The Story of Sammy, the Sockeye Salmon
My business and my passion are about helping others improve their health. Our health and wellbeing is intricately tied into the health of the planet and the creatures that live here with us, and if a species goes extinct, the plant or animal creatures that rely on it for survival suffer, and may also go extinct. The dominos start to fall one by one, until it is impossible for us humans to be healthy because we can no longer source the nutrients we need.
We are at that point now. We need to change how we live, and we need to force change by how we spend our money. What we choose to spend our money on is a political act, and it is the only way real change will happen. I hope you enjoy the story, will share it, and will change how you shop.
The Story of Sammy, the Sockeye Salmon
My mother wants me to go to the fish market to get a salmon for dinner. We have not had fish in while, and our cat will love the leftovers too.
I am about ready to head out, when my grandfather approaches me. He seems concerned about something, and wants to talk to me.
“Olivia, I want to tell you a story before you go. Do you have time?”
“Of course! There is no hurry. What is it?”
“As you know, from the time I learned to walk until I was a young adult, I remember going to the river with my family to catch some salmon for dinner in the fall. There were so many fish in the river I could have walked across their backs to the other side. They would be fighting their way upstream to spawn, and it was a most amazing sight. I will never forget how we would be able to just pick a fish up with our bare hands, take it home and have it for dinner. There were more than enough salmon for us, and the mammals and birds that depended on the salmon for their survival.”
Photo from BBC Special entitled "Nature's Great Events".
“When you go to the river now in the fall, do you see so many salmon that you would be able to walk on their backs to the other side of the river?” he asks me.
“No, not at all. I have noticed some, but not that many,” I say. "There really used to be so many you couldn't see the water?" I ask.
"Yes. There were so many that the salmon fought to stay submerged. They don't have that battle now," he answers me.
“I want to tell you the story of Sammy, a salmon friend of mine. I met him four years ago when I was camping up the river in the mountains where the stream begins. The snow was melting, and the plants were starting to grow. He was a tiny little smolt at the time, and he had hundreds of brothers and sisters that all hatched from the same batch of eggs that his mother had laid the previous fall.”
“I will tell you his story just like he told it to me, when I met him again just recently when he was spawning, just before he died. This is what he said to me.”
“Hi Lucas, do you remember me? Sammy? The sockeye salmon you met four years ago, when I was a smolt? A lot has happened to me since then, and it is important that you tell my story to as many people as you can.”
I interrupt. "My goodness, you can talk to the salmon? They can talk?"
"Yes, you close your eyes, tune in with your third eye at your forehead, and then you can talk to anybody, including the salmon," answers my grandfather. "I think it is important to talk to other species regularly to understand their consciousnesses better, what is important to them, and figure out how we can assist them. If there is a big problem with one species, it will eventually become a big problem for all species, including us. The world is an ecosystem, and if there is a problem in one part of the ecosystem, the whole world will eventually collapse."
I am getting worried. My grandfather is one of the wisest people I know, and he is clearly very concerned about something. I am getting the sense he thinks the world might collapse.
He continues on with Sammy's story, telling it as if he were Sammy himself.
“When we met, my brothers and sisters were rejoicing at being alive in the waters of this river, but soon our gut told us it is time for us to go, and that we needed to swim all the way to the ocean. Luckily the water of a stream flows downhill, so the swimming is easy, and we are all having fun trying to jump over stones and avoid smashing into them when the currents are strong.”
Photo from: https://www.critfc.org/fish-and-watersheds/columbia-river-fish-species/columbia-river-salmon/
“A few weeks later, the river we are swimming in is becoming very wide and much more slow moving, and in the river we begin to see these big mesh bags that have huge salmon in them. I feel sorry for them as they cannot escape.”
I interrupt again. "What do you mean? Mesh bags holding salmon? Were they fished? How did they get there and why would they be held in a mesh?"
"These salmon are hatched and grown inside meshes, then sold to us to eat. They are not wild like Sammy was, so no, they are not fished. They are farmed."
He continues on, pretending he is Sammy. “I can tell they are not the same type of salmon that I am, because the smolts that escape the mesh are so much bigger than we are, and as such, they can swim faster to get to the plant algae and other food before we can. We are getting hungry and losing energy because of it. I later find out they are 'Atlantis salmon'”.
My grandfather shows me a news-video about the double-helixally modified salmon. I didn't even know such a thing was possible. Science has come a long way.
"If they grow so big, won't they become an invasive species and cause a problem for the local wild salmon if the mesh is torn and they escape?" I ask. "It sounds like that is what your friend Sammy is implying. He is having trouble finding food."
