Submission 0411-OVERSTALL

Submitter: Richard Overstall

Community: Smithers

Date Submitted: January 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.

Submission: