Fraser River Sockeye Salmon - Cohen Commission

Part Two • Previous reports and government responses
Pearse and Larkin (1992). In September 1992, the minister of fisheries and oceans
appointed Dr. Pearse as an independent adviser to conduct an investigation into
the apparent disappearance of 482,000 sockeye salmon on their way to spawning
grounds in the Fraser River system. He was directed to identify the reasons for this
shortfall and to recommend any corrective measures needed for the future. The
minister also appointed Dr. Peter Larkin as scientific and technical adviser. Dr.
Larkin produced a separate technical appendix, entitled Analysis of Possible Causes
of the Shortfall in Sockeye Spawners.
Response: “Statement by John C. Crosbie, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans:
Action Plan in Response to the Report of the Fraser River Salmon Investigation,
December 7, 1992.”
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Fraser (1995). In the fall of 1994, a discrepancy of an estimated 1.3 million Fraser
River sockeye salmon was discovered, followed shortly thereafter by a further
shortfall in the Late run, which includes the famous Adams River run. The minister
of fisheries and oceans appointed the Fraser River Sockeye Public Review Board,
under the chairmanship of the Hon. John Fraser, PC, QC, a former minister of
fisheries and oceans and former speaker of the House of Commons. The board had
three main objectives:
• to identify the reason(s) for the discrepancies in the expected and actual
number of sockeye salmon arriving on the spawning grounds;
• to evaluate the accuracy of the Pacific Salmon Commission’s methodology for
estimating run sizes and sockeye escapement in the Fraser River; and
• to make recommendations on how any deficiencies could be corrected,
beginning in 1995.
The terms of reference called for a review that would include consideration of
the following areas:
• the accuracy of estimates of the number of sockeye salmon moving past the
Pacific Salmon Commission’s hydroacoustic facility at Mission in 1994, for
each of the four major run components – Early Stuart, Early Summer, Summer,
and Late Summer;
• the accuracy of estimates of the catch of sockeye salmon in the Fraser River
in 1994, including an examination of the reliability of the in-river catchmonitoring
program, techniques used to estimate catches, and procedures for
estimating the confidence range around the catch estimates;
• the level of mortality experienced by sockeye salmon in the Fraser River and on
the spawning grounds in 1994, including the causes and effect of elevated water
temperatures in the Fraser River;
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