There have been a number of articles already about the low numbers of sockeye this year, but now that the run is nearly over, the crisis is obvious. Since salmon runs are on a 4-year cycle, to get an idea of how good or bad the return is, one must review the numbers.<\/p>\n
Here they are:
\n2011 – 148,169 (this is the most important number as it provides an indication of what to expect this year)
\n2007 – 52,713
\n2003 – 354,534
\n1999 – 314,416
\n1995 – 395,951
\n1991 – 1,201,180
\nThis year – as few as 3,000!<\/p>\n
The crash is likely related to the massive \u201cwarm blob\u201d in the ocean off the coast from Calif. to Alaska but other factors could include fish farms, habitat loss, and competition for feed in Alaska waters<\/p>\n
Here is the media coverage of this year’s dismal run on the Adams River:<\/strong><\/p>\n TV coverage:\u00a0 Global News<\/a>, CTV<\/a><\/p>\n B.C.\u2019s iconic Adams River salmon run off to a \u2018grim\u2019 start<\/strong> British Columbia\u2019s iconic Adams River salmon run, a spectacular natural event that has become an international magnet for tourism drawing up to 250,000 visitors a year, appears to have collapsed. Sockeye numbers shockingly low<\/strong> Expectations were high, but the 2015 late South Thompson sockeye run has been disastrous.<\/p>\n A daily visual observation of late-run sockeye in the Adams River on Oct. 8 revealed only 2,925 fish in the lower Adams River. No late-run sockeye were observed in upper Adams River two days later on Oct. 10. [NOTE – four years ago, 2011 – 148,169, – a very frightening crash this year – and 4 years from now there could be no salmon! – and this is supposed to be the second highest run after the peak run]<\/p>\n Four years ago, late-run salmon were in the millions, sparking hopes of a large return this year. But pre-run estimates of 1.2 million were quickly dropped to 200,000 for the entire Fraser River run \u2013 about half of which were expected to enter the South Thompson, with good numbers continuing on to the Little Shuswap, Shuswap Lake and Adams River. Because the numbers turned out to be so low, Fisheries Canada decided to dispense with the intensive tag and re-capture generally used to obtain an accurate count.<\/p>\n Stu Cartwright, acting area director of the federal Fisheries and Oceans Canada for the B.C. Interior, says they believe the less intensive method of visual counting has produced accurate estimates of the number of fish.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know there was a lot of pre-spawn mortality in the sockeye and that complicates things four years down the road,\u201d says Cartwright noting that while low water levels and high water temperatures were likely factors, they may not tell the whole story.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot didn\u2019t arrive, that\u2019s the big thing, only 200,000 entered the river\u2026 but we won\u2019t have a final number until sometime in the new year.\u201d<\/p>\n Cartwright has happier news about the chinook run that includes the Little Shuswap, Adams, Salmon and Eagle rivers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt looks like it will meet or exceed the brood year of 150,000 fish, which we consider to be quite a success,\u201d he says, praising officers and volunteers for their efforts in helping chinook enter the Salmon River. \u201cWe would like to see more on the Salmon River; it has a capacity for more.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There have been a number of articles already about the low numbers of sockeye this year, but now that the run is nearly over, the crisis is obvious. Since salmon runs are on a 4-year cycle, to get an idea … Continue reading
\nMark Hume
\nVANCOUVER \u2014 The Globe and Mail
\nPublished Wednesday, Nov. 04, 2015<\/p>\n
\nInstead of 1.2 million fish, as was hoped for in preseason forecasts, only about 3,000 sockeye have returned to the river, which flows into Shuswap Lake, about 75 kilometres northeast of Kamloops.
\nLara Sloan, communications adviser for the department of Fisheries and Oceans, said DFO is reluctant to answer questions about the situation on the Adams River.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t want to speculate or provide early observations \u2013 we need to wait until all of the data is in to provide a complete picture,\u201d she said in an e-mail.
\nBut Jim Cooperman, president of the Shuswap Environmental Action Society, said the spawning beds, many of which have viewing platforms where visitors can usually take pictures of massive schools of bright-red salmon, are empty this fall. The run peaks in mid-October and it is unlikely more fish will arrive now.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s pretty grim here at the Adams River,\u201d he said on Wednesday. \u201cWe\u2019re supposed to have quite a few salmon. It\u2019s supposed to be the next largest run [in the cycle] and only 3,000 salmon showed up. There were quite a few Chinook, but, I mean, it\u2019s sockeye that are our iconic species, and it\u2019s quite depressing here really.\u201d
\nSockeye spawn every year, then die. Because the fish mature at four years of age, the runs are on a cycle, which means each one usually reflects the progenitor run that occurred four years before.
\nLast year, about four million fish were expected (after 3.8 million spawned four years earlier) but only 700,000 returned. This year\u2019s run was expected to number at least 200,000 based on 2011 returns, and early forecasts predicted as many as 1.2 million fish. At 3,000 spawners, it is the worst return ever on that cycle; the next lowest year was 1939, when 16,000 fish came back.
\nMr. Cooperman said the small return represents \u201ca very frightening crash,\u201d and two successive poor years should set off alarm bells.
\n\u201cCould salmon being going the way of Atlantic cod under the leadership of Fisheries and Oceans Canada? Is that where we are headed?\u201d he asked.
\nMr. Cooperman said it is not clear what has happened to the salmon, but B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen, who in 2012 completed an investigation into the collapse of sockeye in the Fraser River system, which includes the Adams River, pointed to an array of problems and made 75 recommendations.
\n\u201cIt could be climate change, it could be fish farms. The Cohen commission recommended all kinds of things but [none were acted on by Ottawa]. Of course, now we have a government that might pay attention, but it could be too late,\u201d Mr. Cooperman said.
\nGreg Taylor of FishFirst Consulting Ltd., said concerns are also being raised about sockeye returning to B.C. rivers on the north coast because the fish have been so small.
\n\u201cThe Nass River sockeye came in relatively good [numbers] \u2026 however, they came in about one pound lighter [on average]. So there\u2019s something going on in the ocean \u2026 they are normally about six pounds there, but they were coming in at five pounds. This is unheard of. We\u2019ve never seen those sockeye that size,\u201d he said.
\nMr. Taylor said one theory is that hatcheries in Alaska are pumping out so many fish that by the time B.C. sockeye migrate into the Gulf of Alaska, where they feed during early life stages, food is running short.
\n\u201cSome feel these small fish we are seeing and the poor runs [to the Adams River] \u2026 could be found in that cause,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\nby\u00a0 Barb Brouwer – Salmon Arm Observer
\nposted Oct 27, 2015<\/p>\n