"Yes, that is exactly it. But that is not all. Let me continue Sammy's story."
My grandfather continues. “The water around those mesh bags feels bad. It is murky and smells like death because there is too much algae. That, combined with too many fish trapped in an enclosed mesh in a part of the river where water can’t flow fast enough to wash away their feces, makes for sick fish that are very vulnerable to infestation.”
"I am feeling really sorry for those poor fish. They can't escape to cleaner water. I can't imagine what it would be like to be stuck in such dirty water all the time, with no choice but to pee in it, poop in it and have to drink it."
"Eewe, that is disgusting!" I say.
My grandfather ignores my interruption and continues pretending he is Sammy. “My siblings and I have not even grown scales yet, and we are beginning to feel sick. We feel swollen, and it is impacting our ability to swim. The Atlantis smolts that escaped tell us they have a disease called ‘Pelagia Newting’, and we might have caught it too.”
“Some of my brothers and sisters did not get enough food because the bigger Atlantis smolts beat them to it. They are really having a hard time because they have less energy from lack of food, and they are not able to swim well because of the disease. I lose many of my siblings going past those sickness meshes. My poor brothers and sisters …”
"Poor Sammy," I say. "It must be very hard to lose so many siblings, and all at once too. My heart breaks for him. I can't even imagine the heartache."
"That is part of being a fish, Olivia. That is why so many eggs are laid. Fish species rely on numbers to survive. Their solar plexus' know that many of them won't make it. I don't think the fish feel heartbreak quite as intensely as we do, but I don't know. I don't fully understand the how fish think and feel, and I didn't ask Sammy that question. If they feel their hearts as much as we as do, it would be an impossibly hard life indeed." After a moment of silence, he asks me, "Shall I continue?"
I quell my feelings and listen.
“We know we are getting closer to the ocean because the water is getting saltier. We pass a mesh water bag where those poor Atlantis salmon trapped inside look like they are flopping themselves, clearly in terrible discomfort. It looks like they are trying to shake something off of their bodies. Then I see why they were acting so weirdly. They have these worms on their scales all over their bodies that are biting into them, burying themselves into their flesh and eating them. The thought of that happening to me makes me squirm in terror, and I flee, swimming as fast as I can.”
My grandfather shows me another news-video that has a gross photo of the worms attacking what looks like salmon smolts. "Oh my goodness, those poor fish!" I exclaim. "How absolutely horrible! They don't have hands to pluck them off. What can they do to get them off?" I am completely creeped out by the sight of the photo. I am shaking my head, squeezing my eyes closed, scrunching up my face, squirming with disgust and scraping my arms with my hands to remove imaginary worms that might have suctioned onto me. I feel sick to my stomach. This photo is not something I can unsee, and the imagined attack on me is not something I can unfeel.
"It is okay, Olivia. The worms do not attack humans. They live on fish. Especially salmon. May I continue?" my grandfather asks me. It takes me a while to calm down and stop feeling the creepy crawlies all over my skin, but I don't want to stop him.
He starts again, pretending to be Sammy. “Despite trying to flee, I feel one of the worms suction itself onto me. I see my siblings are also under attack. I scrape my skin on a rock trying to dislodge the worm, but it has already started to bury itself inside me.”
The imaginary creepy crawlies on my skin are getting bad again ... I try to stay quiet.
“The closer we get to the ocean, the saltier the water gets, and the more worms there are with each successive mesh waterbag we pass containing Atlantis salmon. Relatively speaking, these worms are huge on our skin compared to on the Atlantis salmon, and after watching my siblings I figure it takes only three worms to kill us smolts. I realize that many more of my siblings are not going to make it to the ocean.”
I am feeling sad for Sammy again. I hope he feels his solar plexus more than his heart. I know I couldn't survive that much loss. My heart would be totally broken.
My grandfather continues without commenting on my feelings this time. “Several days later, those of us that are left arrive at the ocean. I know I got lucky with only one worm attack, but my insides feel bad. I don’t think there is anything I can do about the worm inside me.”
“There are groups of huge black and white fish-like creatures with sharp teeth and pink tongues waiting for us. We are terrified as they keep trying to surround us to eat us. Because they are so much bigger than us and can swim so much faster, my remaining brothers, sisters and I all split up and go our separate ways so that they will have a harder time entrapping us. Many of my siblings I never see again.”
