The discovery in Steveston Harbor of large buckets of what appears to be rotten salmon has been reported to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). The Richmond News was told Thursday of the discovery of at least four large cans of decomposing salmon, believed to be stocking. Jamie Gusto, general manager of Steveston Harbour, confirmed to the News that two of the bins were found on a boat after receiving reports due to the smell. While two others were spotted ‘in the port complex’ after receiving reports of a smell from members of the public. Gusto said the port has also received several reports of rotting fish in the water inside the port walls.
“Heartbreaking” to see buckets of rotten fish
He said the discoveries had been reported to the DFO. The News has approached DFO for comment. “This hasn’t happened as far as I can remember, but we haven’t had many (sockeye) openings in recent years,” Gusto said. “It’s heartbreaking to see thousands of dollars worth of fish rotting like this.” Stocking fishing in the Lower Fraser River has been as contentious as ever this summer, with almost zero openings for commercial anglers. This year, the mesh count reached about 5.5 million fish, as opposed to the 9.8 million expected. As such, only First Nations in the Lower Fraser River are allowed to fish for food and ceremonial purposes. The News’ parent company, Glacier Media, published a story last week about a man asking DFO to get to the bottom of the ongoing illegal poaching and sales of salmon from the Fraser River. Rodney Hsu, a member of the Fraser Valley Sport Fishing Advisory Committee, says it’s now an annual occurrence to hear reports of dead salmon dumped along roadsides near the river.
The wildlife federation says poaching is rampant
Meanwhile, the BC Wildlife Federation (BCWF) has hit out at the apparent discovery of the rotten sock in Steveston Harbour. “We’re seeing evidence of illegal fish sales all over social media and on Craigslist,” said the federation’s executive director Jesse Zeman. “BCWF is seeing reports of dumping involving thousands, possibly tens of thousands of fish, which is symptomatic of illegal sales on a massive scale,” Zeman said. “Fish have spoiled suggesting there are far more fish on the black market than there are buyers.” Widespread poaching, Zeman added, “harms us all as the scarce tracks are plundered. “Furthermore, when an unknown number of fish are caught by poachers, we cannot sustainably manage the fishery.” Zeman argued that authorities, such as the DFO, are “hopelessly overstretched to deal with the problem”.
