Suzuki weighs in - Orca plight article

[Ground Tackle]

I just read this on google news.

https://www.straight.com/news/1161311/david-suzuki-human-behaviour-root-orca-plight

 

[SpringVelocity]

Its working.... Suzuki is now on the offensive, and you can see how is targeting the SFI data, and hatcheries.

 

[pescador]

He's against hatchery fish??

 

[Deewar25]

I want to know where their hake and smolt beliefs come from (as they all spew the same thing). I looked all over google the other day and can't find anything at all saying hake consumes large amounts of smolt. Infact, I only found 1 study of their eating habits over 6 years, and they only found salmon in 0.2 to 0.4% of the samples. Everything I read says anchovy and krill is the main diet. I will continue to dispute this until I see evidence otherwise as then I would have to agree with the argument against culling...don't see it though, aren't hake deep water travellers? Seems smolts would be mostly staying in the top 100' of water so wtf??? I truly believe they are just confused with mackerel!

 

[wildmanyeah]

You have to look at who David Suzuki represents. What's you know that you don't even have to read it to know what his thoughts are.

Is it coincidence that he does not bring up that most of the hatchery production is from countries other then Canada? Is it coincidence that he does not bring up that once of the major harvest of endangered Fraser Chinook is First Nations?.

nope just "Commercial and recreational fisheries compete with whales for salmon, and their presence, along with all ocean traffic, disrupts the feeding whales"

A seal could eat the last salmon on earth and these people would be like its just part of the natural process...

 

[Peahead]

He's against hatchery fish??

Yes, .....you know the harmful for survival of wild argument. ...... Compete for food etc etc...

 

[searun]

They would like us a lot less if we did a forensic accounting of where all the money donated to their organization goes. People would follow the money all the way into supporting a large organization that is a fundraising machine designed to ensure they can pay for a lot of paid positions....and what kind of actual $$ investment goes back into feeding the whales or salmon habitat/enhancement?

Every rec anglers pays a $6 conservation fee that goes directly to the PSF for habitat/enhancement work. How much have they (SF) donated? $9.8million in donations - $19.7 million in assets. Nothing on their financial statement that actually breaks out where any of the money is actually spent when it comes to supporting actual conservation projects??

Follow the money

 

[terrin]

Stealing another posters quote "Suzuki makes me want to pukie".

 

[Whole in the Water]

One big concern in this article is how he bashes hatcheries. While they are not free of any issues, they remain one of the best ways to provide for much needed food for starving orcas.

If we don't provide more food for these whales and fast, all the other issues facing them fade in importance. We need to counter the growing negatively around salmon enhancement. It is a powerful and effective way to practically help these whales.

 

[profisher]

Chinook returns to Nininat, Robertson Creek, Cowichan, Bjg Qualicum all doing very well...all have hatcheries hmmmm.

 

[searun]

Chinook returns to Nininat, Robertson Creek, Cowichan, Bjg Qualicum all doing very well...all have hatcheries hmmmm.

Perhaps there is a cause/effect relationship, with the exception of the Cowichan. Some evidence there that the habitat improvement effort is paying large dividends.

Hatcheries alone are not a good option IMO. We need a very balanced approach that includes hatcheries, sea pens, habitat and water quality. Also need some very selective pinniped control, and in some locations even predator control for certain bird predators. All stuff that needs to be done, and I'm sure we will have the usual suspects fighting all the above because it helps them sell memberships to feed the machine.

I'm also concerned that if we place all our eggs into one basket, and that fails, then we have real problems. For example, I'm seeing a lot of 3 year old fish now. More than we normally get. Either that is a good sign of things to come....or is it bad. One of the knocks on the S-1 program is that it produces an extraordinarily high proportion of 3 year old fish. That is potentially bad because it promotes further declines in size at age. We must be very, very careful not to fall into the pitfall thinking that more is better. I haven't decided if I support the S-1 program or not...need a lot more convincing.

 

[Dave]

Well written searun. I am with you regarding hatcheries; time to up the game and start matrix spawning, where possible.

 

[agentaqua]

Perhaps there is a cause/effect relationship, with the exception of the Cowichan. Some evidence there that the habitat improvement effort is paying large dividends.

Hatcheries alone are not a good option IMO. We need a very balanced approach that includes hatcheries, sea pens, habitat and water quality. Also need some very selective pinniped control, and in some locations even predator control for certain bird predators. All stuff that needs to be done, and I'm sure we will have the usual suspects fighting all the above because it helps them sell memberships to feed the machine.

I'm also concerned that if we place all our eggs into one basket, and that fails, then we have real problems. For example, I'm seeing a lot of 3 year old fish now. More than we normally get. Either that is a good sign of things to come....or is it bad. One of the knocks on the S-1 program is that it produces an extraordinarily high proportion of 3 year old fish. That is potentially bad because it promotes further declines in size at age. We must be very, very careful not to fall into the pitfall thinking that more is better. I haven't decided if I support the S-1 program or not...need a lot more convincing.

Unfortunately, most community-led hatcheries are so strapped wrt funding and capacity - they really can't afford to do "measures of success" such as PBT - and repeat what they have always done wrt size-at-release and other measures that likely have quite an effect on smolt survival. Instead, they offer metrics like egg-to-fry survival as a measure of success. I think we really need to get past this financial and institutional mindset hurdle - and change outputs like using S1 for Chinook and use differential-tag released cohorts to provide the fine-turning missing wrt hatchery and release operations. I see hatcheries as neither black nor white - but sure could use and utilize measures of success.

 

[searun]

Unfortunately, most community-led hatcheries are so strapped wrt funding and capacity - they really can't afford to do "measures of success" such as PBT - and repeat what they have always done wrt size-at-release and other measures that likely have quite an effect on smolt survival. Instead, they offer metrics like egg-to-fry survival as a measure of success. I think we really need to get past this financial and institutional mindset hurdle - and change outputs like using S1 for Chinook and use differentially-tag released cohorts to provide the fine-turing missing wrt hatchery and release operations. I see hatcheries as neither black nor white - but sure could use and utilize measures of success.

Totally agree - best practice guided by objective data. Want to be clear, that I'm not against or for the S-1 program...just worried about recent increase in 3 year old fish. That could be a good thing if its just a strong brood year performance.

 

[Whole in the Water]

I agree we need a multi pronged approach of which hatcheries are part of the solution.

 

[bigbruce]

Totally agree - best practice guided by objective data. Want to be clear, that I'm not against or for the S-1 program...just worried about recent increase in 3 year old fish. That could be a good thing if its just a strong brood year performance.

Pardon my ignorance, but what is the S-1 program?

 

[agentaqua]

Pardon my ignorance, but what is the S-1 program?

https://www.sportfishingbc.com/foru...vation-critical-omega-pacific-hatchery.64343/

 

[searun]

Very sorry, I often forget about use of the fisheries jargon.

 

[Whitebuck]

And of course Suzuki doesn’t touch up on the in river netting genocide of fish in the most important river the killer whales need!
Feeding ******** to the Vancouver hipster bleeding heart culture!

 

[profisher]

Searun I agree with what you said, just get tired of seeing many who are completely against hatcheries in any capacity. We've been waiting for decades now for action on Thompson Coho and 20 years later the same problem exists. Hatcheries offer some measure of timely stock improvement that will feed the wahles and allow fisheries to continue in some form until the other more long term measures have a chance to produce positive results for wild fish. Sadly we haven't seen the start of that 20 years into the problem.