Photo by Geir Notnes, 2011
I can't stay quiet any longer. "Oh my goodness! He gets to the ocean and all his siblings have to split up? Isn't he lonely?"
My grandfather does not bother to answer me. He just continues Sammy's story.
“I am alone in the ocean now, trying to survive. I stay deep in the water to avoid being attacked from above by the eagles, gulls, falcons and herons, and I am lucky to escape the predator fish.”
I decide being a salmon must be a horrible life. Living alone, and under attack all the time? I can't even imagine how terrifying and hopeless such a life would be.
My grandfather reads my face and says, "Olivia, we don't have a salmon consciousness. We are human. I know it is hard to understand, but try not to project your human mindset and feelings onto Sammy. The salmon have no problem living their kind of life. They like living alone in the ocean. Yes, they have to avoid predators, but they have good gut instincts that help protect them. You feel too much. Just listen."
He then continues. “It seems to me that the water is getting warmer as the weeks go by, and I am feeling more and more tired because of it. One day I happen to swim north, and I notice the water is cooler. I feel better, it is easier to find food and my biology does not slow down. Because my energy improves, I decide to stay up here for a while, even though my gut tells me that is not where I should normally live.”
“One day I am looking for food to eat with a bunch of different fish friends, when I notice what looks like a mesh bag beginning to surround us. I instantly remember the Atlantis salmon stuck in the sickness mesh in the river, and my spidey-sense fires up intensely, and my heart begins to race. I do not want to end up like the Atlantis! Which direction should I swim to get away? As I feel the mesh moving the water towards me, my terror rises. I had heard stories from other fish that often circles of mesh swoop underneath the ocean fish, then lift the fish up out of the water into the air never to come back. The thought of my scales and eyes drying out in the air like that is horrifying, let alone what happens after. Huge numbers of fish that were in the water one minute, are gone forever the next. The ocean always feels empty after the circle meshes come. It is as if the meshes are trying to empty out the ocean, and I find it so, so sad.”
“I swim as fast as I can towards where the mesh is not. It is like the mesh is encircling and closing in on me. I know I am in trouble, and it is possible I will not see another day. My fear makes me swim faster than I ever have, trying to stay ahead of that mesh. Then I hear a swoosh, and by some stroke of luck, the mesh lifts behind me, and I am okay. But my friends are not! I hear them scream in fear and panic as they are lifted away. Their screams still haunt me to this day, my gut turns over and I feel sick every time I remember that moment.”
“That is not the only day I encountered mesh circles, but that is the closest call for me. I lose many types of fish friends to the mesh circles during my time in the ocean. I miss them…”
I have been trying to stay calm and not react to what Sammy is experiencing. But seriously. How can one not react? My solar plexus is scared for him and my heart is hurting more and more for him.
My grandfather continues. “Then there is another kind of invisible mesh that is usually right where the best food is. You can swim partially through it without noticing, and then you find yourself stuck. You try to swim backwards, the mesh goes into the gills, and you are be trapped. I am told that it doesn’t hurt, which surprises me. I would have thought it would be awful. Then, like the mesh circles, this mesh is lifted up, taking the fish out of the water and into the air, not to ever come back. Because these invisible meshes are usually by the good food, I choose to eat less healthy food and stay safe.”
Salmon Gill Net Fishing from Nolan McEachern YouTube Channel
My grandfather shows me a video of the invisible meshes he is talking about. When I see the salmon hanging from their gills out of the water, I feel the backs of my ears near my skull hurting. I know Sammy said it doesn't hurt, but I can't imagine hanging in the air from my ears. I am cringing in horror again, trying to comfort myself by closing my eyes, putting my head down and giving myself a hug. I wish my grandfather would stop showing me horrible videos. My poor stomach.
He continues Sammy's story. “During the fourth year, when the ocean water gets hot in the summer, my hormones tell me it is time to go back to my hatch river to meet with other sockeye salmon and fertilize the eggs of the female sockeye. I begin the long journey.”
“After many weeks of swimming, I get to the river funnel. There I notice lots of circle meshes and also hooks with food in the water. I know the hooks are traps, but the circle meshes are tricky to avoid. There are lots of us sockeye there, trying to get by the meshes and hooks, and into the river itself. I think the meshes must have caught most of us because by the time I get to the river there are not very many of us left.”
“The river funnel has many shallow parts which I know to avoid, because I do not want eagle talons poking holes in my back. I saw many of my salmon mates stabbed and carried out of the water by the eagles, their tails still waving like they were swimming in the air. Seeing that left a big impression of fear and deep sadness on my heart. Their days are over.”
