislated to move to land-based closed containment systems. |
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Submitter: Maureen Loiselle Community: Thetis Island, Date Submitted: Sep 20, 2023 Summary: Scientific research shows that wild fish stocks are being severely damaged by irresponsible fisheries management and the corporate takeover of democratic governments. |
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Submitter: Barbara Watson Community: Sidney Date Submitted: Sep 19, 2023 Summary: The following link contains information about the Norwegian perspective on the connection between salmon farms, disease issues and politics in Norway. Canadian media must readjust their priorities to provide more coverage of the Cohen Commission and wild salmon-related issues. |
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Submitter: Nancy Crozier Community: Gabriola Date Submitted: Sep 18, 2023 Summary: First Nations people should be accorded stewardship of the Fraser River sockeye run. They should be provided with the mandate and funding to preserve Fraser sockeye from overfishing, pollution and human development. |
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Submitter: GLEN TIMMS Community: VICTORIA Date Submitted: Sep 18, 2023 Summary: In order to protect wild salmon from sea lice and other contaminants and diseases, salmon farming must be moved on land and into contained environments. |
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Submitter: Dierdre Atkinson Community: Hornby Island Date Submitted: Sep 17, 2023 Summary: Transitioning to land-based closed containment aquaculture would remove the risk that feedlots transfer sea lice or IHN to wild salmon. The proposed federal aquaculture regulations do not offer sufficient protection of wild salmon stocks. |
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Submitter: rosemary verren-delbridge Community: sooke Date Submitted: Sep 17, 2023 Summary: Salmon farms must be monitored to mitigate the impact of parasites and ensure fish health. Monetary grants should be given for research into an environmental solution to sea lice. More hatcheries should be built to ensure the health of wild salmon stocks. |
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Submitter: Wolfgang Zilker Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Sep 17, 2023 Summary: Open net fish farms must be legislated to move to closed containment systems. |
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Submitter: Katherine Pepper Community: Gabriola Island Date Submitted: Sep 17, 2023 Summary: Do not threaten wild salmon with farmed fish. |
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Submitter: Bill Irving Community: Ucluelet Date Submitted: Sep 17, 2023 Summary: The commission should visit the west coast of Vancouver Island, which has a significant stake in the management of Fraser River sockeye. The commission should also examine area licensing, stacking and transferable quotas in light of their social and economic impacts on communities adjacent to stocks. In general, the commission should review DFO’s goals and management, as well as its alienation of communities from salmon stocks swimming past their harbours. Sustaining local fisheries requires proper management and funding. |
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Submitter: robert cameron Community: madeira park Date Submitted: Sep 17, 2023 Summary: DFO’s management of the 2010 return illustrates that it no longer considers the economic benefit of wild salmon. Closing the sockeye fishery to achieve minimal improvements in Coho stocks does not meet DFO’s directive of providing economic gain for the public. DFO must move away from the failed policies of selective fishing and terminal fisheries. |
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Submitter: Peter Tebbutt Community: Powell River Date Submitted: Sep 16, 2023 Summary: DFO has mismanaged the salmon fishery. Its promotion of open net pen fish farming, which is exacerbating the problems facing salmon, is at odds with its mandate to protect wild fish species and the ocean environment. The commission should uphold the protection of wild salmon above all else. Open net pen fish farms should only be permitted to operate on land. |
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Submitter: Joanna Qureshi Community: Parksville Date Submitted: Sep 16, 2023 Summary: The 2010 Fraser sockeye return cannot be seen as a reason to cease investigation into the possible reasons for the downward trend over past years. The commission should strive to remain uninfluenced by provincial and federal political agendas. |
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Submitter: robert creese Community: victoria Date Submitted: Sep 16, 2023 Summary: The methods used by fish farming companies incur real and permanent environmental damage. New regulations to protect wild salmon stocks are paramount. The economic health of B.C. is greater served by wild stocks, not fish farms. |
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Submitter: Mark Barter Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Sep 16, 2023 Summary: A noticeable decline in wild salmon stocks occurred following the arrival of salmon farms on the B.C. coast. The refusal by salmon farms to report disease outbreaks and provide tissue samples is unacceptable. The commission should recommend that open net pen fish farms be completely eliminated under a strict timeline. |
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Submitter: Deb McBride Community: Squamish Date Submitted: Sep 15, 2023 Summary: The commission should consider protecting estuaries a priority, and recommend that salmon migration routes be kept free of fish farms and pollution. |
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Submitter: Michael Fall Community: Ladysmith Date Submitted: Sep 15, 2023 Summary: Human development and economic activity, including fish farming, has destroyed salmon breeding grounds and fouled salmon migration corridors. The commission should recommend that DFO apply environmental laws equally to individuals and industries and that DFO be required to make management and enforcement decisions based on science rather than politics. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Robert and Deborah Sherwood Community: Osoyoos Date Submitted: Sep 15, 2023 Summary: Scientific evidence shows that sea lice, antibiotics and sewage from open net pen fish farms are causing the disappearance of wild salmon. The commission should recommend that salmon farms, which are operated in an uncooperative, disdainful and probably illegal fashion, be removed from ocean waters. |
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Submitter: Herbert Brown Community: Blind Bay Date Submitted: Sep 15, 2023 Summary: The commission must do all it can to ensure the survival of wild salmon stocks. |
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Submitter: Cameron White Community: Calgary Date Submitted: Sep 15, 2023 Summary: Farmed salmon should be harvested in a manner that isolates them from the natural ecosystem. |
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Submitter: Myra Pearlman Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 15, 2023 Summary: The commission should recommend the removal of fish farms from the migratory routes of wild salmon in order to reduce their exposure to sea lice, which in sufficient numbers kill smolts. |
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Submitter: Brian Bjarnason Community: Surrey Date Submitted: Sep 15, 2023 Summary: Decisions regarding Pacific coast salmon need to be made on the basis of what is best for fish stocks, not foreign companies. |
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Submitter: Jack Minard Community: Courtenay Date Submitted: Sep 15, 2023 Summary: Stock assessment has been underfunded for far too long. It is the only activity that will provide the information upon which to base any action for restoration, rehabilitation or stock enhancement, let alone a fishery. |
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Submitter: Debi Brummel Community: Courtenay Date Submitted: Sep 15, 2023 Summary: Open net pen fish farms spread filth and disease to wild salmon. The integrity of the Salish Sea and its freshwater sources must be maintained. Predation is not a cause of the decline of Fraser sockeye. |
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Submitter: Shawn Fetterley Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 15, 2023 Summary: The major contributing factors for the decline of salmon populations must be identified. In addition, bycatches must be eliminated, fish tracking and forecasting methods must be improved, pressure on returning salmon must be relieved, enforcement must be enhanced, fish farms must be removed from the open ocean, and other communities that have lost their fisheries must be consulted. |
