Last year, only 70 steelhead returned to the iconic Thompson River. For decades, the runs of Interior Fraser River steelhead in Southern British Columbia have been allowed to completely collapse.
Restoration plans have not been enacted, and a previous emergency attempt to provide critical protections under Canada's Species at Risk Act (SARA) has been derailed by managing agencies. Today a new effort is underway to protect and rebuild these wild steelhead populations before they are lost completely.
To help understand the tragic situation, the next steps required, and the lessons and warnings for wild steelhead anglers everywhere, we reached out to Aaron Hill of Watershed Watch Salmon Society and Jesse Zeman of the BC Wildlife Federation for this episode of the Adipose podcast.