“I join the other sockeye salmon that avoided the meshes and the birds to swim upstream against the current. The river water is very warm which saps my energy. I find it very hard to jump the rock obstacles in my path, especially as the water current is pushing me back towards the ocean. In places the water is also uncomfortably shallow yet fast moving. I do not feel safe, and I have to work hard just to stay still against the strong current. The seagulls are everywhere stabbing us in the back with their beaks. They take bits of flesh out of my back. I guess everybody likes to eat us. I try and find the deep parts of the river, but in some places I can’t escape. Swimming is becoming even more difficult because I am so injured.”
Photo by Adrian Lam, Times Colonist https://www.timescolonist.com/entertainment/go/explore-enjoy-the-wonders-of-sooke-potholes-1.23459564
I can't take it anymore. "Seriously Grandfather, you have to stop. Please, have mercy on me. Why are you insisting on telling me this horrible story?"
"It is important that you understand the problems the salmon face, Olivia. You need to understand, because we have the power to change things for them. The eagles and seagulls are natural predators. They only take what they need. I know it sounds bad, but the bird predators are part of the circle of life. They are not a big problem for the salmon, and the salmon accept that some of them will become food for the birds. It is okay."
He insists on continuing Sammy's story despite my begging him to stop. I have definitely had enough. I half listen, with one ear plugged and one eye closed.
“The river funnel narrows into the deep, slow-moving river itself. I am nervous about the sickness meshes that killed so many of my brothers and sisters on our way to the ocean. A little while later the water becomes murky, begins to smell from the algae. The holes in my back burn, from where the gulls stabbed me. We are approaching the Atlantis meshes again, which to my surprise, are empty of fish. I have been dreading this part of the journey, but maybe if the Atlantis salmon are not there, we will be safe from the worms.”
“It does not take long for that idea to be proven wrong. Soon some of my sockeye salmon friends and siblings are flipping themselves around in the water trying to rid their bodies of the worms that have suctioned onto them. I can see the worms aiming for our wounds. It is as if the birds have started the job, and the worms are going to finish it and kill us.”
“I realize the worms are attacking me too. My whole body is riddled with them and I can feel them wriggling into the deepest holes left by the birds and deepening them. I feel like I am being eaten from the inside out. There are so many on the surface of my scales that I look for a rock to rub against to hopefully scrape them off. I am in a total panic. We are all desperate for relief, and like when we were swimming to the ocean, we can’t decide whether it is better to swim fast to get out of the area, or to rub them off first. We find ourselves darting forward, finding a rock to rub, then darting forward again as fast as we can manage, considering how injured and low on energy we are in this hot summer water.”
Photo from Center for Ocean Life
My grandfather insists on showing me another photo of worms all over the head of a salmon. I think I am going to puke. Then he continues Sammy's torturous story.
“We leave this Atlantis worm-infested mesh area only to come to another, a short distance further. In the river but still close to the ocean there seem to be many more clumps of fish meshes than I remember four years ago. We are frantic from feeling unable to escape the worms near these meshes. Thankfully, as we make our way upriver, there are fewer worms, probably because they don’t like fresh water. However, all said and done, the worms on this part of the voyage takes their toll on us. So many of my sockeye salmon travel-mates don’t make it. I am so, so sad.”
I have now plugged both my ears, and I am squatting on the floor cowering in the corner of the room. Unfortunately, I can still hear my grandfather. I ignore him, trying not to appear too disrespectful.
“Suddenly I feel extreme pain in the side of my belly. What is that? What is happening to me now? I feel myself being lifted up – I flap my tail and try to roll over onto my back to escape. The pain of moving my injured areas makes it hard, but I know I better if I want to live. As I roll over, I am looking into the face of a bear. Her teeth look huge, and I don’t want to be her lunch. Not after all I have been through. I need to spawn. I flap and roll again, and I roll off her paw and splash back into the water, hitting a rock hard on the way. Thankfully her claws only scraped my scales and did not stab me to the point of no escape, but now I have a gash in my side in addition to holes in my back, a digestive system that has been eaten by worms, and broken ribs from hitting the rock. I can’t tell you how much pain I am in. Swimming is next to impossible, but I have a bit further to go upstream before I can spawn.”
“The few of us that are left, struggle up the stream fighting against the current as best we can, considering our injuries. Suddenly it is as if the stream just ends. It seems the side of the mountain has slid into the stream, resulting in a huge wall of rock and dirt blocking our way. I try jumping to see if we can get to the other side of the blockage, but it is too far. What are we going to do now? We can’t spawn here because the water is too deep. I am crushed. After all we have been through, we won’t be able to spawn. It seems that this four-year salmon cycle in this river is done forever.”
