The Skeena Fisheries Commission has sounded the alarm over the Skeena River and it’s tributaries producing critically low salmon returns during this fishing season.
Even though pre-season forecasts were said to have projected an average run, the in season counts have added up to results far below expectations and all four First Nations represented by the commission, the Gitxsan, Gitanyow, Wet’suwet’en, and Lake Babine nations are all well behind their Food, Social, and Ceremonial needs.
This has resulted in the SFC writing a letter to Federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister, Joanne Thompson, asking the government to take immediate action to help them.
Their demands include proactive planning for the next three years, emergency measures being put in place to protect the remaining salmon and new long term funding commitments.