New angles needed on salmon recovery, world's scientists say - The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/06/12/d5.wst.salmon.0612.html

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Scientists gathered for a World Summit on Salmon said Wednesday that new directions and hard choices are needed to restore declining salmon populations around the world.

They suggested more money was needed to research why so many wild salmon die in the ocean, and hiring marketers to spread warnings about salmon health that scientists have issued for years without notice.

Hard choices include whether to allow some salmon stocks to go extinct so fishing can continue on healthy ones, and whether to kill off seals and sea lions, which have become major salmon predators.

Arguing that the ocean accounts for a greater degree of salmon mortality than anywhere else, Carl Walters, professor of fisheries at the University of British Columbia, said the millions of dollars spent on restoring salmon habitat in rivers and streams in western Canada were wasted.

Walters cited research on 16 watersheds in western Canada that found no correlation between habitat and numbers of fish. However, he said virtually nothing is understood about why so many salmon die in the ocean, and that line of research needs money.

He added that it is time to consider killing off seals and sea lions, protected by law in the United States, to reduce the huge amount of salmon they eat. He also said trying to maintain weak stocks of salmon is making it impossible to harvest more abundant stocks.

John Fraser, chairman of Canada's Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council, called on the scientists to focus on solutions rather than further documenting the drastic declines in fisheries. Otherwise, he said, the public and elected officials will continue to ignore their warnings.

``For many years there has been a feeling of frustration among elected officials,'' Fraser said. ``The science community has failed to articulate in a reasonable way they are able to understand the problems and solutions.''

After painting a dire picture of the state of the world's fisheries, Reg Watson, senior fisheries research fellow at the University of British Columbia, suggested that scientists may need marketing specialists to help simplify their message so the public can understand it.

``It hasn't changed in years, and obviously we haven't seen the response required, so we are going to have to change,'' Watson said.