My grandfather shows me another news story about the landslide. These poor salmon. Tears have welled up and are beginning to run down my cheeks.
“All of us are right up against the wall of rock, wondering what to do now, when I see you, Lucas. I remember you from when I was a smolt. I am so glad to see you. A friendly face. You tell me you are going to carry me and my sockeye salmon friends to the other side of the slide so we can continue upstream, and you tell us to not be afraid. You and some of your friends scoop us up in hand meshes, put us in buckets of cool water, put the buckets onto the back of a truck, and drive us upstream past the slide. Then you very gently set us free in the stream again. You tell me you will meet me at the spawning grounds in a few days, and that you will make sure the slide is cleared before the plants grow in the spring, so the smolts can make it to the ocean. I cannot believe your kindness. To say I am grateful is an understatement.”
I feel my heart fill up with love and pride for my grandfather. He is the nicest human there is. I am weeping with gratitude now. "Thank you for doing that," I say. "You saved the salmon-run on that river. I hope others know what you did."
"No, they probably don't, and that is okay. I don't need anybody to know what I personally did. I just want others to do their part too," says my grandfather.
He continues for Sammy. “A few hours later of painful struggle against the current, the few of us that are left finally make it to where we are born. I think it is a miracle. It is so good to see some of my brothers and sisters again. We all look terribly beat up, with chunks of flesh missing, scales missing, some have fins half torn off, yet here we are. It is time to spawn.”
Photo by Art Wolfe
He shows me a photo of a salmon after it has spawned, and how the salmon change colour. Then he continues pretending he is Sammy.
“The females move the pebbles around at the bottom of the stream to create a bit of a dip, and lay their eggs. I notice lots of bubbles coming up as the stones and pebbles are moved, and the water feels fresher – like it is aerated. After the eggs are laid, it is my turn to inseminate them.”
“And here we are, Lucas. The end of my story, and the end of my life. I have spawned, so I can die now. I don’t know how many more years we, the salmon species will survive. I made it back here to my hatching grounds to spawn against all odds. Those of us that are here are the only ones left for this year. Our numbers would not be so critically low if it were only the fish, bird, and mammal predators that come after us. That is to be expected. We are okay with that. We all have to eat.”
“The mesh and hooks at the river funnel don’t help, but the biggest problem is Pelagic Newting disease that kill so many of the smolts going down to the ocean, and four years later on the way back upriver to spawn, the worms that kill many of those of us that are left. It is a disaster, and we will go extinct within a few years if nothing changes. If on the other fin, things do change, we can hope that a larger percentage of the smolts that hatch when the snow melts and the plants grow, will make it back here successfully to spawn, and our numbers will grow again.”
My grandfather looks at me and says, “That is the end of Sammy’s personal story. He did his bit. He was one of the lucky ones that despite all odds, managed to make it back to spawn.
I am have mixed feelings. I feel very sad that Sammy has died, happy that he made it back to spawn in order to continue the species, horrified at what all the salmon must face to survive. I am also very glad my grandfather's story is finally over. I unplug my ears, and open my eyes.
But unfortunately for me, he is not finished. "There is much more to the big story of the salmon. I want to tell you about how the lack of salmon has impacted the killer whales.”
“You remember how Sammy said that when they first got to the ocean, a group of killer whales tried to surround them to eat them? Well, the salmon, particularly chinook salmon, are a key part of the killer whale diet. Salmon have nutrition in them that is not found in other species of fish in as large amounts. So, if the whales cannot find enough salmon to eat, they have trouble reproducing, often losing their calves late in their pregnancy or just after their birth, which is especially hard on them.”
“So, unfortunately, the killer whales are not maintaining their numbers either. Calves are celebrated and looked after by the entire pod, but they are often sickly and don’t make it despite the pod’s best efforts. The killer whales are now also threatened with extinction, largely because of the huge decline in chinook salmon,” says my grandfather.
I didn't realize the killer whales are also in trouble, although now that I think about it, I have not seen one in quite a few years. I remember enjoying watching them spout as the pod came through on their way towards the north.
“I find it extremely sad," continues my grandfather. "The killer whales have always been iconic in the ocean. Seeing their dorsal fins when they spout always fills my heart. And if one is lucky enough to see one breach – wow. I am thrilled. Like the salmon, they used to be a common sight. Now they are rare, and my heart cries for them.”
