"Here is a link to the final report of the
Cohen Commission of Inquiry, which examined the collapse of the sockeye
salmon fishery on the Fraser River and on the west coast in the period
around 2009.
Do you think the report will make a difference
to the way our government looks after our fisheries?
There are 75
recommendations. Some of the main ones are (1) more care is needed in
the placement of salmon farms, especially where farms are close together
(2) DFO needs to minimize the scientific uncertainty associated with
farms - ie, collect more data and measure the effects of farm-centric
diseases on wild sockeye over long periods of time. (3) Mitigation
measures should not be delayed in the absence of scientific uncertainty
of cause and effect.
This is the "precautionary principle" which was
most clearly stated in the report of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit as
follows - "Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage,
lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for
postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental
degradation".
Mr. Cohen states in his report that penned net farms
should be banned (by the year 2020) if we are not certain that they pose
at most minimal risk to native sockeye stocks. (4) more funding is
needed for DFO for science and enforcement (but he praises front-line
DFO staff for doing a good job in challenging circumstances) (5) Mr.
Cohen agrees with the critics of changes to the Fisheries Act contained
in the recent omnibus bills and states that the effects of reduced
habitat protection will only become apparent in the future. (6) the
federal government must provide sufficient funding for DFO to do its
job.
If you have opinions on this important report I would love to hear from you - Jeff Surtees (email me at jsurtees@tucanada.org)"
Link to Cohen Commission - Final Report