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Submitter: Betty Carrington North Shore Urban Be Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 15, 2023 Summary: The North Shore Urban Bear Club supports Alexandra Morton and her initiatives. |
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Submitter: Jenny Foster Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Sep 13, 2023 Summary: The commission should investigate recent changes in interactions between Fraser sockeye and their predators, with a special focus on Humboldt squid. |
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Submitter: Timothy Parsons Community: Brentwood Bay Date Submitted: Sep 10, 2023 Summary: The Synthesis of Evidence from the June 15-17, 2010 Workshop on the Decline of Fraser River Sockeye does not offer any firm conclusions on the cause of the Fraser River sockeye decline. In particular, it fails to consider the marine stage of the salmon lifecycle, including the possibility that all Fraser River sockeye stocks occupy quasi-discrete areas in the Gulf of Alaska. If true, this may explain why certain stocks show large variations in abundance based on their tropho-dynamic encounters in the Gulf of Alaska. |
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Submitter: John Prentice Community: Richmond Date Submitted: Sep 10, 2023 Summary: It is problematic that the federal government has exempted the aquaculture industry from regulations protecting the marine environment. The commission should recommend that fish farms be removed from the ocean and placed on land in closed containment systems. |
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Submitter: Seton Lake Indian Band Community: Shalalth Date Submitted: Sep 9, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Lillooet public forum as part of the submission by Chief Larry Casper of the Seton Lake Indian Band.) |
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Submitter: SCC Fisheries Community: Lillooet Date Submitted: Sep 9, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Lillooet public forum as part of the submission by Michelle Edwards.) |
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Submitter: Stl’atl’imx Nation Community: Lillooet Date Submitted: Sep 9, 2023 Summary: (The attached document was provided to the commission at the Lillooet public forum as part of the submission by Chief Art Adolph.) |
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Submitter: Mark Biagi Community: Powell River Date Submitted: Sep 8, 2023 Summary: The problems with the salmon fishery are caused by a number of factors that in combination have created an ever-increasing threat to B.C. salmon populations. These factors include climate change; destruction of both freshwater and marine habitat; the emotional debate around aquaculture; and a lack of resources for research. |
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Submitter: Rachel McMillen Community: Ladysmith Date Submitted: Sep 7, 2023 Summary: Open net cage fish farms promote disease in wild salmon populations, pollute the sea floor and privatize coastal areas, which prevents Canadians from accessing what is legally theirs. Fish farming, which provides revenue from both licences and employment, can be done just as successfully on land. Land based fish farming would increase employment of fishermen and cannery workers and protect wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Laurence Brown Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Sep 7, 2023 Summary: It is troubling that there appear to be no constitutional instruments for preventing the operation of fish farms. There should be an absolute prohibition of genetically engineered salmon in Canadian waters. |
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Submitter: Barbara Watson Community: Sidney Date Submitted: Sep 6, 2023 Summary: A return to fisheries policies that support smaller fishing boats would sustain more employment per ton of fish and ensure the health of B.C.’s fisheries. Transitioning to land based aquaculture, which has successfully provided humanity with fish protein for centuries, would remove any risk that disease from salmon feedlots are negatively affecting wild stocks. The commission should recommend the implementation of these common sense practices to protect B.C.’s economic and environmental wellbeing. |
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Submitter: Eric Wickham Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Sep 6, 2023 Summary: DFO mismanagement and centralization in Vancouver, rather than climate change or other environmental factors, is the cause of the decline of Fraser sockeye. The commission should compare DFO’s fishery management practices to those of Alaska, Russia and Japan, where wild salmon stocks are healthy and local fishing industries are booming. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Sandy McNamee Community: White Rock Date Submitted: Sep 2, 2023 Summary: The commission should recommend the permanent removal of fish farms on Fraser salmon migration routes in order to protect wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Janet Ray Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Sep 1, 2023 Summary: The refusal of the aquaculture industry to disclose salmon feedlot disease information is preventing the public, through the provincial government, from determining whether sea lice, IHN virus outbreaks or other factors are causing the decline of wild salmon. The new proposed federal Pacific Aquaculture Regulations do not go far enough in guaranteeing the protection of wild salmon. Thorough monitoring and enforceable measures, such as transitioning to land based closed containment feedlots, must be implemented to ensure that salmon feedlots are not adversely affecting wild salmon stocks. |
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Submitter: Don Frank Community: Prince Rupert Date Submitted: Sep 1, 2023 Summary: The commission should investigate whether some 2009 sockeye waited until this year to return. |
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Submitter: Tricia Knowles Community: Prince Rupert Date Submitted: Aug 29, 2023 Summary: Aquaculture represents only one part of the commission’s mandate. Individuals who are truly concerned about aquaculture should also be requesting the commission to investigate B.C. wild hatchery output and disease records, as well as the effect of Alaskan ocean ranched salmon on wild stocks and the interception of Fraser sockeye by commercial fisheries in other areas. |
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Submitter: Puntledge River Restoration Committee Community: Comox Date Submitted: Aug 28, 2023 Summary: The attached letter from the Puntledge River Restoration Committee outlines how seals have affected salmon stocks in the Puntledge River and suggests that seals may be a cause of the decline of Fraser sockeye. The letter calls on DFO to cull or remove seals to prevent further declines. |
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Submitter: Benjamin Coombes Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Aug 27, 2023 Summary: To determine what is affecting Fraser sockeye, the commission should investigate the conditions that permitted the 2010 return to be so successful rather than what caused the decline in 2009. In addition, the commission should focus on variables such as predation and food availability and whether some 2009 sockeye held in the ocean for an additional year and joined the 2010 return. |
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Submitter: David Pedersen Community: Tofino Date Submitted: Aug 27, 2023 Summary: The commission should investigate the reporting, monitoring and policing of the sport fishery, which likely takes more salmon than it is allotted, as well as the sale of sockeye salmon by First Nations to the general public. The commission should also consider pollution in the Fraser River and competition from ranched salmon as potential causes of the decline of sockeye salmon. |
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Submitter: Buffy Bye Community: Quadra Island Date Submitted: Aug 25, 2023 Summary: Fish farms should not be permitted to dump hazardous waste onto the ocean floor. |