“There are mammals like bears that also rely on the salmon. When I was moving Sammy and his salmon buddies past the slide, I noticed a bunch of bears at the water’s edge below the slide, trying to catch the few Sockeye that were there.”
Photo by Rolf Hicker Photography https://people.com/pets/grizzly-bears-starving-in-canada-due-to-decreasing-salmon-population-amid-climate-change/
He shows me a photo that he took of an emaciated bear, and seeing that completely breaks my heart. My chin shudders, and feel the tears streaming down my face again. I try not to sob out loud. He is definitely starving, and it looks like he does not have many days left. I am doubting he will make it through to the beginning of his hibernation, and he certainly won't make it through the months of sleep. He is only skin on bones and has no fat to live on while he sleeps.
My grandfather says gently, noticing my distress, “I watched them for a while. They would plunge their heads into the water to catch a fish in their jaws, but they seemed to keep missing them. It was as if they were not able to see them well. I have never seen bears miss fish that are swimming between their legs.”
“I think their vision must have been impaired due to a lack of omega 3s in their diet. Salmon are their best source, so when they do not eat enough of them, I suppose it is not surprising that their vision would be compromised.”
"Grandfather, please. I implore you. Please stop. My heart has broken many times over listening to this story. Please stop," I say.
But he insists on continuing. “And we can’t forget the carnivore birds, like bald eagles. They are an iconic birds in salmon territory. After the snow melts when their chicks hatch, salmon are one of their favourite foods to give the babies. One used to see bald eagles swoop down and catch a salmon in their talons, and fly off to their huge nests very frequently. Not so much anymore. Not like when I was a young elf when there were lots of salmon. Salmon have lots of flesh compared to other types of food, like squirrel and mice or smelt and herring. So, for the energy effort, salmon provides more food and can give lots of nestovers, feeding them for days. The lack of salmon means huge amounts of energy expenditure finding enough small mammals or fish to feed the chicks and themselves. The bald eagles have been increasing in numbers since we removed lead from buckshot that the eagles were eating thinking it was food, but the lack of salmon may decrease their population again.”
Arnoud Hubert Youtube Channel, from BBC Nature's Great Events, The Great Salmon Run
I ask, disappointed, “Are you saying we should not be eating salmon at all?”
“We can still eat salmon, but we need to be very careful. We need to choose with our money by supporting the fishers that fish with their protection in mind. The only type of salmon that is sustainable now is pink salmon. So only buy pink salmon. Avoid sockeye, chinook, coho, chum and steelhead salmon-trout. We need to give them at least eight years to recover their numbers before we fish them again,” says my grandfather.
Then I have a thought. "If the bears are suffering from a lack of omega 3s, wouldn't we have health issues if the salmon go extinct?" I ask. "I would worry about not getting enough omega 3s if I chose not to eat them in order to help them recover."
“Yes, that is a concern although there are other good sources of omega 3. Krill, for example. But they are now being overfished to make supplements, so I don’t really think they are a good idea either. Mackerel and anchovy would be great options. They are not overfished. Flax can work for some heads if they have the enzymes to convert it into a useable form in their bodies. If after 12 weeks the skin does not improve, most likely plant sources won’t work. Fish or crustacean sources of omega 3 generally work better,” explains my grandfather.
"It sounds like the water creatures in general are all in big trouble based on everything you are telling me. And the problem is spreading to the mammals like bears, and birds like eagles. That is really scary, Grandfather. What are we going to do?"
"Yes, many fish, crustaceans, mammals and birds are not doing well. But it is not too late. We need to be more mindful of what we choose to eat. I am not telling you not to eat fish nor crustaceans. Instead, choose carefully. What I mean is for tonight's dinner, choose pink salmon. Do not choose sockeye, chinook, chum, coho, or steelhead salmon-trout. If people stop buying the endangered species, the fishers will stop fishing them and will instead fish the types of fish that they can sell."
"That makes sense," I say. "I am happy to avoid species like sockeye salmon for a while if it means we will be able to save them, and be able to eat them in the future. May I head down to the market and buy some pink salmon for dinner now? Is there anything else you want to tell me? ”
“No, that is all. I will see you later,” he says.
I head down to the fish market and since the fisher is not busy, I decide to ask him how he fishes.
“I use the seine meshes in the middle of the ocean. I think it is unfair to the salmon to lie in wait for them at the river funnel. They don’t stand a chance. And to fish at a river where the salmon returns are predicted to be low is unconscionable in my opinion. We try to be fair to the salmon,” he says to me.
