Today we went back to the beautiful Adams River where millions of sockeye returned to spawn last fall. While I knew there must be billions of young salmon in various stages of hatching and emerging from the gravel, they were invisible.
However the bodies of their parents were still incredibly abundant! I could not believe what was still there after the entire winter of predators and storms. Many still had eggs. These are the fish Dr. Miller is studying, the ones that make it all the way back to where they hatched, but die before they can lay their eggs. These are the fish affected by the virus that DFO has been keeping secret.
More visible, however, were the orange buoys of the misguided development being attempted adjacent to where this picture was taken. The Adams River spawning grounds are one of earth’s most ecologically productive sites and someone wants to build on it! The Adams River Salmon Society are still working to stop it. I spoke for a few minutes at their AGM. I wanted them to know about the invisible threat to their fish – the virus no one is talking about.
From there we went to Kamloops and met with NDP candidate Michael Crawford. Similar to the other NDP campaign offices that I have been to it was bustling with activity. People picking up signs, watching the NDP Leadership vote, on phones and generally bustling about. Michael was very welcoming and expressed an understanding of the importance of wild salmon. He agreed with Fin Donnelly’s private member bill to move salmon farms out of the water away from wild salmon. I give Michael a thumbs up.
Tomorrow I will be meeting with the local Conservative candidate, Cathy McLeod, which I look forward to – the first conservative candidate I will have met.
My car brakes began grinding in Salmon Arm so had to leave the car there and push on in Anissa’s van to Enderby.
I still don’t know what the Liberals think about wild salmon, wild salmon people or salmon farms
