Barely six months after the collapse of the Fraser River sockeye prompted a federal judicial inquiry, the Marine Stewardship Council announced that BC's sockeye fishery meets the criteria to be certified as "sustainable".

"There is no doubt that the general case for sockeye is depletion across virtually every run, and it is a matter of such concern that the Prime Minister has called for a judicial review of the state of Fraser River salmon," said Sierra Club BC's marine campaigner Colin Campbell, PhD.

"In parallel, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada is to conduct a study on Fraser River Sockeye. Certainly, certification should not be granted until these procedures have been completed," Campbell said.

Only one million fish returned to the Fraser River this fall, instead of the expected 10 million.

The Sierra Club BC's publicly registered our objections.

BC sockeye are complex and challenging to understand.  They are genetically highly diverse and their evolutionary future clearly depends on maintaining this diversity in the face of multiple pressures.  A 2006 Sierra Club study documented sockeye population declines, identified the probable causes and recommended response strategies.  

In fact the Fraser’s great sockeye runs have yet to recover from overfishing and habitat destruction that occurred prior to the 1920s. In recent years, B.C.’s remaining sockeye stocks have undergone troubling declines.

"Things have only changed for the worse, and most especially for the decimated return of the Fraser runs this past year," said Campbell.

Find out more in the Tyee.