I've been told that net-pen aquaculture off the B.C. coast has been going since about 1985. So we're talking 25-odd years. I checked with DFO last week and I asked for a quick report on the state of the salmon runs in the last few years. They wrote to me and said:
In 2010, Fraser River sockeye returns were 30 million, the best return since 1913.
In 2011 that return was 4.5M, which is the average return for that year.
I'm quoting from this e-mail they sent me:
2011 was a good year in general for all salmon species in virtually all BC river systems. Skeena River sockeye above expectations. Barclay Sound (west coast of Vancouver Island) sockeye same. Smith's Inlet in the Central Coast had a commercial sockeye fishery for the first time in 15 years.
Pink salmon returns in both Skeena and Fraser are doing very well in last few years.
And informal reports are that 2011 was the best recreational salmon fishery, coast-wide, in many years.
Would you have a comment on this?