Skeena Sockeye In Trouble

By Submitted Article

Terrace, B.C.- The International Conservation Union (IUCN) has added three Skeena River sockeye salmon populations to a red list of globally threatened species. One has been listed "critically endangered", one "endangered" and a third "vulnerable".

"This is a red flag for managers and resource users. It shows we need immediate, substantive action to protect Skeena wild salmon," said Greg Knox, Executive Director of SkeenaWild Conservation Trust. "DFO and the BC Ministry of Environment are taking this crisis seriously, but the pace of change must accelerate if we are going to reverse these alarming declines."

To arrive at its ratings, the IUCN grouped the Skeena River's 33 genetically distinct sockeye runs into five sub-populations and measured changes in abundance over a 12-year period. Among its findings:

- The Morice-Nanika sub-population has declined more than 80% (critically endangered)

- The Upper Skeena sub-population has declined 50 - 80% (endangered)

- The Lower Skeena sub-population has declined 30 - 50% (vulnerable)

The Skeena's Morice-Nanika sub-population - one of only four given the most severe listing of "critically endangered" - is important for the Wet'suwet'en Nation's traditional food fishery.

"The Morice-Nanika runs are at such low levels, it will be difficult to restore them to a point where we Wet'suwet'en can meet our needs," said Walter Joseph, who manages the Wet'suwet'en fisheries program and is a SkeenaWild trustee. "It's unacceptable that we have to depend on neighboring nations and non-aboriginal sources to meet our food fish needs."

Even within the two Skeena sub-populations not highlighted by the IUCN, there are concerns about individual runs. For example, the Kitwanga river sockeye run has experienced a 90 percent decline and is the subject of a federal court case between the Gitanyow First Nation and DFO.

The IUCN Salmonid Specialist Group - 12 leading scientists from the U.S., Canada and Russia - investigated 80 sockeye salmon sub-populations around the Pacific Rim. It found over half of the sockeye subpopulations assessed were threatened. Key threats included the effects of climate change on river and ocean conditions, habitat deterioration, mixed-stock fishing (ocean fisheries unable to target specific stocks) and the effects of hatcheries and artificial spawning habitat.

SkeenaWild Conservation Trust is working to make the Skeena watershed a global model of sustainability, with a focus on the wild salmon ecosystem and economy.

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