Lots of talk but little action on Cohen recommendations to protect wild salmon, critics say

It's been just over a year since the last B.C. election and CBC News has tracked every promisethe NDP made during the campaign.

Implementing recommendations toprotect dwindling wild salmon stocks was one of those campaign promises.

"We will ensure that the salmon farming industry does not endanger wild salmon by implementing the recommendations of the Cohen Commission, keeping farm sites out of important salmon migration routes, and supporting research and transparent monitoring to minimize the risk of disease transfer from captive to wild fish," the 2017 NDPcampaign platform reads.

Critics say there's been a lot of talk about the issue since the NDPformed government, but not a lot ofaction.

"We've heard progress, I don't know that we've seen progress," said Adam Olsen, the Green MLA forSaanichNorth and the Islands.

"I think there is a difference between words and actions."

Cohen recommendations

The 2012 Cohen Commission examined the decline of sockeye salmon in the Fraser River.

Most of the 75 recommendationsin the report fall under federal jurisdiction, but there are some areas where the province could make policy changes.

• Federal government not doing enough to manage risk of fish farms, environmental watchdogsays

The possibility of removingfish farms from key wild salmon migration routes is one area where the province has influence. Aquaculture operations are federally regulated, but they also require a provincial tenure.

The B.C. government will be making a critical decisionon that front soon: 22fish farms tenures are up for renewal in June.

'It's complicated'

Agriculture Minister Lana Popham says her government has acknowledged migration routes are a concernand meetingscontinue on how to proceed on the future of existing tenures.

"We are in a very critical time as we look at how the Broughton Archipelago and the Cohen fit together," she said.

"It's complicated. We are incorporating the Cohen Commission recommendations into our considerations because we did committo implementing those."

The province also has to weigh the impact of potential changes on the B.C. aquaculture industry.

There are 117marine fin-fish aquaculture facilities in B.C. that generate a combined $1.5 billion per year and employ about 6,000 people,according to the most recent data from the industry.

The NDP campaign platform notes it would look to provide incentives to the industry to transition to closed containment where possible, but it has not elaborated on what that might entail.

Salmon secretariat

Last week, Olsen released a report outlining the challenges facing wild salmon in B.C.

Olsen says policies in several different provincial ministries affect fish habitat, and the province shouldmove immediatelyto create a wild salmon commissioner and secretariat to coordinate the response to declining wild salmon stocks.

"We should be doing it without delay.It is critical for our culture.It's critical for us socially, economically and for environmental policy," he said.

The government is open to the idea, Pophamsaid.

"Having some sort of structure in place with wild salmon as a priority would allow for us to have discussions that would allow us to move forward," she said.