8 2015 psf.ca
By Brian riddell, President & CeO, PaCifiC salmOn fOundatiOn
W
hen my wife, Lorna, and I first arrived in Nanaimo in
September 1979, it literally rained for 30 days and 30 nights.
Our poor Volkswagen, which we'd driven from Montreal,
actually did drown. But when the skies finally cleared over the Strait of
Georgia it was worth the drenching experience.
I quickly learned as a young research scientist and manager in the
Science Branch at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (
DFO) that
the Strait of Georgia was well used. At the time, there were a variety of
environmental concerns including pollution from pulp mills, logging,
shoreline development, sewage and so on. However, one common measure
of satisfaction was fishing. If fishing was good, then the environment had
to be good. Most people knew there were many stresses on salmon but the
salmon still seemed to thrive. Unfortunately, over just two years in the
mid-1990s, this all came to a crashing halt.
a VOiCe for
SalmOn
A look back at the Pacific Salmon Foundation's history,
and forward to our vision of a brighter tomorrow
Photo: tavish CamPbell