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Submitter: Jim Pine Community: Victoria, B.C. Date Submitted: Aug 25, 2023 Summary: Any examination of salmon stocks on the West Coast must include a serious examination of the wisdom of industrial salmon feedlots and their deleterious impacts on migratory salmon, including disease and parasite transmission. |
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Submitter: Ken Bryla Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Aug 25, 2023 Summary: Wild salmon are not declining due to salmon farms, but rather due to habitat loss caused by humans. |
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Submitter: Laurence Brown Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Aug 23, 2023 Summary: The commission’s terms of reference are unclear on several points. For clarification, the commission should establish the exact jurisdiction of its objectives, certify predators and other species as stakeholders and ensure that First Nations people do not bear a disproportionate burden for conserving sockeye salmon stocks. |
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Submitter: Sandy Slobodian Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Aug 22, 2023 Summary: The relationship between the aquaculture industry and those government offices responsible for regulating their actions must be clarified in order to satisfy public suspicion. In its research and recommendations on the industry, the commission should err on the side of protecting wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Mike Crawford Community: Penticton Date Submitted: Aug 21, 2023 Summary: The commission should review the carrying capacity of the ocean, particularly the extent to which ranched salmon, billions of which are released into the ocean every year, are competing with Fraser sockeye for food. |
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Submitter: Jaclyn Sauer Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Aug 20, 2023 Summary: Open net-pen fish farming on the migratory routes of wild salmon is responsible for the dramatic decrease of salmon returns. Open net-pen fish farms must be moved on land or banned altogether. |
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Submitter: Monica Hromada Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Aug 19, 2023 Summary: The commission should recommend the permanent removal of fish farms on Fraser salmon migratory routes. |
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Submitter: Jeanette Paisley Community: Delta Date Submitted: Aug 19, 2023 Summary: Farmed salmon should not be labelled organic. Open-net pen fish farms should be discontinued or be moved to closed systems to prevent wild salmon from being contaminated. |
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Submitter: Sheila Pratt Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: Aug 19, 2023 Summary: The views of people with busy lives, many of whom are unaware of the commission, should not be considered less credible than those of the aquaculture industry, which will use significant resources to protect its interests. |
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Submitter: Desmond Berghofer Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Aug 18, 2023 Summary: The commission should recommend the permanent removal of fish farms on Fraser salmon migratory routes. |
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Submitter: Steen Larsen Community: Delta Date Submitted: Aug 18, 2023 Summary: All open-net pen fish farms on Fraser salmon migratory routes must be permanently removed. |
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Submitter: Magnus Macnab Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Aug 14, 2023 Summary: Wild salmon stocks are integral to B.C.’s economy, ecology and heritage. Salmon policy must focus on sustainability and preservation. A conservative approach on both open net fish farming and harvest management should be adopted to ensure stock recovery. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Michael Morrison Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Aug 12, 2023 Summary: Open net fish farms should not receive organic certification. They should be moved to land-based containment or banned completely. |
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Submitter: Priscilla Judd Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Aug 12, 2023 Summary: Attached is an extensive list of pesticides present in the environment. The commission should consider the impact of these chemicals on sockeye salmon. |
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Submitter: Environmental Law Centre, Faculty of Law, Universi Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Aug 9, 2023 Summary: The attached document, Re-Inventing Rainwater Management by the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Victoria, details the damage caused by stormwater runoff to the Capital Region, including salmon streams. It explains how the temperature, velocity and toxicity of stormwater destroys salmon habitat and kills salmon, and suggests that runoff is the biggest obstacle to habitat restoration. The report offers several recommendations for addressing these and other challenges associated with stormwater runoff. |
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Submitter: Matthew Kemshaw Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Aug 9, 2023 Summary: DFO must seriously consider their looming responsibility for regulating the aquaculture industry. Canadians need to be aware of the Fraser sockeye’s sacred roots and its connection to a larger ecology. |
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Submitter: Cameron Young Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Aug 3, 2023 Summary: Salmon activists should consider the plight of salmon stocks elsewhere in the world. It is Canada’s duty to work with other countries to preserve wild salmon from overfishing and disease. |
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Submitter: Barbara Watson Community: Sidney Date Submitted: Aug 3, 2023 Summary: DFO documents (linked to in the submission) indicate that DFO has been aware for over 20 years that navigational and fish health protections must be degraded in order to allow the aquaculture industry to operate in Canada. For this reason, the commission should consider the possibility that aquaculture contamination and disease was a factor in the collapse of the 2009 Fraser River sockeye run. The commission must also grapple with numerous legal and political questions that underscore the complexity and importance of the situation. |
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Submitter: Mary Russell Community: Port Hardy Date Submitted: Jul 31, 2023 Summary: The commission’s terms of reference, which preclude it from assigning blame, will prevent its recommendations from significantly altering either DFO’s management philosophies or the destructive behaviour of the aquaculture industry. |
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Submitter: PCC Natural Markets Community: Seattle Date Submitted: Jul 30, 2023 Summary: The commission should seriously review the role of net-cage salmon farms in the decline of wild sockeye salmon in the Fraser River. Science has shown a clear link between salmon farms and lice infestations of juvenile wild salmon. Salmon farms also encourage the spread of disease, such as bacterial kidney disease and Infectious Hermatopoietic Necrosis, and introduce antibiotics, waste and foreign species into local waters. |
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Submitter: Chris Marks Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Jul 29, 2023 Summary: The commission should investigate the impact of chemicals, disease and parasites from open net pen aquaculture along wild salmon migration routes, as well as the government’s role in allowing fish farms to proliferate despite the precautionary principle. |
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Submitter: laura finch Community: Mill Bay Date Submitted: Jul 25, 2023 Summary: Open pen fish farms must be removed from the waters of B.C. They must be moved to land, and their agricultural and environmental practices must be held up to independent scrutiny. Documented scientific research proves that open fish farms on migratory routes are responsible for the massive decline of salmon fry. |
