The fate of the Skeena Steelhead made it to prime time in the House of Commons earlier this week, with Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach updating the members of the House on the nature of the troubles the stocks are facing in the waters of the Northwest.
Bachrach used his time in the Monday Statements segment to issue an invitation to Joyce Murray, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard to travel to the region to learn more about the Steelhead.
In his update he observed how only 5,300 Skeena Steelhead made it up river this season, with 2020 Pandemic border closures impacting on the fishing season and numbers of businesses along the Skeena system.
The MP noting for the House that the fishery had been closed in 2021 over concerns on low returns while also relaying the urgent need for stock levels of Skeena Steelhead need to be rebuilt.
"I hope our new fisheries minister travels soon to the Skeena sits down with those people who are affected and then acts swiftly to ensure that we don't lose our Steelhead forever" --Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach, in the House of Commons on Monday
You can review his question to the Minister from the House below:
Mr. Bachrach's advocacy for the Steelhead and the Bulkley Valley has been well received by area residents, with Smithers Mayor Gladys Atrill thanking him for his work to raise awareness of the issue in Ottawa.
Other comments can be reviewed here.
While not mentioned in his speaking opportunity of Monday, once in the Bulkley Valley to learn more on the situation facing the Skeena Steelhead, hopefully the MP can continue the education tour and travel westbound to Prince Rupert, where a range of fishery related issues would await the attention of the Fisheries Minister.
With a bit of luck, the Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP will have better luck with this Parliament than those of the past.
Visits to the Northwest by a Federal Fisheries Minister have been few and far between, with little in the way of engagement with those who are most impacted by Federal decision making on the fishery of the North and Central Coast and Haida Gwaii.
More notes on the fishery can be explored from our archive page here.
Items of interest on the work of Mr. Bachrach in the House of Commons can be reviewed here.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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