The threat of overfishing is one of the greatest dangers around the world for ocean wildlife populations. Over the course of 40 years, there has been a rapidly declining number of marine species, the total quantity falling more than 39%. If more fish are caught than they can reproduce at a time, and the endangerment of dozens of wild fish species is becoming a global reality. Even within our local community, the effects of overfishing hurt many marine wildlife in the Vancouver area. This is especially true for the Pacific salmon, an incredibly crucial fish that contributes greatly to B.C.’s economy. Overfishing severely impacts the falling B.C. salmon population, and in turn harms the businesses and communities built around the valuable species.

Overfishing is the act of excessively exhausting the supply of usable marine species, especially that of fish in certain waters. Until present, the global stocks of overfished fish have nearly tripled, with more than 1/3^rd of the world’s fisheries past their production limits. Overfishing can cause entire ecosystems to collapse, breaking food webs and unbalancing the established ways that fish reproduce and grow. As well as declining an unnecessary supply of fish, overfishing often leads to an inherent loss of vulnerable and endangered species such as sea turtles and dolphins. Unfortunately, overfishing does not seem to be slowing down its market any time soon. With almost 30% of total fish stocks commercially overfished, a future without wasting ocean life will not be a reality for quite a while. People do not help the cause either; fish consumption has gone up twice the amount it was 50 years ago, with an average individual eating 19.2 kilograms of fish per year. Every day going by is the constant downfall of tens of thousands of aquatic species, threatening to someday be at their ends permanently.

Unfortunately, B.C. Pacific salmon have also fallen victim to the claws of overfishing. As an important and long-time commercialized fish in the Canadian business, wild salmon have been a huge part of the economy since the 1800s. Salmon fishing has made over $500 million and 4,000 employable jobs in the fishery to this day, contributing greatly to the total economic value of the fishing market. The Pacific salmon, as well as paving the way for Canada’s finance market, has been a key resource in creating and keeping relationships with other communities and countries. Centuries ago, the First Nations people first sold the salmon they caught to larger fishing businesses, enabling the fishing market to grow and expand. As well, the connection with the Indigenous people to strengthen more in terms of fishery trade. Salmons also encouraged a closer bond between Canada and the U.S. In 1930, the two countries worked together to make a formal agreement for the preservation and restoration of the sockeye Fraser River system, later known as an outstanding cooperative effort between the two nations.

Overall, the salmon population of British Columbia has faced an incredible plummet of upstream returning salmon since the last few decades. The salmon population in B.C. has fallen over 70% since the 1980s, largely blamed on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) after being found to have not taken the measures to preserve the agreed upon 50% of the salmon population. It is said that if the DFO had been actively monitoring and keeping in check with the salmon population as they had said they would, 42% of declining salmon populations may have had a chance to repopulate and steady into their usual numbers. The Fraser River sockeye has taken a population drop from about 9.6 million swimming upstream from 1980 to 2014, to a staggering 293,000 returning adult sockeye in most recent years. Salmon have a deep-rooted and meaningful history in Canada, and more action must be taken to protect them.

Although businesses and the industry think of salmon as a crucial asset to the economy, salmon has always been an incredibly significant resource for the First Nations people, immersed and incorporated into their cultures and traditions as well as a constant and legacy source of food. Salmon was not only a part of their traditional and social cultures, but also trade and consumption within the Indigenous community. Salmons are a part of the Coastal First Nations’ cultural and spiritual identities, long before salmons even began to be used for commercial sale. Antone Minthorn of the Umatilla Nation says, “The importance of the first salmon ceremony has to do with the celebration of life…Indians depend upon the salmon for their living. And the annual celebration is…an appreciation that the salmon are coming back. It is again the…cycle of life. It’s the way things are and if there was no water, there would be no salmon, there would be no cycle, no food. And the Indian people respect it accordingly.”

The return of the salmon upstream is celebrated by an annual traditional festival. It would be a devastating blow to their people if salmon populations further declined to the point of no return.

Even as overfishing is a concern to all marine species, including the Pacific B.C. salmon populations, there are many other factors that influence the survivability of these fish. Habitat damage, drugs and pesticides in the water, and ongoing climate change are only a few of the troubles that ocean life must face in the coming future. It has been estimated that a further 30% of the salmon population will fall into decline in the future, just by climate change. However, it is unrealistic to believe that every single one of these listed reasons are caused by human beings and the actions we foolishly take without a care about their impacts. We must begin to take far more proactive measures to make sure that we do not become the ultimate end to these crucial species and their environment. The problem extends far from the single issue of overfishing, and it is necessary to come together quickly and effectively and give back what we have taken from the world.

BC Green Party. “History of Wild Salmon.” BC Green Party, BC Green Party, https://www.bcgreens.ca/history_of_wild_salmon#:~:text=Wild%20salmon%20have%20also%20played,and%2015%2C000%20the%20next%20year.

Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. “Tribal Salmon Culture.” Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, CRITFC, 5 Nov. 2021, https://critfc.org/salmon-culture/tribal-salmon-culture/#:~:text=Salmon%20are%20part%20of%20our,human%20and%20all%20other%20life.

Fawcett-Atkinson, Marc, et al. “DFO Shuts Most B.C. Fisheries in Desperate Effort to Save Salmon.” Canada’s National Observer, 29 June 2021, https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/06/29/news/dfo-shuts-most-bc-fisheries-desperate-effort-save-wild-salmon-fish.

Fish Forward. “Facts & Figures: The Cold Hard Facts about Overfishing.” Fish Forward (WWF), IService, 12 July 2019, https://www.fishforward.eu/en/topics/facts-figures/.

Laiwan. “Return to the Water: First Nations Relations with Salmon.” RSS, Fountain, 5 Aug. 2015, http://www2.laiwanette.net/fountain/return-to-the-water-first-nations-relations-with-salmon/.

Leadnow. “Wild Salmon Are Dying.” Leadnow.ca, Leadnow, https://www.leadnow.ca/bc-salmon/.

Pacific Salmon Commission. “Our History.” Pacific Salmon Commission, Pacific Salmon Commission, https://www.psc.org/about-us/history-purpose/our-history/.

Sasvari, Joanne. “B.C. Seafood Shortage More Complex than Overfishing, Insiders Say.” Vancouversun, Vancouver Sun, 8 Oct. 2021, https://vancouversun.com/life/b-c-seafood-shortage-more-complex-than-overfishing-insiders-say.

Stuart, Ryan. “Will Reviving B.C.’s Declining Salmon Stocks Require a Rethink of Hatcheries?” The Narwhal, The Narwhal, 30 Oct. 2022, https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-salmon-hatcheries/.
World Wildlife Fund. “What Is Overfishing? Facts, Effects and Overfishing Solutions.” WWF, World Wildlife Fund, https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/overfishing.

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