Commercial fishing depletes food supply for 75 killer whales, Pacific Wild says

Open in full screen mode

Chinook salmon are the largest of Pacific salmon. It can weigh up to 55 kg.

The Canadian Press

A wildlife group in British Columbia says commercial fishing operators are dumping or composting tens of thousands of Chinook salmon, putting resident killer whales' main food source at risk. from the south, an endangered species.

Pacific Wild says it has obtained a recent report from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (New window) on the groundfish trawl fishery, which shows that more than 26,000 Chinook salmon were caught during commercial fishing activities between 2022 and 2023.

According to this organization, the report estimated that more than 20,000 chinook salmon caught in the nets died and then discarded by- overboard, while 3,700 others were discarded as offal, waste or compost.

Sydney Dixon, a marine species specialist at Pacific Wild, estimated that the amount of trawl by-catch recorded by the Department of Fisheries was enough to feed three or four southern resident killer whales for a year, out of a total population of 75.

The Department of Fisheries said in a written statement that it could not comment on its bycatch report until ;it was not made public for a few days.

LoadingFierce fighting in Gaza, four Iranian officials killed in Syria

Heavy fighting in Gaza, four Iranian officials killed in Syria

ELSE ON INFO : Fierce fighting in Gaza, four Iranian officials killed in Syria

Sydney Dixon argued that bycatch was a terrible waste of this threatened or endangered salmon species in British Columbia and American waters, especially at a time when the survival of southern resident killer whales is at stake.