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Letters: Protect the food source

DFO has a mandate to protect the food source of the orcas

Department of Fisheries and Oceans is to protect food sources and habitat for orcas.

The protection starts at the source where salmon are reared and live as fry and smolts. A prime example of not protecting the food supply for Orcas is removing the Bill James Dam on DeMamiel Creek in Sooke. With the removal of the water source, it will destroy habitat for salmon and trout.

It might not be a lot of fish, but it is a food source that ends up in the Strait of Juan de Fuca which is habitat to the remaining 88 local killer whales.

In my opinion Orcas are opportunist and do not just eat Chinook salmon. They also eat other species of salmon when they are in the area.

DFO need to wake up and stop looking at the big picture and start looking at the small river and creek systems that make up the big picture. If we destroy the small river systems the big rivers will also fail.

If this happens it will eventually change the way of life we know and love on the West Coast.

Glen Varney

Sooke