Prince George, B.C. -  "S.O.S."   has a new meaning  to the  Upper Fraser  Fisheries Conservation Alliance, it now stands for Save Our Sockeye.

The Stuart area sockeye run is a disaster, “We may be witnessing the extinction of a species, this cannot be ignored” says Marcel Shepert, Executive Director of the Upper Fraser Fisheries Conservation Alliance.

Shepert made the comment as the UFFCA released a report on the status of the early and late Sturart Sockeye runs.

The number of sockeye entering the Stuart system has declined substantially from the numbers recorded in the early 90’s. Comparing the same cycles of fish ( some years are dominant) last year, only 5,000 fish made it back to the Stuart area to spawn.

• 1993 the population of spawning sockeye in the Stuart system for early run 700,000
• 2005 the population of spawning sockeye in the Stuart system for early run had dropped to 100,000

For the Late Stuart Run, the numbers are even more staggering:

• 1993, there were 1.8 million spawning sockeye returned to Stuart system
• 2005, that number had already dropped to 300,000.

The prediction this year for the number of sockeye to enter the Fraser to head to the spawning grounds is 35,000 . That would be the number counted at Mission, and fish biologist David Levy doubts the number will be that high.

There are a number of reasons why the runs have dwindle to the near extinction levels. According to David Levy

Migration conditions and in river mortality are listed as the most likely reasons for the declining fish stocks.

Those migration conditions are a reference to high river flows an warm water temperatures. The early Stuart run faces high river flows and getting through Hell’s Gate is particularly difficult. As for increased water temperatures, well, there’s been a lot of talk about the need for a cold water release as a method of keeping the Nechako cool enough for salmon migration. David Levy says a cold water release won’t make any difference “I don’t believe it would help. The main reason is you’re using a smaller volume of very cold water to cool down the Nechako. By the time the water reaches the Nechako-Stuart confluence, there is very little detectable influence of that cold water release. Certainly you could never get cooler temperatures in Prince George, there just isn’t enough water.”

Levy’s report outlines five recommendations:

1. Maintain closure of fishing on early sockeye
2. Initiate a Stuart sockeye recovery program
3. Fertilize Takla Lake in 2010 to provide more nutrients
4. Form arrangements and agreements to import food fish to affected communities
5. List early and late Stuart sockeye as endangered population

None of the people involved in the study, (which is available at www.uffca.ca ) could say how much money would be needed to affect change and bring the Stuart sockeye back to the former numbers.

Marcel Shepert says the Stuart run is culturally linked to the Northern First Nations, “I believe that when you cease to fish, you cease to be Native in my opinion”. Shepert is calling for action “The time for talk is over , we need to actually get in there and do the science needed to understand what’s going on in that particular eco system.”