2009 may well go down in history as the tipping point for west coast salmon. Four scientists left the Department of Fisheries and Oceans -- one 'retired', two quit and one jumped to the Pacific Salmon Foundation. If the best and brightest can't take the political interference and lack of action, the DFO is policy bankrupt and moribund.

We do like hatcheries, volunteer restoration and school programs. But the largest part is bad. For starters, the DFO let the Fraser River sockeye collapse. Had Stephen Hume in the Vancouver Sun, and brother Mark Hume in the Globe not been documenting the problem, the DFO might have gotten away with doing nothing. But it didn't.

The DFO brought in a council, under judge Bruce Cohen to take off the heat. Don't hold your breath -- the final report is two years away. And don't think DFO will do anything. After all, the 2009 Auditor General's report lambasted their lack of action and 148 year failure on water pollution. DFO acknowledged its lack of action, but here's the clincher: the auditor general has been making ......

http://www.timescolonist.com/entertainment/2009+decisive+salmon/2394596/story.html

Moral of the story, screw with the water, you lose the salmon.

I just hope that a similar article is not written in the Seattle Times, E.g.:

In part, the scientists left because the word in Ottawa was: why should we give you more funding for salmon research when there is no value in salmon?
No value in salmon? I think it will prove the moment people in B.C. began realizing it is up to us and our organizations to save the salmon.

In part, the scientists left because the word in Washington D.C. was: why should we give you more funding for salmon research when there is no value in salmon?
No value in salmon? I think it will prove the moment people in Washington State began realizing it is up to us and our organizations to save the salmon.

It's not much different here. We lose fish slowly, like putting crabs in cold water and slowly turning up the heat. Back when the IPSFC ended and was replaced by local DFO control, the sockeye and pink, and the industry, were pretty good shape. The loss has been in most folks' memories.

Look at the problem folks are having in trying to show that WA used to have really large steelhead populations. Current escapement goals in the few thousands when historic catches were in multiple tens of thousands. But, since it occurred outside people's memories it must not have happened.

The science and the facts have been there all along. Unfortunately our politicians only answer to dollars and cents. Until we, the recreational users, start making these same politicians accountable to us and not pro commercial lobbies we will slowly continue down this road of distruction. As it stands now the commercial fishing and aquaculture lobbies are providing funding for the politicians thus this is what is acted on. The rest of us, mostly recreational users, have little voice into what happens because we have little financial input into the political arena. Until we unite and act as a group we will continue to stand on the outside looking in.

If you let the slime balls know where your votes are going they will take notice.
this is done by getting them to meetings (CCA) (WSC) and to show up at stuff like Outdoor Line radio show.
and make a big showing some how around election time.
I guess it does seem impossible.