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Perhaps nowhere within our food system is the source of our food so disconnected from our dinner plates than that food which originates from the sea. Only a fraction of the Canadian population lives by the ocean, and those who do, are only exposed to a glistening sheet of water stretching out to the horizon, oblivious of what lies beneath.

When Canadians think of food from our oceans, it is without doubt, our country's populations of wild salmon that pop into mind. On this broadcast we will learn of the management of Canada's wild salmon populations and the history of how such an important industry began heading in the same direction that eventually led to the collapse of the Atlantic Cod Fishery.

On the West Coast, few debates have been so passionate or long-running as the one over management of wild salmon stocks, yet few issues remain so confused in the public mind.

In his 2005 book "Salmon Wars", author Dennis Brown reviews the history of the West Coast salmon resource with such comprehensiveness and clarity that even those closest to the issue will find themselves viewing it with new understanding.

In 2005, Dennis was recorded speaking in Vancouver by the Necessary Voices Society.

Speakers

Dennis Brown, Author, "Salmon Wars: The Battle for the West Coast Salmon Fishery" (Burnaby, BC) - A member of a third generation fishing family, was born and raised in Vancouver. He was educated at the University of British Columbia. In 1980, he joined the staff of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union and worked as the union's Fraser Valley organizer, dealing primarily with the gillnet and troll fleets. In 1990 he was elected to the post of business agent of the UFAWU and three years later he became secretary-treasurer. In 1996 he was hired as Premier Glen Clark's special advisor on the Pacific Salmon Treaty.

• Salmon Wars
• Harbour Publishing

• "Whose Salmon?" - Dissident Voice
• "Dirty Politics Fuel Salmon Wars" - The Tyee

• "On the Line With Dennis Brown" - www.commentary.ca

• Feb. 2/06 - Norway, British Columbia