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Submitter: Ben Seaman Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Jul 23, 2023 Summary: Open-net pen farms must be removed from B.C. waters immediately. Data shows the negative effects salmon farms have on wild stocks and the marine ecosystem. Transitioning open net-pens to land-based or bag systems will preserve jobs and protect wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Rivers Smith Salmon Ecosystems Planning Society Community: Comox Date Submitted: Jul 14, 2023 Summary: The decline of the Fraser River salmon stocks is likely the result of a complex set of factors including changing ocean conditions, habitat loss and water quality in the Fraser watersheds, open net cage aquaculture on the migration routes of juvenile sockeye, and ineffective management regimes. The commission should address the lack of funding for watershed and stewardship groups to implement the Wild Salmon Policy, as well as examine DFO’s stock assessment budgets to determine the minimum funding necessary to adequately monitor wild salmon stocks. |
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Submitter: Kintama Research Corporation Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Jul 12, 2023 Summary: The attached document analyses acoustic telemetry data to pinpoint the region between the Discovery Passage and Hecate Strait as the location where the 2009 Fraser River run failure likely occurred. It also comments on the most likely reasons why fisheries management has failed to deal with the ongoing major declines in British Columbia salmon populations due to worsening marine survival over the past two decades. |
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Submitter: John Hollingsworth Community: Mansons Landing Date Submitted: Jul 10, 2023 Summary: Open-net fish farms harm the ocean environment in several ways. Closed containment systems must be adopted to preserve wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Ruth Nicholl Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Jul 9, 2023 Summary: The undue influence of the salmon farming industry on elected governments, the lack of understanding among DFO decision makers about West Coast salmon, and the unwillingness of governments to give credence to the work of Alexandra Morton is concerning. The commission should take a serious and unbiased look at the decline of West Coast salmon and not be influenced by shareholders in the salmon farming industry. |
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Submitter: Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking (POST) Project Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Jul 7, 2023 Summary: In its report, the commission should recommend that the Government of Canada help ensure the maintenance and extension of the Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking (POST) Project, an international non-profit program that maintains a large-scale system of sensors anchored along the Pacific Coast seafloor. Data from POST can be directly useful to public agencies that are responsible for ensuring the long-term sustainability of Fraser sockeye and managing the fisheries that impact them. |
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Submitter: Celia Brauer Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Jul 9, 2023 Summary: The decline of Fraser River sockeye can be explained through the story of the changing relationship between the sockeye and the inhabitants of the Fraser River watershed. Salmon will return only after their wild space is restored and they are once again made welcome, as they were for millennia, in human communities. |
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Submitter: Allan Mather Community: Salt Spring Island Date Submitted: Jul 2, 2023 Summary: Please act now to stop this madness. The evidence is overwhelming. If you don’t, we will be selling off an amazingly wonderful resource for the profits of some corporations with no conscience. Salmon farming is a travesty. It is so destructive. It makes me very sad to think we are selling out our future. |
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Submitter: Angela Koch Community: Oakville Date Submitted: Jul 2, 2023 Summary: The Port Hardy, Browns Bay and Walcan on Quadra Island, farmed fish processing plants are spewing raw effluent and should never have been allowed to set up at those strategic locations. The two processing plants by Quadra and Campbell River are right at the very bottleneck of where the tides converge and carry everything up with them through the Seymour Narrows and into the northern waters, while the Port Hardy location tides ensure everything comes south. These fish farms are willing to destroy their own stock for a year or two to get rid of wild salmon forever to make billions. |
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Submitter: Robert Mountain Community: Alert Bay Date Submitted: Jul 1, 2023 Summary: My concern with fish farms is with all the various sites that have different size mesh nets. These nets are in the water all year round. With 12 pens per site that means that there are over 800 nets illegally fishing. Smolts and adult salmon are gilled in these nets because they aren’t of sufficient size. Some have said that hundreds are cleaned from the nets, not counting the fish that enter the pens and get eaten. Yet, there is no reporting on this. This needs to be investigated. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: mia jongkind Community: nanaimo Date Submitted: Jul 1, 2023 Summary: I feel very confused about the fate of the salmon. We need to change priorities and respect the natural way of doing things. We need less human interference and less eating of precious resources so we preserve them. |
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Submitter: Barbara Watson Community: Sidney Date Submitted: Jun 30, 2023 Summary: I am concerned about open net farmed salmon aquaculture in our oceans. The preservation, protection and enhancement of our wild fish have clearly not been the priorities of Fisheries management. It is within the commission’s power to assist in removing at least one of the known causes of salmon fry mortality. If the commission’s findings show that there is any link whatsoever to salmon aquaculture and wild salmon fry mortality; now, in the past, or with the potential for future contamination, I implore you to make a stand now against open net salmon farming in our waterways. |
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Submitter: Eric Pihl Community: Arlington Heights Date Submitted: Jun 30, 2023 Summary: It is clear that open net fish farms pose significant risks to natural ecology. The DFO, the provincial government, and the Cohen Commission should protect the environment for future generations by halting all open net operations and only allow closed containment farming until and unless the open net method can be proven to not have a detrimental impact on natural ecology. |
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Submitter: Eric Smythe Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Jun 30, 2023 Summary: It is beyond any doubt that net pen fish farms are damaging to wild salmon and also to shellfish under or near to or down current from these fish farms. Fish farming should be confined to closed containment land based fish farms. Wild stocks are too valuable to be put at risk by ocean based net fish farms. |
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Submitter: Eric Stoughton Community: Black Creek Date Submitted: Jun 30, 2023 Summary: I am a Salmon Farmer and an avid sport fisherman. I want to ensure a viable fishery of all species for everyone to enjoy but because of my choice of occupation, it’s perceived that I don’t care the sustainability of wild stocks. Perhaps we should delve deeper into the natural causes of wild stock declines like the Salmon Shark. If the Salmon Shark stocks have an increase over the years due to lack of a fishery or other natural predators, won’t the salmon stocks have more pressure put on them, possibly increasing the aforementioned 12-25% run decline? |
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Submitter: Celia Brauer Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Jun 29, 2023 Summary: John Cummins, the Conservative MP for Delta-Richmond East who himself is a commercial fisher, has quickly articulated a number criticisms of the commission’s modus operandi. One of his main concerns is a potential conflict of interest for the six members of the commission’s scientific advisory panel. Should we all see this as a valid concern? What needs to be known is a lot more intuitive than is being admitted, and this is easily learned with an open and intelligent mind. Justice Cohen needs a walk in the real world. |
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Submitter: KEVIN RHODES Community: KAMLOOPS Date Submitted: Jun 28, 2023 Summary: At Lytton in July 2006, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans authorized the Canadian National Railway to dump coal from a derailed train directly into the Fraser River. The commission should investigate the effects of coal slurry on fish stocks. |
