By Rochelle Baker Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer -Fisheries and Oceans Canada cut the monitoring of salmon streams along BC’s North and Central Coast, leaving critical stocks uncounted at the height of spawning season. Seasonal “creek walkers” — contractors for the fisheries department (DFO) who trek along streams to record salmon returns — haven’t been hired as stocks return along the coast from Bella Bella to the Alaskan border, including major watersheds like the Skeena, Nass and Kitimat systems, says a coalition of conservation groups. Assessing returns to key streams is critical for estimating stocks, managing fisheries and conservation, said Misty MacDuffee, wild salmon program director at Raincoast Conservation Foundation. “Not having contracts in place as salmon are returning to rivers is unprecedented,” she said. “Budget cuts have…
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