Upper  Skeena Roundtable Report - May 13 and 14, 2006 As prepared by Ev Person
There has been little change in the situations in the north since the last SEHAB meeting in February. This in itself suggests there is little going on and no progress on issues brought forward previously.
There has been no response on the Chinook issue fishers have been complaining about over the last few years. Proposals to enhance and put out CWT groups from Upper Skeena stocks have been deep-sixed in favour of attempting to capture wild smolts and CWT tagging them. This will be cost prohibitive, marginally successful based on past attempts and we still won't have anything constructive or otherwise for another full cycle. The poor recovery efforts on existing CWTs suggest that unless there is more monitoring of catch for CWT this exercise will be futile.
The lack of attention to the declining Chinook stocks has set us up for another CK crisis similar to the 70s and early 80s. Managers should bear the blame for allowing this to get to this stage and ignoring the declining trends of the past cycle. Word is there appears to be lots of fish off the coast now but it remains to be seen how many actually make it up the river to spawn.
The fish farming issue continues to be the priority for many groups and individuals in the Skeena region as the Province and FOC are quietly supporting the initiative and ignoring the constituents. Coastal and upriver communities strongly oppose any fish farming off the Skeena and are very vocal but with little progress to date.
As previously mentioned there is currently a dramatic increase in exploration for coal, coalbed methane and minerals in general in northern BC, and with limited population and resources stewardship and environmental groups are working hard to keep up. Their efforts are currently to try and keep up to speed with the companies and agencies involved and to establish meaningful consultation processes rather than the open house scenario being utilized by the Ministry of Mines and others. A similar tack is being taken by Enbridge with the oil pipeline issue where public open house meet and greet are held but no meaningful consultation process for questions and answers are in place.
For more information on the coal and coalbed methane issue contact: Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition at 250 842-0021 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..   For more information on the Fish farming issue contact: www.saveourskeenasalmon.com 
With respect to the EPMP, the word in our area is that we have already lost staff out of Prince Rupert and even if that person or position is replaced we will still not maintain status quo. I think we all know what status quo means. We have been going backwards already and less effort, more compliance based monitoring etc. will do little to protect habitat and fish from the impending projects in the north.