VANCOUVER—Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced a further $2.7 million investment in salmon conservation projects, after government officials confirmed Thursday morning that salmon stocks across British Columbia are returning in concerningly low numbers.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada, also known as DFO, had previously forecast that 4,795,000 sockeye salmon would return to the Fraser River this year.

As the run starts, that number has been adjusted to 628,000 — just 13 per cent of that original forecast. The state of sockeye salmon is now so dire that some populations “face an imminent threat of extinction,” according to DFO.

“2019 has been a particularly difficult year for wild salmon,” Wilkinson said.

For Fraser River sockeye in particular, it “may be one of the worst years on record.”

On the Skeena River, 1.7 million sockeye salmon were forecast to return, but that has now been downgraded to 652,000.

The news isn’t as dire for other species of salmon, but the overall trend is that fewer fish are returning than DFO had forecasted. Scientists have warned that the Chinook salmon are also endangered, and some populations could be wiped out in the next 15 to 20 years if action is not taken now to help them recover.

The runs this year are too low for many commercial fisheries to operate. DFO has also restricted fishing opportunities for First Nations and recreational fishers.

One of the projects funded through the $2.7 million investment announced Thursday is a UBC-led research project aimed at improving the sustainability of catch and release recreational fishing, to ensure more fish survive after they’ve been reeled in and deposited back in the water.

Another research project, led by the Nature Trust of BC, will assess how resilient estuaries are to climate change impacts, including rising sea levels. Estuaries, the tidal mouth of large rivers, are a key salmon habitat.

Sue Grant, head of the state of salmon program at DFO, said climate change and habitat loss are major factors in the decline of salmon populations. She said unusual weather events such as “the Blob,” an area of unusually warm water in the Pacific that occurred between 2013 and 2017, and an “extreme” El Nino event in 2015 that also raised ocean temperatures, have put stress on food sources for salmon.

When ocean temperatures rise, there’s a shift in zooplankton, an ocean animal that salmon rely on for food, Grant said. Now, less nutritious zooplankton are found in areas of the Pacific where B.C. salmon spend part of their lives.

It’s not just the ocean that’s warming: Water temperature has also been rising in B.C.’s lakes and rivers. Although they spend most of their lives in the ocean, salmon travel back through rivers and lakes to lay their eggs.

Grant said salmon in Northern B.C. and salmon with less disturbed habitat are doing somewhat better, and a combination of climate change — which is leading to more frequent wildfires, floods and drought — and pressures on habitat from human activities like forestry and development are “creating a tipping point.”

Wilkson said the state of wild Pacific salmon is a top concern.

“Salmon are intrinsically linked to our identities as British Columbians and they are fundamental to the cultures and traditions of many First Nations,” he said.

“Over the past several years we have seen significant declines in a number of key pacific salmon stocks, not only do these declines have direct impacts on our ecosystems and the health of our environment but they have serious impact on our economy,” he said.

To add to the challenge, this year a landslide blocked the Fraser River at Big Bar northwest of Kamloops, meaning that salmon coming up the Fraser could be prevented from reaching their spawning grounds and laying the eggs that will hatch and become the next generation of fish.

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“This is undoubtedly a crisis situation,” Wilkinson said.

Teams of workers have been working to clear the slide area, and more than 28,000 salmon have been transported over the slide area by helicopter so far.

Officials say there is now evidence that small numbers of Chinook have been able to migrate past the slide through channels that crews have created by manipulating rock.

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