VANCOUVER — First Nations chiefs, politicians, conservationists and other folk wild about sockeye salmon are paddling B.C.'s Fraser River to shore up support for the public inquiry into the decline of the West Coast treasure.

With evidentiary hearings set to begin in Vancouver Monday for the Cohen Commission, groups from all angles are gearing up to cast forth their views.

Some 21 participants will present evidence before B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen, who will add the information to the wellspring he's collected so far.

Cohen has held ten public forums in communities along the Fraser River and visited fish farms, a cannery, First Nations fishing grounds and sockeye spawning beds.

Launching the hearings will be a flotilla of boaters rallying in favour of the investigation into why sockeye stocks collapsed in 2009, but upwards of 35 million showed up this year.

The commission will deliver a full report and recommendations to the federal government sometime after May 2011.