The Unofficial Trial of Alexandra Morton Book

Description

It is no exaggeration to say that much of British Columbia’s culture is shaped by the salmon that swim in its waters. When Pacific salmon populations began declining in the early 1980’s and the loss of the sockeye, the monarch of the salmon world, in particular rocked commercial, recreational and First Nations fishing to the core. Finally forced into taking action, the Canadian Government first closed all fishing from 2007 to 2009, and then commissioned an inquiry, led by Justice Bruce Cohen, into establishing the reasons for the decline.

Alexandra Morton, an independent biologist and active advocate for wild salmon, was one of the witnesses at what became known as the Cohen Inquiry. Having conducted significant research into and written many papers about the reasons behind BC’s salmon population declines, she was in a strong position to bring clarity to the issue. However, her conviction that the decline was directly linked to disease originating from open net pen fish farms was not a popular one with government or industry. This book documents Morton’s time on the stand as a member of the Perspectives Panel at the Cohen Inquiry and shows how adversaries tried to intimidate her and then dismiss her findings. It felt like the Inquiry turned into a trial of a whistle blower during Morton’s two days on the stand.