A group of roughly 60 paddlers headed down the Fraser River on a five-day day journey from Hope to Vancouver to raise awareness about the plight of wild salmon.

The Paddle for Wild Salmon was organized by Salmon Are Sacred, a group that includes biologist Alexandra Morton, a well-known fish farm critic.

The paddlers were calling for the public release of disease records for fish farms in the migration paths of wild salmon and expressing support for Justice Bruce Cohen, who's heading a federal inquiry on declining Fraser sockeye stocks.

"These are private corporations operating in public waters, and the public have a right to know what diseases these salmon farm operations have," said Don Staniford of Salmon Are Sacred.

Morton said Justice Cohen is in a difficult position.

"All these issues around sockeye are very political. It's my opinion the salmon are dying solely from politics," she said.

Fraser sockeye stocks have been declining since the early '90s. The 2009 return was the lowest in 50 years, but this year's was the highest in nearly a century. And while that may be good news, scientists are saying it doesn't signal a recovery yet.

"If we knew what had caused this exceptional return, that would be good," Morton said. "(But) we're running blind on an incredibly valuable resource. ... These fish are moving tens of millions of tons of nutrients up the river."

Morton suspects the fish farms have contributed significantly to the declining stocks, although she notes it's not the only issue sockeye face. However, she also noted that salmon on migration routes that do not pass the fish farms fare better than those that do.

The end of the paddle coincided with the start of the Cohen inquiry hearings on Monday, Oct. 25.

The paddle drew many participants and representatives from First Nations communities. Politicians also came out to show their support. New Westminster MP Fin Donnelly also joined the paddle. Donnelly is trying to get support for his private member's bill, which would force West Coast salmon farms to move to closed containment facilities on land.

For more information on the campaign, see www.salmonaresacred.org.