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Submitter: Barbara McElgunn Community: Toronto Date Submitted: Jun 28, 2023 Summary: The roles of hormonally-active synthetic chemicals on reproduction and development at low level exposure have gained research attention, and should be considered as possible causative agents in the decline of salmon populations. This submission links to reports and studies regarding the synergistic effects of pesticides and other hormonally-active chemicals on the ability of salmon to reproduce and thrive. |
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Submitter: Lucille Phillippe Community: Saanichton Date Submitted: Jun 28, 2023 Summary: The provincial and federal governments, with the aid of a few corporate scientists, have managed very well to misinform the public about the dangers of sea lice from open net cage fish farms, which have caused the collapse of the pink salmon run in the Broughton Archipelago. To restore balance to the migration routes of salmon fry, the move to closed containment fish farming must be initiated now. |
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Submitter: Beau Doherty Community: Ottawa Date Submitted: Jun 27, 2023 Summary: It is obvious that the wild salmon population in BC is at risk right now and it is critical that serious action be taken to manage and protect this fishery. If we continue to pillage our ocean in such a wasteful manner, we may be left with a barren ocean with only plankton and algae. |
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Submitter: Candis Knutsen Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Jun 26, 2023 Summary: All fish farms must be removed from Okisollo and Hoskyn Channels and the Broughton Archipelago. This is a necessary emergency measure to protect wild salmon, including Fraser River Sockeye, from sea lice infection from fish farms. |
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Submitter: Heather Olney Community: Black Creek Date Submitted: Jun 25, 2023 Summary: The joint letter by Alexandra Morton and Brian Riddell published on June 24 in the Campbell River Courier Islander was highly inappropriate, as Morton has been granted standing and Riddell is on the commission’s Scientific Advisory Panel. The timing of Morton’s honourary degree from SFU also appears to be inappropriate, since members of the Scientific Advisory Panel are from that university. Morton’s claims about the fish farming industry are incorrect; care is taken by the industry to ensure that no damage is done to the environment. |
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Submitter: Robert Morrish P.Eng. Community: West Vancouver Date Submitted: Jun 25, 2023 Summary: It is clear that DFO, the provincial government and the Cohen Commission should close open net fish farms and move them inland. |
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Submitter: Richelle Giberson Community: Delta Date Submitted: Jun 25, 2023 Summary: Conditions on salmon farms have not improved in nearly twenty years. It is clear that salmon farms kill their natural surroundings. The commission should recommend that the planned South Fraser Perimeter Road be realigned to prevent exhaust emissions, heavy metals and toxic liquids from affecting fish habitat along the Fraser River through North Delta and Surrey. |
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Submitter: Western Log Sort and Salvage Co-op Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Jun 24, 2023 Summary: The poor economics of log salvaging has resulted in a large volume of logs being left to drift in the Fraser River. These logs tend to move with boat wakes and tides, crushing and smothering wetland plants and causing degradation to salmon habitat. In addition, a large amount of sunken wood has accumulated on the bottom of the river, which may be depleting oxygen levels in the surrounding water and harming returning salmon. |
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Submitter: Derek Nickel Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Jun 24, 2023 Summary: The commission should use research that has been conducted by renowned and trustworthy people such as Dr. Richard Beamish. Flimsy, weak, biased or highly scrutinized work should be ignored. Foreign funding from interest groups, such as the Alaskan fishing industry, should be monitored and regulated. |
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Submitter: Chelsea Keays Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Jun 24, 2023 Summary: Open net salmon farms in the Broughton Archipelago, Discovery Islands and along the west coast of Vancouver Island are contributing to the depletion of wild salmon stocks. Sea lice, in particular, are reducing the survival chances of wild fry. The only viable long-term solution is to move towards closed containment land-based salmon farming. |
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Submitter: Jean Wyenberg Community: Gabriola Date Submitted: Jun 23, 2023 Summary: Evidence shows that open pen salmon farming harms wild salmon. To protect B.C.’s coastal waters, the commission should recommend that fish farms must be totally contained. |
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Submitter: Gary Knowles Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Jun 23, 2023 Summary: The commission’s final report should offer practical solutions to conserve Fraser River sockeye. The commission should resist attempts by U.S.-funded groups to make the inquiry another review of net-cage salmon farming. |
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Submitter: Randy Chatterjee Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Jun 23, 2023 Summary: The commission should consider Alaska, which long ago banned open pen salmon farming due to scientific concerns about the health of their native wild species. Salmon runs and fisheries income in Alaska are both healthy and growing. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Cathy Campbell Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Jun 23, 2023 Summary: We must save our wild salmon. |
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Submitter: Ken MacLeod Community: Courtenay Date Submitted: Jun 23, 2023 Summary: The collapse of the 2009 Fraser River sockeye run can be blamed primarily on overfishing by foreign nations on the high seas. While sea lice from fish farms and disease may have also contributed, the high survival rates of pinks, which do not migrate as far out to sea as sockeye, indicate that overfishing in the Pacific was the main cause. Other problems affecting Fraser sockeye may include climate change, poor management by DFO and overfishing by First Nations. |
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Submitter: Randy Davison Community: Edmonds Date Submitted: Jun 21, 2023 Summary: The commission should look into the responsibility open net salmon farming may have for the decline of wild salmon runs. |
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Submitter: Don Vipond Community: Saanichton Date Submitted: Jun 21, 2023 Summary: Do the commission’s terms of reference preclude it from assigning blame? The role of net-cage salmon farms on wild salmon migration routes is highly suspicious and should be closely examined. |
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Submitter: john Prentice Community: Richmond Date Submitted: Jun 21, 2023 Summary: Norwegian-owned fish farms must be removed from the migratory path of wild salmon smolts immediately. |
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Submitter: Ruth Zenger Community: victoria Date Submitted: Jun 20, 2023 Summary: Farmed salmon operators should be required to honestly answer all questions put to them about the decline in wild stocks. All members of the commission must be impartial. |
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Submitter: Dan Dawson Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Jun 20, 2023 Summary: The provincial and federal governments, with the aid of a few corporate scientists, have managed very well to misinform the public about the dangers of sea lice from open net cage fish farms, which have caused the collapse of the pink salmon run in the Broughton Archipelago. To restore balance to the waters of the Broughton Archipelago, open net cage fish farming must be stopped now. |
