Thank you. I will do that.
I just note that I was targeting six minutes. I understand that the statement has been distributed ahead of time. I'll do my very best, but I'm aware of the time.
The Sport Fishing Institute of B.C. is an advocacy organization, established in 1980, representing the interests of recreational anglers, the businesses that support sport fishing and related activities, and the communities that depend upon it. Salmonids are a keystone species for our fishery. Based on studies and findings in B.C., Washington and Oregon, as well as shared experience and knowledge of coastal anglers and residents, there is no doubt that the future of salmon and steelhead production, and therefore salmon and steelhead fisheries, is threatened by the current levels of pinniped predation.
Pinniped predation on salmon and steelhead in B.C. has been a serious issue for decades. Now pinniped predation is known to have a greater impact on salmon and steelhead production than all other fisheries and harvest combined. From a study published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences regarding marine mammal predator consumption of chinook in Washington state inland waters, the following demonstrates the significance of the issues in waters adjacent to B.C.:
Between 1970 and 2015, we estimate that the annual biomass of Chinook salmon consumed by pinnipeds had increased from 68 to 625 metric tons. Converting juvenile Chinook salmon into adult equivalents, we found that by 2015, pinnipeds consumed double that of resident killer whales and six times greater than the combined commercial and recreational catches.
While pinniped populations appear to have stabilized, the current numbers are 10 times what they were. The range and habits of the inflated population have oriented to areas and times that are frequented by juvenile and adult salmon. The relationship between the pinniped population and decreasing salmonid abundance is increasingly documented and obvious. The future for salmon is bleak unless something is done soon to reverse the trend.
Ecosystem-based management that neglects to include pinnipeds in the approach does not lead to rewilding of the B.C. coast or marine mammals but has systematically created and exacerbated an imbalance in the marine environment. In its natural state, during the millennia prior to European contact, one of the most significant sources of predation of pinnipeds in B.C. was humans, particularly in those same areas where pinnipeds congregate to consume salmon. Indigenous peoples considered seal meat an important part of their diet and made careful use of body parts for clothing and tools. One need look only as far as the UBC Museum of Anthropology to see ancient potlatch bowls the size of canoes intended for sharing this source of rich protein with others.
The perception of marine mammals as competition for the commercial fishery undoubtedly led to the actions that have upset the balance between people, pinnipeds and salmonids. The 1970s total ban on harvest or hunting of pinnipeds in B.C. was a reaction that, once implemented, modified the ecosystem management approach drastically. The pendulum swung too far, too quickly, effectively removing pinnipeds from ecosystem management, which has led to the present dire circumstances.
As many have noted, we are at a crisis level with regard to the impacts of pinnipeds on salmonid production in B.C. Combined with additional challenges due to climate change and habitat loss, many stocks of salmon and steelhead are in threatened or endangered COSEWIC status level. It is our fear and concern that if action is not taken, iconic species such as interior Fraser steelhead, for which a Province of B.C. study listed pinniped predation as a key source of juvenile mortality, may soon disappear.
The significant investment in salmon recovery in 2020 through the Pacific salmon strategy initiative, PSSI, is taking steps to address salmon recovery in an integrated manner based on the pillars of habitat restoration, enhancement, harvest transformation and communication. Efforts regarding harvest transformation have ensured that targeted fishing related mortality is no longer a limiting factor in the productivity of salmon, but absent from the other pillars and PSSI consultation sessions and working groups is meaningful action or even discussion regarding pinnipeds. In what should be an objective, science-driven process that must include all elements of the issue at hand, pinniped discussion is conspicuously absent. While meaningful inclusion of this sensitive and political subject is understandably challenging, ignoring or avoiding it is unacceptable and has the potential to render all other actions ineffective and insufficient.
We are encouraged to know that work is under way to restore indigenous harvest, and we congratulate and support those efforts to the fullest. However, we are concerned that the pace of these efforts will not be enough to address the scale of the problem in a timely manner. Fortunately, and with similarities to the SRKW, we can look south at methods and tactics successfully implemented to address the issues and to help restore the historical role humans have played in maintaining a balance between pinnipeds and salmonids.
We are hopeful that the objective—