SEATTLE, WA – (MyBellinghamNow.com) Chinook salmon native to the Nooksack, Skagit and other regional rivers were among thousands that were wasted as fishers’ bycatch off the coast of Vancouver Island.

The Seattle Times reports that a report from Canadian fisheries finds the salmon caught-up in gear aimed at other species was the highest on record during the 2022-23 season. Almost all of the lost fish were Chinook salmon, the preferred diet of the endangered Southern Resident orca population.

Experts estimate the salmon caught up by trawlers was enough to feed three or four orcas for a year, depending on the size of the fish and the whales. San Juan Island non-profit Wild Orca reports that a large amount of Southern Resident killer whales (SRKW) that lost their pregnancy were suffering from a lack of food-related nutritional deficiency.

A spokesperson for a Canadian environmental group called the loss devastating but credits the Canadian government for creating the monitoring program. Wild Orca’s Deborah Giles also expressed sadness at the loss, pointing out that it was in “just one fishery in one region.”