Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for the opportunity to present to the standing committee regarding the state of Pacific salmon. My name is Fin Donnelly. Iyim Yewyews is my Squamish name. I'm the chair of the board of a non-profit charity called the Rivershed Society of British Columbia, which I founded in 1996 after my first swim down the 1,375-kilometre length of the Fraser River, one of the greatest salmon rivers in the world.
The Fraser is a Canadian and B.C. heritage river, one of North America's most diverse watersheds, covering 10 of B.C.'s 14 biogeoclimatic zones, and is home to one-quarter of British Columbians. It fuels two-thirds of B.C.'s economy and is known as the heart and soul of British Columbia.
We have a vision of the Fraser watershed being the most resilient watershed on the planet with salmon, people and economies flourishing in river shed communities. Our mission is to conserve, protect and restore the Fraser's 34 river sheds. We call it watershed CPR—conserve, protect and restore.
We can't have healthy salmon and salmon runs if we don't have healthy watersheds. Currently the Fraser is threatened by cumulative impacts: a changing climate; over-consumption of resources; habitat destruction from urban development and resource extraction; loss of biodiversity; excess pollution; lack of regulation, monitoring and enforcement; reduced funding for watershed CPR; and impacts from open-net salmon farms.
Lack of government action on watershed CPR has left Fraser River salmon on life-support. We believe the federal government must take bold action and invest in watershed CPR now. It must work with the B.C. government, indigenous governments, scientists and academics, conservation organizations like ours, fishermen and labour groups, coastal communities and others to conserve, protect and restore salmon habitat.
I would like to recognize and thank the minister for taking action on the devastating landslide at Big Bar and making it a priority. I would also like to thank the federal government for providing the necessary resources to address the emergency at Big Bar. However, key issues remain if the downward trend of wild Pacific salmon returns is to be reversed.
The federal government must commit to bold action now before it's too late. The dire situation facing west coast wild salmon is nothing new. I remember back in 2009 when fewer than 600,000 sockeye returned after the government predicted between two and four million.
Here we are, more than a decade later. You just heard from officials. They admitted Fraser chinook and steelhead are of grave concern, and they are not expecting 2020 to be a big year for fisheries. Last year while everyone was focused on Big Bar, we had the worst return of Fraser sockeye in recorded history.
It's clear that past federal governments have failed wild Pacific salmon. At least five major commissions have been struck over the past 30 years looking at the demise or impacts to west coast wild salmon with the latest being the $35-million Cohen commission, which produced 75 recommendations, with many of the tough recommendations still not fully or properly implemented.
Some witnesses have asserted the department is broken. While I won't weigh in on that, I will say the department is a reflection of political will and leadership. Members of this committee are well aware of the problems facing west coast wild salmon, and I bet you could all agree on most of the needed solutions. Do you have the political courage to make the tough recommendations needed in your report and, as respective members of Parliament and members of different parties, can you come together to ensure the government implements them?
Members, you have heard enough testimony from witnesses to clearly recommend the action government needs to take to address the problems facing west coast wild salmon. Witnesses have pointed out the political arm of the government needs to give the bureaucratic arm a fighting chance with bold leadership, resources and support.
One witness clearly stated the government needs to take action, and he clearly identified a known framework, as you've just heard, for harvest, habitat and hatcheries. First, we should support science-based conservation-oriented harvest levels; act on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; and investigate what is taking place in international waters with regard to our Canadian wild Pacific salmon. Second, we should make a bold investment in habitat restoration and protection. BCSRIF, the coastal restoration fund and other programs are a good start, but they are inadequate for solving the problem. Third, we should address issues associated with industrial hatcheries and open-net salmon farms, and immediately transition to safe and efficient land-based closed containment.
The RSBC supports these recommendations, and we recommend that the government make a bold investment in watershed CPR, to conserve, protect and restore. To protect salmon for their entire life cycle, governments need to invest in the cause as opposed to the symptoms, and restore watersheds, protect flows and create habitat in perpetuity.
Whichever framework is used, the government needs to act now. Please take action to ensure that west coast wild salmon do not go the way of the east coast cod, and invest in making our watersheds the most resilient on the planet, with salmon, people and economies flourishing in river shed communities.
Thank you, everyone.