In BC Decline of Wild Salmon and Success of Farmed Still Provokes Sharp Debate
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Vancouver Sun] by Randy Shore Sept 13, 2016
Wild B. C. salmon may be on its way to luxury item status.
"We are seeing prices beyond what I ever expected it to reach," said Guy Dean, vice-president of Albion Fisheries. "King salmon (Chinook) are going for $13 or $14 a pound in whole form, not even filets. It's starting to become a luxury item."
That's if you can buy it at all. The wild catch of B. C. salmon has declined nearly 80 per cent since 1990, according to statistics supplied by the Ministry of Agriculture. Aquaculture has replaced nearly all of that decline, and today produces about three quarters of B. C.'s total salmon haul.
The Fraser River sockeye fishery was closed altogether this year based on spawner return estimates of just 853,000 fish, numbers once reckoned in the tens of millions. It is the worst return in 120 years, according to the Pacific Salmon Commission.
The Fraser River sockeye may well be the canary in the climate change coal mine, a harbinger of the decline of wild fisheries around the world ..
To Read Full Story Login Below.