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Submitter: Christopher Burns Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Jun 20, 2023 Summary: The commission should utilize the precautionary approach to fisheries management and allow the science gathered to date, rather than political intervention, to determine management actions. |
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Submitter: Kim Gye Community: Brentwood Bay Date Submitted: Jun 20, 2023 Summary: It is concerning that scientists currently or recently associated with DFO are investigating the disappearance of Fraser River sockeye. The public needs to be reassured that the commission will be free of influence from those who might suffer from an impartial look into this issue. |
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Submitter: Peter Skipper Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Jun 20, 2023 Summary: DFO is failing in its mandate to safeguard wild salmon. The commission should recommend that the Fisheries Research Board become an independent research entity, as well as investigate the possibility that fish farms impact the survival of Fraser River sockeye through the transmission of sea lice and viruses. Also of concern is the lack of transparency by fish farm companies on the measures they employ to control disease. |
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Submitter: ron wilton Community: Kelowna Date Submitted: Jun 19, 2023 Summary: Contrary to an earlier unwritten agreement, Norwegian fish farms are proliferating in areas where wild salmon migrate in high concentrations. The jobs created by fish farms are insignificant compared to the economic and social costs of the decline of wild stocks. There should be a five year suspension in fish farming , followed by a review to determine if wild stocks are recovering. |
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Submitter: Susan Draper Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Jun 18, 2023 Summary: The commission should take an ecosystems approach to this issue. Salmon farming must move to land-based closed containment systems. Wild salmon stocks need to be protected and a moratorium should be placed on some Fraser River salmon fisheries. |
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Submitter: William Draper Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Jun 18, 2023 Summary: If salmon farming was done only in closed containers, the sea lice problem would end. |
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Submitter: Ruth Zenger Community: Victoria Date Submitted: Jun 18, 2023 Summary: I am looking forward to this investigation being open to all possibilities for a solution to the salmon crisis so that we can save this vital fish in our waters and thereby not break the food chain that exists on the coast of BC among the animals, as well as the people. |
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Submitter: William MacIsaac Community: canoe Date Submitted: Jun 18, 2023 Summary: Despite their own regulations, DFO has ignored an environmental assessment and allowed dredging, which stirs up contamination, to occur on Shuswap Lake. |
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Submitter: David Conley Community: Kanata Date Submitted: Jun 18, 2023 Summary: The attached papers on the British Columbia salmon farming industry and its challenges illustrate how the provincial population has been subjected to a relentless propaganda campaign against salmon farming since 1984. |
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Submitter: John Henderson Community: Salmon Arm Date Submitted: Jun 18, 2023 Summary: The commission should acknowledge the connection between sea lice from fish farms and the death of many salmon smolts and recommend that salmon not be farmed in open net pens in the ocean. |
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Submitter: Dave Porter Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Jun 17, 2023 Summary: The commission should investigate the extent to which ocean ranched salmon from Alaska, Russia, Japan and Korea compete with and prey on wild sockeye in the North Pacific. |
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Submitter: Don Cavers Community: chase Date Submitted: Jun 16, 2023 Summary: The Norwegian experience with fish farms is being repeated in British Columbia. Salmon should not be farmed in open net pens, especially on migration routes. |
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Submitter: Jill Blaisdell Community: La Canada Date Submitted: Jun 16, 2023 Summary: Research suggests that the transmission of the infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus from farmed salmon to wild salmon may have been a factor in the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye population. Fish farms should be removed from the ocean environment and relocated on land in order to eliminate water transmission of disease and parasites between British Columbia’s farmed and wild fish. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Willie Mitchell Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Jun 16, 2023 Summary: Massive numbers of sea lice are causing juvenile fish to die. The commission should recommend that fish farms be moved to closed containment, which will eliminate mortality stemming from sea lice as well as stimulate economic development. |
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Submitter: Carol Agocs Community: London Date Submitted: Jun 16, 2023 Summary: While there may be a number of causal influences on the decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon, there is evidence that open net fish farming, in particular, poses hazards for wild salmon and may be a primary factor. A solution may be to replace open-net with closed container aquaculture, which is likely to produce positive outcomes for wild fish stocks, as well as aide the development of an approach to aquaculture that is safer for the environment and for consumers. |
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Submitter: Fraser River Ecological Society of Hope Community: Hope Date Submitted: Jun 16, 2023 Summary: Sport fishers deprive salmon of resting spots between Vancouver and Hope, dump lead weights and litter into the Fraser River and often exceed their daily limit. Catch and release fishing is ineffective and should be studied. |
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Submitter: Desmond Berghofer Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Jun 16, 2023 Summary: The commission should examine the evidence concerning the spread of disease from net-cage salmon to wild salmon, and call on credible sources independent of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, such as Alexandra Morton, to testify. |
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Submitter: Jens Hansen Community: Bellingham Date Submitted: Jun 15, 2023 Summary: Stop killing my salmon. |
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Submitter: Hugh Elwood Community: Burnaby Date Submitted: Jun 16, 2023 Summary: The commission should investigate the interception of sockeye by the commercial fishery of Alaska in the Gulf of Alaska. |
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Submitter: Lauryn Slotnick Community: Douglaston Date Submitted: Jun 16, 2023 Summary: Aquaculture in open water is simply far too risky due to contaminants, disease and sea lice. It should be stopped until the time comes when the safety of the food stocks and the wild fish populations can be adequately protected. |
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Submitter: Howard Saunders Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Jun 15, 2023 Summary: The scope of the inquiry should be expanded to include an investigation of open ocean survival rates. The commission should also consider that the causes of the decline of Fraser River sockeye beginning in 1992 may be different from what caused the downtown in the 1960s. |
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Submitter: Margaret Bednard Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Jun 15, 2023 Summary: The move should be made to closed containment aquaculture to prevent the spread of disease and lice to wild salmon. |
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Submitter: lana halme Community: chemainus Date Submitted: Jun 15, 2023 Summary: Fish farming should be conducted in closed containment systems on land. |
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Submitter: Brian McKinlay Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Jun 15, 2023 Summary: There is undeniable evidence that salmon aquaculture causes severe declines in wild fish. Sea lice epidemics have been documented to kill wild sockeye smolts at a rate of up to 90%. The commission should take immediate action to address this unacceptable situation. |
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Submitter: David Enevoldsen Community: San Jose Date Submitted: Jun 15, 2023 Summary: Contaminants in the Fraser River and fish farms are decimating wild salmon stocks. Salmon farms should be moved inland and the contaminants in the Fraser River should be studied and then reduced through strict regulations. |
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Submitter: Russell Stirrett Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Jun 15, 2023 Summary: The causes of the decline of Fraser River sockeye are no doubt varied, any may include open net aquaculture, pollution and environmental changes. While there is very little that can be done in the short term regarding pollution or environmental changes, the aquaculture business could reduce some pressure on wild salmon stocks by changing to closed containment salmon farms. |
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Submitter: Kerri Smith Community: Ottawa Date Submitted: Jun 15, 2023 Summary: All aspects of the decline of Fraser River sockeye should be studied carefully, and there are many stakeholders who should have an opportunity to be part of the discussion. Losing a resource as invaluable as Fraser River sockeye would have devastating economic and ecological consequences. |
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Submitter: Sheldon Bilsker Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Jun 15, 2023 Summary: Open net fish farms produce unhealthy fish and negatively affect migrating wild fish, and must be removed from the ocean. The appearance of potential conflicts of interest in the commission is disturbing. |
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Submitter: Michael Heavenor Community: Campbell River Date Submitted: Jun 10, 2023 Summary: The introduction of 1.5 billion enhanced salmon per year from Alaskan salmon ranches, into the Gulf of Alaska, increases the competition, and depletes the available food for non-enhanced salmon from British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon, which perish prior to returning to their home rivers. The Gulf of Alaska has reached critical mass. |
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Submitter: Pauline Mac Neil Community: Courtenay Date Submitted: Jun 4, 2023 Summary: Research by the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Farms suggests that the transmission of the infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus from farmed salmon to wild salmon may have been a factor in the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye in 2009. Accordingly, fish farms should be removed from the ocean environment and relocated on land in order to eliminate water transmission of disease and parasites between British Columbia’s farmed and wild fish. |
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Submitter: Sabra Woodworth Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Jun 3, 2023 Summary: Provincial authorities appear to have failed to implement the recommendations of the 2000 and 2004 reports of the Auditor General of Canada. Now that the federal government is set to resume management of the aquaculture industry, the precautionary principle must be invoked to stop further risk to wild salmon on their migratory routes by moving fish farms onto land. |
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Submitter: William MacIsaac Community: SALMON ARM Date Submitted: Jun 2, 2023 Summary: The commission should investigate the dispersal of contaminants and pollution into Shuswap Lake around Canoe Creek and Salmon River, a salmon spawning area. |
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Submitter: Neil Frazer Community: Honolulu Date Submitted: May 29, 2023 Summary: The surprise associated with the non-appearance of the 2009 Fraser sockeye has a proximal cause that may never be known and an ultimate cause that has been apparent to the best Canadian fisheries research scientists for many years. The ultimate cause is described in the attached paper by Hutchings, Walters and Haedrich, which suggests that nonscience influences can interfere with the dissemination of scientific information and the conduct of science in Fisheries and Oceans Canada. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: Dale Clark Community: Mission Date Submitted: May 24, 2023 Summary: Fish farms along Fraser River sockeye salmon migration routes are dumping highly concentrated amounts of livestock waste, feces and medication directly into the surrounding environment. This waste must be contained immediately. |
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Submitter: Tyrone Danlock Community: port Alberni Date Submitted: May 22, 2023 Summary: Causes for the decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon may include waste from pulp mills, such as sodium hydroxide and powdered tree bark, and overfishing by First Nations. |
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Submitter: Ron Kinch Community: Victoria Date Submitted: May 18, 2023 Summary: DFO should implement policies that promote sustainable aquaculture using technologies developed by Canadian entrepreneurs. |
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Submitter: Timothy R. Parsons Community: Brentwood Bay Date Submitted: May 13, 2023 Summary: The attached submission is a brief account of how phytoplankton production and the size of primary producers may affect the production of salmon in the Gulf of Alaska. |
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Submitter: Keith H. Sketchley Community: Victoria Date Submitted: May 7, 2023 Summary: This submission discusses methods of evaluating submissions, points to the need for data and provides an example of a promising project, discusses the food-finding nature of animate objects, and points to studies showing a probable reason for variation in salmon populations over time. |
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Submitter: Gilbert McKay Community: Coldstream Date Submitted: May 5, 2023 Summary: The decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon is due to predation by harbour seals, which are growing rampant in the Gulf of Georgia and the Fraser River. Salmon stocks will not recover until the seals are culled. |
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Submitter: Dale Clark Community: Mission Date Submitted: May 2, 2023 Summary: The shortfall witnessed in the 2009 Fraser sockeye salmon run was a localized issue caused by open pen fish farms. The solution is fish farm containment. Environmental matters are multi-jurisdictional and should include community feedback. |
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Submitter: Darrell Albert Community: Mission Date Submitted: May 1, 2023 Summary: The disappearance of salmon stocks may be due to the illegal sale of salmon by First Nations. |
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Submitter: Jack Emberley Community: Maple Ridge Date Submitted: May 4, 2023 Summary: The survival of Fraser River salmonids is, in part, dependent upon the collaborative efforts of the public, Environment Canada (EC) and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). Unfortunately, the public partner is being short-changed, as was demonstrated by EC and DFO’s ineffective investigation and response to the May 2009 fish kill in the North Alouette River. |
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Submitter: lisa nolan Community: white rock Date Submitted: Apr 27, 2023 Summary: The decline of Pacific salmon is a multifaceted and international issue. Addressing it may require a ban on commercial salmon fishing enforced by heavy fines for violators. The commission should investigate issues such as underwater sound levels, availability of salmon food sources, urban growth in southern B.C., stream and river diversion, fish farming and sea lice. |
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Submitter: Randy Robertson Community: Nanaimo Date Submitted: Apr 25, 2023 Summary: The introduction of freshwater krill into the Shuswap and other lakes as a food source for smolts backfired. The krill ate the phyto- and zooplankton normally consumed by the smolts, thereby weakening them prior to their journey down the Fraser River. |
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Submitter: Sabra Woodworth Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Apr 20, 2023 Summary: Given the extensive environmental consequences of open net-cage fish farming, Canada – like the United States federal government – should consider implementing a set of uniform, national standards to regulate aquaculture with minimal damage to the environment. |
