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Cariboo-Chilcotin candidates on fisheries

The fourth set of questions the Tribune asked the candidates running in the provincial election.

The fourth set of questions the Tribune asked the candidates running in the provincial election is about their stance on health care, environment, fisheries and jobs:

The Fraser River and its tributaries run by our doorsteps.

What measures are needed to protect and enhance dwindling wild salmon stocks in B.C.?

What is your position on fish farms being located in wild salmon migration routes?

Answers are as follows:

MLA Donna Barnett, Liberal Party, Cariboo-Chilcotin

Our government is committed to maintaining healthy populations of wild salmon for the environmental, cultural and economic contributions they make to British Columbia.

The Cohen Commission report on Fraser River sockeye released last fall contained eight recommendations directed at the provincial government, covering issues like pesticide management, oil spill response, water sustainability, environmental monitoring and riparian zone management.

Our government accepted all eight of those recommendations.

We have also accepted the recommendation to freeze new salmon farm tenures in the Discovery Islands — which are near wild salmon migration routes — and we will work with the aquaculture industry, the federal government, and First Nations to further study and analyze the siting and impacts of aquaculture.

Charlie Wyse, New Democratic Party, Cariboo-Chilcotin

New Democrats are committed to protecting Fraser River salmon stocks, which is why we will work with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to implement the recommendations made by the Cohen Commission.

We will regularly review and revise farm siting criteria to reflect scientific information about the impact of farms on or near migration routes.

New Democrats have committed to implementing all the recommendations within provincial jurisdiction from the Cohen Commission into the troubles facing Fraser River salmon.

This includes regularly revising salmon farm siting criteria to reflect new scientific information about farms on or near Fraser River sockeye salmon migration routes, as well as the cumulative effects of these farms.

A New Democrat government would work closely with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and representatives of the salmon farming industry to ensure the industry has minimal impact on wild salmon.

Dustin Price, Green Party, Cariboo-Chilcotin

The BC Green Party focuses on education and protection of critical salmon habitats. We would support the creation of programs that enable youth to participate in restoration on affected sites.

We would reform the fish license system by breaking up corporate concentration and restore First Nation practices.

Gary Young, Independent, Cariboo-Chilcotin

Protecting wild salmon stocks requires accurate information on returning numbers which fisheries has never had.

We are allowing more pollutants and contaminants into the Fraser as a recent additional disposable permit shows.

IPPs on the coast are bad for salmon spawning.

My repeated position for numerous years is to stop any new farms and put all functioning ones on land with strict controls on waste and water access.