Chinook salmon fishery cut to protect southern resident orca population

The federal government is getting mixed reactions toits plan to protect southern resident killer whales by protecting the orcas' primary food: Chinook salmon.

On Thursday, Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced plans to cut the allowable catch of Chinook salmon by 25 to 35 per cent.

The number of southern resident killer whales has fallen to just 76 individual animals in recent years, and many have blamed a drop in the number of Chinook salmon.

"We have determined that the species faces an imminent threatto its survival and recovery, and we need to keep taking concrete action," LeBlancsaid in a statement releasedThursday.

Conservation groups consider the move a win for the endangered population, which depends on a healthy Chinook population to survive.

"If we can limit access to the Chinook to orcas only and exclude other people for now, hopefully in the years to come, everybody will have access to the Chinook," said Christianne Wilhelmson,executive director of the Georgia Strait Alliance.

Sport fishing concerns

The decision is not without controversy though. The sport fishing industry in B.C. is one group that is anxiously awaiting more details on the cuts from Fisheries and Oceans Canada

"Human harvest of Chinook salmon is not what's at issue here. It's more to do with environmental circumstances," said Owen Bird, executive directorofthe Sport Fishing Institute of B.C.

The details of the protection measures have yet to be announced, but the minister said they will include:

• Closures for recreational finfish and commercial salmon fisheries in portions of the Strait ofJuan de Fuca and portions of theGulf Islands.
• Partial closures in the mouth of the Fraser River to protect key foraging areas.
• Chinookfishery reductions across the B.C. coast including reduced harvest limits, size limits and time restrictions.
• Select area closures to protect wildChinookstocks of concern.
• $9.5 millionin funding for eight projects across B.C. to restore habitat forChinooksalmon.

Waiting for details

Bird expects more information about the specific cuts to the Chinook fishery to be released in early June and he hopes the limits will not be based on political pressure.

"The reaction will be anywhere from extreme if, for some reason, the measures are unnecessarily harsh," said Bird.

Southern resident killer whales are listed as an endangered species in bothCanadaand the U.S., and a federal recovery strategy was published in 2011 under the Species at Risk Act.

Their numbers fell significantly in the 1960s and early 1970s when approximately 47orcasfrom the southern resident population were captured and relocated to aquariums.