All of you who support the survival of wild salmon know that wild salmon are part of a cycle so beautiful, so mesmerizing, so life-giving as to break one’s heart to imagine this world without them.
The threats to wild salmon are many and the government is failing miserably at protecting them. This Aug. 22 to Sept. 8 we have a chance to give something back to the wild salmon.
The Cohen Commission’s Inquiry Into the Decline of the Fraser River Sockeye Salmon has been ongoing since Oct. 25, when hundreds of people wanting wild salmon protected marched to the opening day of the commission to demand the release of disease and health records from the salmon farms that have spread across the coast like a cancer, and with similar effects.
In December 2010, it was good news to hear that records from 120 farms spanning 10 years were to be released for examination at the Cohen Commission. The release of these records did not come willingly. After months of waiting, disease and aquaculture is finally up for examination in court. Dr Kristi Miller will no longer be muzzled (be there Aug. 24 to hear her testimony), nor the secrets between DFO and the aquaculture industry secret any longer.
Norway, Chile, Scotland and Ireland have all lost their abundant wild salmon runs to salmon farms. Will B.C. be next?
There are 130 seats in that courtroom.
There are nine days examining aquaculture, three days examining disease.
This is a public inquiry, costing taxpayers $25 million, yet the public has been largely kept in the dark and has certainly not been present.
Elena Edwards