Cohen Commission

 

During the summer of 2009 more than 10 million sockeye salmon were expected to return to the Fraser. Less than two million arrived. 

 

The federal government created the Commission in response to this alarming collapse, and Ecojustice will argue for the sustainable, long-term management of British Columbia’s largest wild salmon run. 

 

During the past three decades, declining Fraser River sockeye stocks have been the focus and subject of at least 25 federal post-harvest reviews. In every case, specific measures have been identified that, if implemented, would halt the declines. However, the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has repeatedly ignored of these recommendations. 

 

At the Commission, Ecojustice presented evidence of DFO’s failure to implement past recommendations and made the case for putting salmon conservation first; enhancing scrutiny of DFO’s chronic failure to enforce the Fisheries Act, and properly regulate of aquaculture. Among the myriad threats facing Fraser River sockeye are habitat destruction, increasing water temperatures, interrupted migration routes, open-net fish farms, water pollution and over-fishing. 

 

Ecojustice also recently won a case to force British Columbia’s government to release information on sea lice infestations from coastal salmon farms. Data from 2002-03 had been released; however, the government now refuses to release the same data for more recent years — data that is directly relevant to the Cohen Commission. 

 

The Cohen Commission finished evidentiary hearings in December 2011 and released its final recommendations in October 2012. 

 

Ecojustice staff:
Tim Leadem, Q.C.
Judah Harrison

 

Our clients:
Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform 
David Suzuki Foundation 
Fraser Riverkeeper Society 
Georgia Strait Alliance 
Raincoast Conservation 
Watershed Watch Salmon Society 
Mr. Otto Langer (private citizen)