In rivers throughout B.C., wild salmon are swimming downstream towards the ocean, oblivious to the pandemic that has changed our lives. Wild fish are not swimming alone: They migrate with millions more salmon released from hatcheries. A growing body of evidence shows that salmon hatcheries harm wild fish and are a poor return on investment.
In the last 50 years, hatcheries have become entrenched in B.C. However, as governments plan economic stimulus programs, we can invest in projects that will benefit British Columbians over the long term. Wild salmon contribute to food security, generate income for fisheries-based communities, and sustain the lands and wildlife that we all care about.
Wild salmon are in decline across the province, and in 2019, we saw the worst year on record for many populations of sockeye, Chinook, coho, chum, pinks and steelhead. Last year’s harvest of one million fish was less than three per cent of the salmon caught in 1993, and many populations did not have enough spawning adults to sustain themselves. Amidst this decline, there is increasing public pressure to augment wild populations with more hatchery fish.
Wild and hatchery salmon are not the same. Just one generation in a hatchery can change hundreds of genes. Multiple generations of breeding in buckets and rearing in tanks produces salmon that are fit for hatcheries, but not the wild.
Wild salmon are uniquely adapted to survive the conditions they experience, from streams to the ocean and back. Given the chance, wild salmon populations recover quickly from natural and human-caused disturbances. Hatchery salmon are a poor replacement. When hatchery fish spawn in the wild, they diminish the genetics of wild populations and reduce overall salmon production.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada DFO operates 15 hatcheries and oversees 19 facilities run by First Nations and community groups. Collectively, they release approximately 300 million salmon each year, with most fish coming from DFO’s large-scale production hatcheries. These numbers are at risk of growing if Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan and Premier John Horgan choose to pursue a simplistic approach to salmon recovery.
The hatchery approach assumes that increasing the number of young salmon entering the ocean will increase the number of adult salmon that return, but it’s not that simple.
Our rivers and ocean can only produce so many salmon, because they have limited food. Numerous young hatchery salmon can outcompete young wild salmon, making them less likely to survive. Hatchery steelhead eat wild coho and Chinook fry.
In the North Pacific Ocean, wild salmon compete for food with over five billion hatchery fish released by countries around the Pacific Rim. Forty per cent of salmon in the North Pacific are now born in a hatchery, rather than a stream.
There are fewer, smaller wild salmon returning to B.C. rivers, because of these massive hatchery releases. A recent study, led by DFO scientist Brendan Connors, found that Fraser River sockeye returns were 15 per cent smaller in 2005-2015 because of competition with hatchery pink salmon. Increasing hatchery production will only make the problem worse.
In 2005, DFO promised to develop a framework to comprehensively assess the risks of hatchery production to wild salmon, under the Wild Salmon Policy. Fifteen years later, that work has not been completed. What’s clear is that hatcheries have failed to recover wild salmon runs or to fulfill the ecological role that wild salmon performed in streams and forests across the province.
For taxpayers, hatcheries are a poor investment. Very few hatchery fish survive to return as adults. The capital and operating costs are high, but the return on this investment can be less than 0.01 per cent. Rates of return for DFO hatcheries are difficult to obtain, but Leavenworth Hatchery, in Washington State, spends $4,800, on average, to produce each Chinook caught in fisheries.
Hatchery fish are replacing wild salmon, and it’s costing us dearly. Minister Jordan and Premier Horgan should invest in infrastructure and restoration to improve the health of B.C. rivers — the most efficient, cost-effective and productive salmon hatcheries we have.
Investing in hatcheries is committing to a future without wild salmon.
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Vanessa Minke-Martin is a salmon ecologist based in Victoria; Aaron Hill is the executive director of Watershed Watch Salmon Society; Greg Knox is the executive director of SkeenaWild Conservation Trust; Misty MacDuffee is the wild salmon program director at Raincoast Conservation Foundation; Jeffery Young is a senior science and policy analyst at the David Suzuki Foundation.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
The crypto market has recently experienced a significant downturn, mirroring broader risk asset sell-offs. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 24%, reaching $53,000, while Ethereum plummeted nearly a third to $2,340. Major altcoins also suffered, with Cardano down 27.7%, Solana 36.2%, Dogecoin 34.6%, XRP 23.1%, Shiba Inu 30.1%, and BNB 25.7%.
The severe downturn in the crypto market appears to be part of a broader flight to safety, triggered by disappointing economic data. A worse-than-expected unemployment report on Friday marked the beginning of a technical recession, as defined by the Sahm Rule. This rule identifies a recession when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least half a percentage point from its lowest point in the past year.
Friday’s figures met this threshold, signaling an abrupt economic downshift. Consequently, investors sought safer assets, leading to declines in major stock indices: the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq 2.5%, and the Dow 1.5%. This trend continued into Monday with further sell-offs overseas.
The crypto market’s rapid decline raises questions about its role as either a speculative asset or a hedge against inflation and recession. Despite hopes that crypto could act as a risk hedge, the recent crash suggests it remains a speculative investment.
Since the downturn, the crypto market has seen its largest three-day sell-off in nearly a year, losing over $500 billion in market value. According to CoinGlass data, this bloodbath wiped out more than $1 billion in leveraged positions within the last 24 hours, including $365 million in Bitcoin and $348 million in Ether.
Khushboo Khullar of Lightning Ventures, speaking to Bloomberg, argued that the crypto sell-off is part of a broader liquidity panic as traders rush to cover margin calls. Khullar views this as a temporary sell-off, presenting a potential buying opportunity.
Josh Gilbert, an eToro market analyst, supports Khullar’s perspective, suggesting that the expected Federal Reserve rate cuts could benefit crypto assets. “Crypto assets have sold off, but many investors will see an opportunity. We see Federal Reserve rate cuts, which are now likely to come sharper than expected, as hugely positive for crypto assets,” Gilbert told Coindesk.
Despite the recent volatility, crypto continues to make strides toward mainstream acceptance. Notably, Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs starting Wednesday. This follows more than half a year after the introduction of the first Bitcoin ETF. The investment bank will enable over 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. This move is seen as a significant step toward the “mainstreamization” of crypto, given the lengthy regulatory and company processes in major investment banks.
The recent crypto market downturn highlights its volatility and the broader economic concerns affecting all risk assets. While some analysts see the current situation as a temporary sell-off and a buying opportunity, others caution against the speculative nature of crypto. As the market evolves, its role as a mainstream alternative asset continues to grow, marked by increasing institutional acceptance and new investment opportunities.
