ADAM OLSEN - Rather than leaning into the jurisdictional quagmire that has created a ‘can't do’ culture in Canada, we have a responsibility to find ways to empower communities and citizens
I am deeply saddened to learn of the devastatingly low returns of sockeye salmon to the Fraser River this summer. Federal fisheries officials predicted approximately 4.8 million sockeyes would show up but just 628,000 salmon have come home to the once iconic salmon river. This is in stark contrast to the stories from people who have lived on our coast for decades. They described the rivers, creeks and streams on the south coast as teeming with fish. So thick, that the salmon could barely even swim. So thick, you could walk across their backs. Federal officials point to climate change as the main culprit. Climate change is dramatically changing our oceans. Warming waters and marine heat waves are having a disastrous effect on the entire food web that support salmon on their epic migration from British Columbia out to the Pacific Ocean and back. Off the hook While federal and global issues are challenging salmon, British Columbia cannot es...