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Local fishermen feel let down by Cohen report; Gillnetters wanted 'hard-nosed' decisions

It cost $26 million, sat for 138 days, heard from 179 witnesses and sifted through three million pages of documents. Yet there were no hard-nosed findings and no hope for the future of the declining sockeye salmon fishery on the Fraser River.

It cost $26 million, sat for 138 days, heard from 179 witnesses and sifted through three million pages of documents.

Yet there were no hard-nosed findings and no hope for the future of the declining sockeye salmon fishery on the Fraser River.

Thats the grim verdict in the wake of the Cohen Commission findings from the association that represents the Fraser Rivers commercial salmon fishermen.

Many stakeholders, including the Area E Gillnetters Association, had their collective fingers crossed when Bruce Cohen revealed his final report on Wednesday.

But the associations vice president, Bob McKamey, was left, like many others, wondering if the Stephen Harper-created inquiry anticipated to cost $26 million was a complete waste of time and money.

For the most part, were very disappointed, said McKamey.

We were looking for some very decisive recommendations to come out of there. However, the problems with the DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans) and the way the fisheries are being managed and the problems with the native fishery have not been dealt with.

We are at a status quo, when we had hoped for some hard-nosed findings from all of this hard work.

Cohen did call for a freeze on new salmon farms claimed by some to be partly responsible for the decline in sockeye in the Discovery Islands in B.C.'s central coast.

Not surprisingly, McKamey said he supported anything that called for a suspension of salmon farming.

However, he said that, since 1992, the local fishery has been so mismanaged and abused that immediate and firm action is desperately needed to deal with disappearing sockeye.

At the end of the day, this report was to get some semblance of sanity back in here; but its not happened, he said.

Were not giving up, though and were still in the court system and still got a lot of work to do.

If we dont stay on top of the problems on a daily basis, there would be nothing left.

The Cohen commission recommendations, which call for greater protection for sockeye salmon and their habitat, run headlong into federal government measures to water down environmental regulations and cut staff.

Former B.C. Supreme Court Justice Cohen took aim at the federal government Wednesday in his much-anticipated report on the decline of Fraser River sockeye. He said he was troubled by recent amendments to the environmental process and the Fisheries Act by Prime Minister Stephen Harpers Conservative government.

Many experts have emphasized the importance of protecting fish habitat, promoting biodiversity and adopting ecosystem-based management practices, said Cohen.

However, the recent amendments to the Fisheries Act appear to be taking (the Department of Fisheries and Oceans) in a very different direction.

Cohen said he was disappointed the federal government didnt wait to introduce the changes in Bill C-38 until after the inquiry was complete.

He also noted concern over staff cuts in DFOs Pacific Region habitat management program. The Conservatives cut $79 million, or 5.8 per cent, from DFOs total budget this year.

In particular, Cohen noted amendments to the Fisheries Act shift emphasis from fish and habitat protection to the protection of fisheries.

That change lowers the standard of protection for Fraser River sockeye salmon, Cohen said.

Cohen called on the federal government to properly fund and implement DFOs own 2005 wild salmon and 1986 habitat policies.

Finding no smoking gun to explain the sockeye declines, Cohen also called for more research. He noted there are many stressors in rivers and the marine environment, highlighting climate change and warming waters as a key issue.

I urge the federal government, in the interests of conserving the iconic species of salmon, to heed my findings and to implement these recommendations, Cohen said at a news conference.

If implementing the recommendations is delayed, the ongoing threats to the stocks will make remedial action all the more challenging when it does begin.

B.C. Conservative Party leader John Cummins dismissed the Cohen report as a complete and utter waste of taxpayers dollars.

The former Conservative MP and federal fisheries critic, said the report provided no clear direction to the DFO on how to manage the Fraser River fishery.

With a file from the Vancouver Sun