Seine Salmon Fishing from "This Fish" YouTube Channel
I quickly look up seine fishing on my cell, and watch the video so I can understand what he is talking about. It does not look like fun for the fish. I remember Sammy saying how the ocean seems empty once the mesh lifts up, and now I understand why. I hold back my tears so I don't embarrass myself in front of the fisher.
A thought occurs to me. “If you are fishing for salmon in the middle of the ocean, how do you know which runs the fish will be returning to?” I ask. “Is it not true that the fish you catch in the ocean might be returning to endangered rivers? How do you know?”
“Sometimes smolts are tagged as they leave the rivers, and we can tell that way. Most of the time we don’t know. I agree, that is a problem. But I need to fish to feed my family. I am doing the best I can – I can’t afford to stop fishing. What would you suggest I do?” asks the fisher.
“My understanding is pink salmon are doing okay. Maybe you can only fish pink?”
“I suppose we can change our location to catch pink only … but that will severely limit our catch and the money I will earn from selling the fish. My family will struggle. I don’t think that is a perfect solution. We need more than just pink salmon.”
I remember a story my grandfather had told me a long time ago about oolichan fish, which were also a staple for his family, growing up. “Maybe you can fish the other kinds of salmon after they spawn, way up where the rivers are born? The oolichan are fished that way – after they spawn. You can probably just go and pick up the salmon out of the rivers. Don’t salmon turn a different colour after they have spawned?”
Photo from The Squamish Chief: https://www.squamishchief.com/news/local-news/desperately-seeking-chum-salmon-returns-1.23528406
“Yes, they do. But they are so beat up and very unappetizing at that point. Nobody would want to eat them. And the salmon don’t eat once they are in the river so they use up all their fat, including their omega 3s, so they would be less healthy also. So for those reasons I would not make enough money to make a good living,” replies the fisher. “Besides that, I live by the ocean. I can’t really move to the mountains for part of each year.”
“Okay, so that idea doesn’t work. What about this one. Don’t fish the sockeye salmon at all, take a small number of chinook, a small number of coho, a small number of chum, a small number of steelhead salmon/trout and a larger number of pink. Bias towards the pink. Say take 10% chinook, 15% coho, 15% chum, 15% steelhead and 50% pink? Would that work? The chinook are in real trouble also and the killer whales in particular, really need them to thrive,” I suggest.
“That is a more realistic solution, except that it would involve us having to go to different locations to fish for the different species of salmon which will raise our expenses. We would have to raise our prices. I don’t know if people would be willing to pay more. And for such a solution to work it would only be fair if all fishers fished that way, not only the ethical ones. The industry should put a law in place regarding those percentages, and no fisher should be permitted to fish at the river funnels,” replies the fisher.
“The way I see it, if the industry does not shift now, you won’t have any sockeye or chinook at all to fish in a few years. Isn’t it better to change how you do things now, and still be able to fish them in the future? If things stay the same, they will go extinct. What will your family do then? You will only have the pink to fish, and then they will be overfished, and well … to me, this is important. I want to be able to eat sockeye and chinook well into the future.”
“Yes, so do I. Absolutely. Look. I will talk to the Salmon Fishing Directors. Your species-percentage idea is an interesting one." He looks at me and smiles. " Enjoy your pink salmon dinner,” he says, as he turns to help someone else with his fish purchase.
I walk home thinking about the problem, and the hugeness of it. How the does one change an entire fishing industry, as well as the shopping habits of the majority of the population in a short enough timeframe to save the salmon ?
Definitely the quickest way to change an industry is to choose carefully how one spends one’s dollars, and only buy sustainable food and products. Business listens to money more than anything else. If they can’t make enough money one way, they will change so they can make money another way, or else the business dies.
Besides choosing carefully how my family spends its dollars, the only other thing I can think of that might improve the plight of the salmon and the other important issues on earth, is to spread the word. People need to know and understand the problem so they will care about it.
I will do my best to tell Sammy’s story to as many people as I can. I will write his story down and share it, and hope those that read it share it too. The more people that share his story, the more chance people will change, and the more hope there is for the salmon. I really really hope we can do this in time and save them. It would be tragic to lose the salmon forever.
Related Tips:
Should we be eating salmon at all?
Should we be eating salmon at all, Part 2
Coastfunds.ca. The Saviour Fish. Protecting Nisgaa Connection to Oolichan.
Go Wild, BC Salmon. How We Fish
Outdoor Recreation Council of BC Threats confronting the fraser river reach the highest point.,Dec. 3, 2019.
