Horgan conveys fisheries concern in letter to feds

British Columbians want to protect killer whales, but fishing communities believe conserving salmon is the best way to guarantee orcas have enough to eat, Premier John Horgan says in a letter to the federal government.

“British Columbians are deeply concerned about the state of our Southern Resident Killer Whales,” Horgan wrote in the July 10 letter addressed to Fisheries and Oceans Minister Dominic LeBlanc and copied to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“Similarly, British Columbians are determined to conserve our wild salmon stocks and to ensure they are available to Southern Resident Killer Whales, First Nations, recreational and commercial fishers for generations to come,” he wrote in the letter.

Horgan’s letter is appearing amid an uproar prompted by Department of Fisheries and Oceans discussions on whether the Swiftsure and LaPerouse banks off the southwest coast of Vancouver Island are critical feeding habitat for southern resident killer whales.

The suggestion has been met with outrage, taking DFO by surprise. No fisheries closures are being considered right now. Discussions and notifications are all part of a process mandated when any animal, in this case southern resident killer whales, are listed under federal legislation as a “species at risk.” Government scientists are obliged to identify the animals’ critical habitat and consider whether it needs protection.

DFO’s next move is at least 60 days’ worth of public consultation to be held sometime between August and September.

Southern resident killer whales are a distinct population that lives around southern coastal B.C. and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The population is down to 75. They subsist almost entirely on chinook salmon, which is also prized by sport anglers because of its large size.

Fisheries and Oceans has already closed fishing June 1 to Sept. 30, between Otter Point in Sooke and Port Renfrew and some areas around the Southern Gulf Islands to assist the killer whales, and reduced the overall chinook catch 25 to 35 per cent.

The move was a blow for communities such as Sooke and Port Renfrew, whose tourists are often attracted by the chance to catch a chinook.

In his letter, Horgan said he is concerned the closures are being made and considered in the absence of any long-term plan to bolster the number of chinook salmon. He asked for more time to allow more say for those who rely on the fishery. “Unfortunately, it appears the Pacific Region [DFO} is more focused on short-term fixes,” he wrote.