Tag Archives: orca’s main food source

Feds limit chinook fishery to help resident killer whale recovery

The federal government is closing some recreational and commercial chinook fisheries on the West Coast in an effort to help save endangered southern resident killer whales. Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Thursday that a lack of prey for the whales is one of the critical factors affecting their recovery. There are just 76 of the whales left and LeBlanc said in a news release that a reduction in the total chinook fishery of 25 to 35 per cent will help conserve the orca’s main food source. The closures will be in the Juan de Fuca Strait and around portions of the Gulf Islands, the department said in the release. >click to read<08:26