COHEN COMMISSION: REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Cohen Commission final report Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River – final report (Gov’t of Canada publications) →
On Oct. 31, 2012, Mr. Justice Bruce Cohen issued his long-awaited report on the disastrous Fraser sockeye run of 2009. It runs to three extensive volumes, including a 70-page chapter with 75 carefully argued recommendations.

British Columbian advocates for wild and farmed salmon had a lot riding on Cohen’s findings. They had been feuding for years about the impact, if any, of Atlantic salmon farms on the wild Pacific fish — especially the spread of diseases and parasitic sea lice from the farm pens to the migrating salmon on their way out to sea, and again on their return to spawn.

All sides expressed satisfaction with the report. Cohen had not found the farms responsible, but neither did he entirely approve of maintaining them on sockeye migration routes. He called for a moratorium on establishing new farms in the Discovery Islands, and said all farms in that region should be banned after 2020 unless the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) could prove a minimal risk of serious harm to wild sockeye.
The Cohen Report, One Year Later (The Tyee, Oct.31 21013) →
WATERSHED WATCH SALMON SOCIETY (Dec.2015):
According to our assessment, 18 out of 20 deadlines have lapsed without meaningful and transparent government action. Some of these recommendations include several actions and deadlines attached to them. In our assessment, the 18 lapsed deadlines translate to 13 recommendations that have not been completed out a total of 14.
Cohen Report Card (Watershed Watch Salmon Society) →
FIN DONNELLY : MOVE FISH FARMS TO LAND BASED SYSTEMS
On February 24th, 2016 Fin Donnelly, MP (Port Moody -Coquitlam) introduced Bill C-228, An Act to amend the Fisheries Act (closed containment aquaculture). The Bill strengthens the Fisheries Act by requiring British Columbia salmon farms to move from harmful open net pens to safe closed containment systems.
pdf doc Read and download the full text of the Bill →
pdf doc Technologies for Viable Salmon Aquaculture →
Fin Donnelly Page →
UNITED NATIONS DECLARATION ON RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES (UNDRIP)
pdf doc UNDRIP document (United Nations) →
Canada officially adopts UN declaration on rights of Indigenous Peoples
Standing ovation at UN greets Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett’s announcement
There were cheers in the United Nations as Canada officially removed its objector status to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Tuesday, almost a decade after it was adopted by the General Assembly.

“We are now a full supporter of the declaration, without qualification,” Bennett said, as she addressed the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at the United Nations in New York City on Tuesday.

“We intend nothing less than to adopt and implement the declaration in accordance with the Canadian Constitution.” …
CBC News Article →