Pollon, Christopher, Blasting Wasn’t Enough. Salmon Again Will Be Blocked at Big Bar The Tyee, April 2020.
Alexandra Morton et al., The effect of exposure to farmed salmon on piscine orthoreovirus infection and fitness in wild Pacific salmon in British Columbia, Canada. doiPlos One, Dec. 13, 2017.
Miller, Kristina et al. Infectious Disease, Shifting Climates, and Opportunistic Predators: Cumulative Factors Potentially Impacting Wild Salmon Declines, doi, Evol Appl. 2014 Aug;7(7):812-55. Epub 2014 May 27.
Myhre Jensen, Elena et al., A selection study on a laboratory-designed population of salmon lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) using organophosphate and pyrethroid pesticides.
Population growth is limited by nutritional impacts on pregnancy success in endangered Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca). Plos One, June 29, 2017.
David Suzuki Foundation Orca and Salmon Davidsuzuki.org
Gill, Ian. War on the waters: salmon farms losing battle with sea lice as wild fish pay the price. The Narwall. Sept. 13, 2019.
Omid, Nekouei et al. Association between sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) infestation on Atlantic salmon farms and wild Pacific salmon in Muchalat Inlet, Canada. Scientific Reports, volume 8, Article number: 4023, Mar. 2018.
Bateman, A. W. et al. Recent failure in control of sea louse outbreaks on salmon in the Broughton Archipelago, British Columbia. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 9, 1–9 (2016).
Martin Krko?ek et al. Effects of parasites from salmon farms on productivity of wild salmon. DOI Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Aug 30; 108(35): 14700–14704.
Martin Krkosek et al. Declining Wild Salmon Populations in Relation to Parasites From Farm Salmon. DOI. Science. 2007 Dec 14;318(5857):1772-5.
Crozier, Liza et al. Climate vulnerability assessment for Pacific salmon and steelhead in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem. PLOS ONE. July 24, 2019.
Marushka, Lesya et al. Potential impacts of climate-related decline of seafood harvest on nutritional status of coastal First Nations in British Columbia, Canada. DOI PLOS ONE. February 27, 2019.
Marlene A. Wagner, John D. Reynolds. Salmon increase forest bird abundance and diversity. DOI PLOS ONE. February 6, 2019.
Harmata, Claudia Grizzly Bears Starving in Canada Due to Decreasing Salmon Population Amid Climate Change www.people.com, October 3, 2019.
Lindsay, Bethany, Salmon or Trout: What the heck is a Steelhead anyway? CBC.ca, Dec. 23, 2017.
Garver KA, et al. Piscine reovirus, but not jaundice syndrome, was transmissible to Chinook Salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum), Sockeye Salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka (Walbaum), and Atlantic Salmon, Salmo salar L. Journal of Fish Diseases 39:117–128. 2016a.
GD,Marty et al., Piscine reovirus in wild and farmed salmonids in British Columbia, Canada: 1974–2013. Journal of Fish Diseases 38(8):713–728. 2015.
Miller, K.M., et al., Survey of infectious agents detected in juvenile Chinook and sockeye salmon from British Columbia and Washington. NPAFCDoc. 1718.16pp. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Biological Station, Cooperative Resource Management Institute, and St. Andrews Biological Station. 2017.
Miller KM, et al.,Infectious disease, shifting climates, and opportunistic predators: cumulative factors potentially impacting wild salmon declines. Evolutionary Applications 7(7):812–855, 2014.
Morton A, et al., The effect of exposure to farmed salmon on piscine orthoreovirus infection and fitness in wild Pacific salmon in British Columbia, Canada. PLoS ONE 12(12): e0188793,(2017)
Polinski MP, et al.,De novo assembly of Sockeye salmon kidney transcriptomes reveal a limited early response to piscine reovirus with or without infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus superinfection. BMC Genomics, 17:848 2016.
Purcell MK, et al., Molecular testing of adult Pacific salmon and trout (Oncorhynchus spp.) for several RNA viruses demonstrates widespread distribution of piscine orthoreovirus in Alaska and Washington. Journal of Fish Diseases 00:1-9, 2017.
Takano T, et al. Full-Genome Sequencing and Confirmation of the Causative Agent of Erythrocytic Inclusion Body Syndrome in Coho Salmon Identifies a New Type of Piscine Orthoreovirus. PLoS ONE 11(10): e0165424., 2016.
Copyright Vreni Gurd 2020