Grizzly bear with salmon near Knight Inlet Lodge, British Columbia (Photo by Majwick)

BELLA BELLA, British Columbia, Canada, September 9, 2009 (ENS) – It’s called the Great Bear Rainforest, but few grizzly bears have been seen on British Columbia’s north and central coast this year. Conservationists and bear viewing guides are blaming the disappearance of the bears on the overfishing of salmon, their main food source.

“I have not observed a single mother and cub-of-the-year in our traditional territory,” said Douglas Neasloss, a bear viewing guide of the Kitasoo-Xaixais First Nation on the central coast. “We are extremely concerned about the status of our bears right now.”

According to records kept by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, DFO, the British Columbia north coast has experienced four years of extremely low chum salmon returns. Chum are the mainstay salmon species for grizzlies because they have a high fat content, last a long time in the fresh water environment and are large in size.

“DFO has once again ignored conservation concerns and permitted overfishing in Area 6 on the B.C. North Coast,” said Ian McAllister of the BC-based wildlife conservation group, Pacific Wild. … “The Gil Island fishery should have ensured that more salmon passed through to spawning grounds. Instead, over six million pink salmon were intercepted by nets, in addition to tens of thousands of sockeye, chum and coho during the last openings,” said McAllister. “The few bears surviving this past winter really needed those fish.” … “Four years of depressed chum salmon runs have had a disproportionate impact on coastal grizzlies and their ecosystem, and are having a devastating impact on the coast,” said Fred Seiler with Silvertip Ecotours based in Terrace. …

Grizzly Bears Vanishing From Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest via Democratic Underground