Dr. Brian Riddell is the CEO of the Pacific Salmon Foundation, an organization that prides itself on presenting facts without fear. Once again Blue Fish Radio turned to the Foundation for clarification on issues impacting BC’s southern Chinook salmon.

Hear Dr. Riddell on the actions required to rebuild BC’s endangered southern Chinook salmon population.

For 30 years Dr. Riddell worked with DFO (Fisheries and Oceans Canada), and in 2005 he co-authored the conservation Policy for Wild Pacific Salmon. The Pacific Salmon Foundation goals are to increase support for salmon conservation, and to provide non-adversarial and objective information about Pacific salmon.

The sport fishing sector contribution to the BC economy in 2016 totaled $1.1 billion in annual sales and 9,000 jobs.  The salmon sport fishery is BC’s single largest economic contributor of all fisheries, but is responsible for harvesting approximately 15 per cent of the halibut and 10 per cent of the salmon that were harvested in 2016. More specifically, the recreational fishery is responsible for harvesting less than .5 per cent of salmon from the endangered Chinook population.

In 2017 DFO reduced the daily harvest limit of Chinook salmon by BC’s recreational anglers from two to one. Starting this April 2019, DFO is proposing to eliminate retention of Chinook by recreational anglers altogether. Actions remain outstanding regarding the many other factors impacting Chinook salmon such as the commercial Herring harvest, wetland loss, predation by seals and sea lions, warming ocean temperatures, placement of aquaculture open pens, commercial and indigenous fisheries, etc.