RKS 2025 CANADIAN Documentary: “The Salmon’s Call”

Joy Haskell’s feature documentary “The Salmon’s Call” might well have been titled “Last Call for Pacific Salmon” due to the decline of wild Pacific salmon in the riverways of the Canadian province of British Columbia.

Haskell’s closing words of the documentary are, “Salmon don’t have a voice. We are their voice.”

Indigenous people of British Columbia dependent on salmon for sustenance, culture, identity and survival speak to the viewer about the importance of salmon in their society.

Whereas the urban consumer of salmon, most often farm raised in Canada or Norway, views salmon as an edible article of consumption Indigenous populations in the wild Pacific salmon territories of British Columbia understand salmon as a “two-way street” that extends beyond consumption to deep respect and gratitude for the role salmon have played in their economy and culture for generations. Salmon are but a component of the ecosystem. Diminishing and degrading salmon equates with a corresponding destruction of an ecosystem and a way of life.

Haskell remains almost entirely in the background of her documentary letting members of the salmon dependent territories speak about the societal role of salmon both past and present avoiding polemics giving the documentary a lean authentic voice which should be listened to as the voice of wild Pacific salmon.

The viewer will hopefully understand the clear message of elders, artists, poets, salmon activists, the urban Indigenous, educators, fisherman and salmon smokers is one close to despair of the diminishment of the wild Pacific salmon population by wildfires, pollution and a parasitical infestation by commercial fish farms originally slated by closure in 2025 by the Canadian government but then extended to 2029 to “allow for the responsible, realistic and achievable transition”. This promised closure may be four years too late.

You may watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXXBgLoj6hY

“The Salmon’s Call” will debut on British Columbia’s viewer supported public educational broadcaster “Knowledge Network” in celebration of Indigenous People’s History Month in Canada. The documentary will be broadcast on the network on 24June2025 at 21:00 and will be available online to Canadian viewers through Knowledge Network’s services and apps.

RKS 2025 Canadian Documentary Film Rating 86/100.