Sockeye salmon returning to B.C.'s Fraser River in numbers not seen in a decade

Finally, there is some positive news for Pacific salmon — the number of Fraser River sockeye heading toward the mouth of the river suddenly began to soar this week.

For two days in a row on Aug. 12 and Aug. 13, a test fishery for Fraser River sockeye has caught more sockeye in each day than any single day since 2014.

"It's an incredibly welcome bump in the salmon returns this year," said Bob Chamberlin of the First Nation Wild Salmon Alliance.

More than 26,000 salmon were caught in the Johnstone Strait test fishery on Aug. 12, and more than 23,000 were caught on Aug 13.

These totals far exceed expectations — so much so that some commercial fishers are calling for the federal fisheries minister to intervene and order Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to open the Fraser River to commerci