Salmon closures hurt recreational fishery but won't save orcas, say charter companies
“We take so little of the [overall] catch, but they have to take a swing at somebody.” For the third year in a row, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has ordered fishery closures and strict regulations for whale watchers and other vessels to protect the critically endangered southern resident population of orcas, whose numbers remain low at 75 in three pods. The measures focus on the main threats to the orcas, aiming to protect access to chinook salmon stocks and limit acoustic and physical disturbances and contaminants. The commercial and recreational salmon fishery will be ...