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Submitter: William J.S. Ritchie Community: Gibbons Date Submitted: Apr 20, 2023 Summary: Evidence dating back to the 1990s shows that sea lice from open cage salmon farming decimate local indigenous salmonid populations. The commission should focus on this and other issues related to fish farming, such as the escape of Atlantic salmon. |
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Submitter: Tim Tyler Community: Coquitlam Date Submitted: Apr 19, 2023 Summary: The commission should recommend that legislation be passed to allow private prosecutions under the Fisheries Act to proceed. Currently, the Act often goes unenforced, leading to disrespect for the law and moral justification for breaking it, as demonstrated by the regular dumping of deleterious substances in the Coquitlam River. |
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Submitter: Wayne Donnelly Community: Edmonton Date Submitted: Apr 16, 2023 Summary: Causes of the decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon may include Parvicapsula infection, prespawning-mortality, a lack of understanding among fisheries managers of cyclic dominance and exposure to sewage. Four recommendations are offered to address these issues. |
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Submitter: Henri Jover Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Apr 13, 2023 Summary: The commission should investigate thoroughly the seriousness of the situation and come to an honest assessment of the cause of the decline of sockeye salmon in the Fraser River. To ensure that the research and scientific evidence before us is heard, funding for representing parties should be covered by the government. |
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Submitter: Norman Dale Community: Prince George Date Submitted: Apr 9, 2023 Summary: The creation of a commission to investigate three poor years of sockeye returns is a narrow public policy response. To be effective, the commission should be reoriented and reorganized to grapple with the full spectrum of marine ecological uncertainties and instability that has been afflicting the entire coast. |
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Submitter: Vivian Krause Community: North Vancouver Date Submitted: Apr 9, 2023 Summary: Claims that sea lice from salmon farms cause high mortality among wild juvenile salmon or that farmed salmon contain harmful levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are false. The widely-cited studies making these claims contain serious flaws, and were funded by organizations that have been paid to promote the consumption of wild salmon. |
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Submitter: The Fraser River RIpple Effect Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Apr 6, 2023 Summary: Open pen fish farms on wild salmon migration routes are a factor in the decline of wild stocks. Removing farms from the wild salmon narrows is imperative. |
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Submitter: Gordon/Priscilla Judd Community: Lumby Date Submitted: Apr 4, 2023 Summary: The decline of Fraser River sockeye is a human and political problem, not a natural one. Collective action is necessary to remove obstacles to sockeye salmon survival, which include fish farms on our coastal shores, watershed logging, the use of pesticides that leech into the Fraser River, over-fishing, and misguided Right to Farm legislation. |
Submission ListTo read a submission in full, click a submitter’s name/number. |
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Submitter: SAVE OUR RIVERS SOCIETY Community: VANCOUVER Date Submitted: Apr 2, 2023 Summary: Canadian governments, federal and provincial are actively subverting this inquiry. |
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Submitter: Celia Brauer Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Apr 1, 2023 Summary: The commission should make room in or alongside its formal process for those individuals and groups who will not formally apply for legal standing yet have information and evidence that should be in the public domain. Their interest and energy will make the commission’s work more comprehensive, more influential, more enduring and ultimately more successful. |
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Submitter: Michael Healey Community: Peachland Date Submitted: Apr 1, 2023 Summary: The attached paper describes attributes of Pacific salmon that make the species resilient and proposes an approach to fishery management that would sustain rather than undermine the species’ natural resilience. |
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Submitter: Lloyd Stock Community: Lillooet Date Submitted: Mar 31, 2023 Summary: The environmental degradation of the Fraser River, caused by pollution and increased water temperatures, has resulted in additional stress on fish. |
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Submitter: Damien Gendron Community: Burnaby Date Submitted: Mar 29, 2023 Summary: The commission should use any and all means at its disposal to get to the bottom of the decline of sockeye salmon in the Fraser River. Funding for scientific research should be put in place to ensure that the inquiry is thorough. |
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Submitter: Richard Noble Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Mar 29, 2023 Summary: The deteriorating sockeye dilemma can be resolved by determining where along their migration path the fish are disappearing. From spawning grounds to the open ocean, salmon contend with numerous factors affecting their survival. Determining which factors are having the greatest impact will lead to appropriate solutions. |
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Submitter: W.J. (Jack) Elliott Community: Magrath Date Submitted: Mar 26, 2024 Summary: The attached email correspondence highlights DFO’s inability to effectively manage and protect native pacific coast salmon, DFO’s lack of sufficient baseline research for such protection and management and DFO’s inability to communicate with taxpayers about how public moneys have been spent in this area. |
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Submitter: Kevin Bonell Community: Kamloops Date Submitted: Mar 24, 2024 Summary: A multi-factorial issue, the main reason for the decline of wild salmon is fish farms. It is imperative that they be fully self contained or not allowed to operate. |
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Submitter: Barbara Kovacs Community: Chilliwack Date Submitted: Mar 24, 2024 Summary: The removal of lead-based paint from the Lions Gate Bridge in 2005 may have released toxins that affected salmon returning to the Fraser River. An investigation should be conducted into the amount of lead and other toxins in these salmon. |
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Submitter: Semiahmoo First Nation Community: Surrey Date Submitted: Mar 24, 2024 Summary: Climate change, dewatering and habitat destruction have all combined to alienate aboriginal people from their main food source and jeopardized their inherent right to food and food security. In the case of the Semiahmoo First Nation, the degradation of salmon runs returning to Boundary Bay has obliged them to obtain food fish from their tribal neighbours resident on the Fraser River main stem. |
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Submitter: Kirsty MacKenzie Community: Vancouver Date Submitted: Mar 24, 2024 Summary: In its review of Department of Fisheries and Oceans policies and practices, the commission should be guided by the principle that the health of wild salmon communities is our collective responsibility and top priority. The continued well-being of Fraser River sockeye salmon is a prerequisite to a sustainable fishery, and conservation objectives must not be balanced against short-term economic gain. |
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Submitter: laura dupont Community: port coquitlam Date Submitted: Mar 24, 2024 Summary: Wild salmon are vital for our First Nations, our food web and our environment, and must be preserved. |
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Submitter: Shuswap Lake Coalition Community: Chase Date Submitted: Mar 23, 2024 Summary: Grey water dumping and property development on the Mara and Shuswap Lakes is causing the destruction of sockeye salmon birthing grounds, and should be investigated by the commission as a cause of the decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon. |