Department of Fisheries and Oceans highlights several factors that influenced lower poaching enforcement
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KAMLOOPS — After former fisheries officer Randy Nelson highlighted what he called negligence from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) over a lack of enforcement leading to thousands of salmon being poached from the Fraser River, the government body has provided insight to the summer patrols.
While DFO did not speak directly to the claim from Nelson — who spent 35 years with the agency — that patrols had been cut by 90 per cent, it did list a number of factors affecting enforcement.
“In the 2024 season, several factors influenced how enforcement was conducted along the Fraser River. Factors included the lack of salmon abundance that closed most fisheries to all harvesting, limited First Nations Food, Social, Ceremonial access, ongoing drought and extremely low water levels, and the impact of forest fires,” reads the statement emailed to CFJC News on Wednesday (Nov. 6).
“In the BC Interior, a strategic change in patrol strategy was utilized to better coordinate flights with on-the-ground enforcement support, resulting in fewer helicopter patrols needing to be conducted in comparison to previous years. This is in keeping with DFO’s enforcement approach to use a risk-based, intelligence-led approach, including the use of drones as an additional enforcement tool.”
