VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It’s been two years in the making, and finally a major report into the decline of sockeye salmon in the Fraser River will be handed over to the government this week.

The Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River was launched back in August of 2010.

An ardent critic of the local fish farming industry has doubts the findings will change the industry.

Marine biologist Alexandra Morton says Justice Bruce Cohen has done a phenomenal job heading up the commission of inquiry.

“I’m hoping Justice Cohen will make a very strong statement about aquaculture and about habitat protection.”

But she has some concerns, too.

“Why has this report been delayed and delayed, for one. That’s concerning for me. Will we actually get a chance to see the report? Will we actually Stephen Harper actually do anything? Probably not.”

Morton says Cohen has set an impressive precedent, in obtaining the disease records of salmon farms in BC and making them public.

“It was groundbreaking, and what I think he has to say is that we have to reduce the exposure of wild salmon to the viruses in these feedlots.”

The inquiry was launched after only a fraction of the expected number of salmon showed up in BC rivers in 2009.

The commission heard from 160 witnesses,  and 2,000 exhibits were submitted.