here's for the sockeye!

I never thought I would say these words but: thank you Mr. Harper. For what? For calling today for a judicial inquiry into the reasons for the collapse of the Fraser sockeye runs.
I received email notification via west coast biologist Alexandra Morton's distribution email list earlier today - she was ecstatic as she has been calling for this inquiry for some time -- the only question I have is about the timeline for the inquiry -- results by May 2011 - isn't that a bit late when we have numbers like 71 sockeye (!) being counted in the Nechako watershed this year according to a previous email I received.

Here is the Globe & Mail article:

Ottawa to probe B.C.'s declining salmon stocks
Prime Minister announces judicial inquiry, called 'our chance to save B.C. salmon from going the way of Atlantic cod'

Mark Hume and Bill Curry

Vancouver and Ottawa — From Friday's Globe and Mail Published on Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009 7:52PM EST Last updated on Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009 8:08PM EST

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to hold a judicial inquiry into the collapse of sockeye salmon stocks in British Columbia is being called a last, best hope to avert a fisheries disaster on the West Coast.
“This is our chance to save B.C. salmon from going the way of Atlantic cod,” Phil Eidsvik, a spokesman for the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition, said Thursday after Mr. Harper's surprise announcement in Ottawa.
“It's a slim chance, but it's great news because we know there are ways to protect and save the run,” he said. “We know the department has been unable, for whatever reason, to do it – and only an inquiry will get to those reasons.”
The announcement, which will be fleshed out Friday by Stockwell Day, the regional minister for B.C., could have immediate political impact because the salmon crisis is a key issue in Monday's federal by-election in New Westminster-Coquitlam.
NDP Leader Jack Layton is arriving Friday to campaign over the weekend with his candidate, Fin Donnelly, a strong environmental advocate who once swam the length of the Fraser River to underscore the plight of salmon and who has been calling for an inquiry.
Demands for an inquiry escalated this fall after the Fraser River sockeye run collapsed – with only about one million fish returning to spawn when between 10 million and 13 million had been expected.
Mr. Harper made the announcement in the House of Commons.
“We are very concerned about the low and falling returns of sockeye salmon in British Columbia,” he said, adding that Mr. Day would provide details today.
“[He] will be making an announcement outlining the terms of reference for a judicial inquiry, as well as the judge who will lead that inquiry,” Mr. Harper said.
The public inquiry will be mandated to report back to the government on or before May 1, 2011. It will have complete authority to hold hearings, summon witnesses and gather evidence as needed.
“An inquiry has access to all DFO documents and they can bring people in and they testify under oath, with the chance of going to jail if they lie,” Mr. Eidsvik said. “And a judicial inquiry is the only format for that to happen. It gives us the best chance to get at the truth as to what's happened to our salmon runs.”
Alexandra Morton, an independent scientist, said the inquiry needs to examine in detail the reasons why some 130 million salmon smolts, which migrated out of the Fraser, never returned from the ocean.
“The establishment of a judicial inquiry into the management of the Fraser River sockeye fishery gives new hope for the future of a great salmon river,” said Conservative MP John Cummins, who has long sought just such an investigation into DFO.
“We face a disaster of epic proportions on the Fraser. In six out of the last 11 years the fishery has been closed. Tens of thousands of B.C. families have suffered as a result,” he said.
The Conservatives had promised an inquiry into B.C.'s salmon fishery before – during the 2006 campaign – but Vancouver Island North Tory MP John Duncan said the initial resistance to the idea that surfaced then has since passed.
“We now have the circumstances where it's not about finger pointing any more. It's about getting to the bottom of what's actually going on,” he said, explaining that at the time of the original commitment there was some resistance from the fishing industry and first nations.
But he said that has changed .
Clarence Pennier, Grand Chief of the Stó:lô Tribal Council, welcomed the announcement, saying native communities along the Fraser are in “despair” over the failure of the sockeye run.
“We are in the dark as to why the sockeye runs didn't make it back to the river. We are still looking for the answers and this is why we support a judicial inquiry,” Chief Pennier said.
Rafe Mair, a public commentator and environmental advocate, said with pressure building for an inquiry, Mr. Harper had no choice but to act.
“I don't think they are really taking any political risks here,” he said. “I don't think people would blame Harper for the crash.… they would, however, pin it on him if he didn't have an inquiry. He had to do it.”
Alex Rose, author of Who Killed the Grand Banks: The Untold Story Behind the Decimation of One of the World's Greatest Natural Resources , said an inquiry could help reshape DFO and alter the fate of B.C. salmon.
“I applaud Mr. Harper on this decision,” he said. “It's long overdue and I hope we get the chance to look at the failed mechanisms in DFO, a department I consider intellectually bankrupt.”

This inquiry follows very shortly after a recent report commissioned by the Pembina Institute out of Alberta which addressed the potential devastating effects that Enbridge oil pipeline (any oil pipeline actually) would have on salmon stocks in British Columbia's major river systems as oil spills are bound to happen. . .

Here is the summary off their website www.pembina.org/pub/1894:

Pipelines and Salmon in Northern British ColumbiaPotential Impacts
Published: Oct 16, 2009
By: Pembina Institute et al.

Four major pipeline projects have been proposed for northern British Columbia over the next five years, including the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project. All of the proposed pipelines would cross and at times run parallel to important salmon habitats in the Upper Fraser, Skeena and Kitimat watersheds. This report provides an overview of salmon resources in the affected watersheds and examines how pipeline construction and operation would impact salmon; the likelihood of spills; and the impacts of a spill on salmon. The four page fact sheet, "Oil and Salmon Don't Mix," highlights the importance of salmon in northern British Columbia and gives an overview of the risks posed to salmon by the Enbridge oil sands pipelines.

Here is what the Province newspaper reported:
(where is the other media coverage of this report!?)

Proposed Enbridge pipeline threat to northern B.C. fish streams: Report
Institute warns ruptures could prove 'catastrophic'

By Business Reporter, The Province
October 20, 2009

Enbridge's proposed $4.5-billion pipeline across northern B.C. would pose serious risks to fish habitat, an Alberta-based group says.
The Enbridge Northern Gateway pipelines would threaten some of Canada's most productive salmon streams, the non-profit Pembina Institute said yesterday.
"Pipeline construction, ruptures and leaks all pose serious risks to salmon, making the Enbridge oilsands pipelines a toxic proposal for salmon and the communities that depend on them," the institute said in releasing a report on the proposed project.
"Given the likelihood of a pipeline failure and the difficulty of cleaning up spills in fast-moving river systems, even the best construction and operating practices could not eliminate the risks."
The dual-pipeline project would carry petroleum 1,170 kilometres from near Edmonton to Kitimat and condensate from Kitimat to Edmonton.
The pipelines would cross and, in certain places, run parallel to salmon streams in B.C.'s Upper Fraser, Skeena and Kitimat watersheds, the institute said. The watersheds are home to chinook, sockeye, chum, coho and pink salmon and steelhead trout, among other species.
"A significant leak or rupture near salmon habitat in the Skeena, Kitimat or Upper Fraser watersheds could be catastrophic ," Pembina said.
Enbridge says it invests heavily in leak-detection technology and is committed to operating the project to the highest environmental and safety standards.
There is an average of one rupture every 16 years for every 1,000 km of pipeline in Canada, according to a separate report cited by Pembina.
The proposed project will be subject to regulatory review by the National Energy Board and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.

So again I say: thanks Mr. Harper for the salmon judicial inquiry . . .
and now, what about the tar sands expansion & associated proposed crude oil pipelines to the west coast?
If these issues are addressed, then Canada will really be getting somewhere.