This year’s sockeye salmon returns in western Canada appear to be “considerably lower” than biologists would prefer, says a government fisheries official. Stu Cartwright says a meagre 1.5 million fish are due to reach their usual spawning grounds in the province of British Columbia in the coming weeks.
This compares to a return of nearly 21-million of sockeye salmon which returned to the Fraser River last year. Low river levels and higher water temperatures likely combined to create poor conditions for the fish, according to ken Ashley of the British Columbia Institute of Technology.
The region suffered a record-breaking drought this summer. Resulting low river levels make it difficult for salmon to fight their way upstream to spawn and make them more vulnerable to hungry seagulls.
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