Lower Fraser River Salmon Recovery Brief
Our work to recover wild salmon and restore the ecological resilience of the Lower Fraser River and Estuary is outlined in the Lower Fraser Salmon Recovery Brief.
Over the last 150 plus years, salmon habitats in the Lower Fraser River and Estuary have undergone a vast transformation, drastically reducing the quantity and quality of these habitats. Yet, the Fraser watershed still hosts a remarkable diversity of salmon populations within the five (commercially managed) species native to the river.
Our Lower Fraser Salmon Conservation Program works to recover wild salmon by building a broad vision for salmon habitat that supports focused scientific research and restoration in the Lower Fraser River.
This collaborative work to recover wild salmon and restore the ecological resilience of the Lower Fraser River and Estuary is outlined in the Lower Fraser Salmon Recovery Brief.
Raincoast’s Lower Fraser Salmon Conservation Program team
The team includes Misty MacDuffee (Wild Salmon Program Director), Dave Scott (PhD Candidate at UBC and Lower Fraser Research and Restoration Coordinator), Ross Dixon (Communications and Development Director) and Kristen Walters (Lower Fraser Salmon Conservation Program Coordinator).
For more information, contact Kristen Walters.
References
Chalifour, L., Scott, D. C., MacDuffee, M., Iacarella, J. C., Martin, T. G., & Baum, J. K. (2019). Habitat use by juvenile salmon, other migratory fish, and resident fish species underscores the importance of estuarine habitat mosaics. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 625, 145-162.
Chalifour, L., D. C. Scott, M. MacDuffee, S. Stark, J. F. Dower, T. Beacham, T. G. Martin, and J. K. Baum. 2020. Chinook salmon exhibit long-term rearing and early marine growth in the Fraser River, B.C., a large urban estuary. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science https://www.raincoast.org/press/2021/new-study-shows-importance-of-estuary-habitats-for-threatened-chinook-salmon-in-the-fraser-river/
Closing remarks of David Suzuki Foundation, Georgia Strait Alliance, Raincoast Conservation Foundation & Wilderness Committee in the matter of an application by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority pursuant to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, SC, c 19, s 52 to build the Roberts Banks Terminal 2 Project. https://www.raincoast.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/2019-08-26-Closing-Remarks-of-Ecojustice-Canada-Society-Final.pdf
Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (2020). Federal Review Panel Report for the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project. (2020, March 27). Registry Reference No. 80054. Retrieved November 12, 2020, from https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/documents/p80054/134506E.pdf, 177-216.
Finn, R.J.R., Chalifour, L., Gergel S.E., Hinch, S.G., Scott, D.C., & Martin, T.G. (2021). Quantifying lost and inaccessible habitat for Pacific salmon in Canada’s Lower Fraser River. Ecosphere (in Press).
Kehoe, L.J., J. Lund, L. Chalifour, Y. Asadian, E. Balke, S. Boyd, D. Carlson, J.M. Casey, B. Connors, N. Cryer, M.C. Drever, S. Hinch, C. Levings, M. MacDuffee, H. McGregor, J. Richardson, D.C. Scott, D. Stewart, R.G. Vennesland, C.E. Wilkinson, P. Zevit, J.K. Baum, and T.G. Martin. 2020. Conservation in heavily urbanized biodiverse regions requires urgent management action and attention to governance. Conservation Science and Practice DOI: 10.1111/csp2.310.
Conservation Prospectus for the Fraser River Estuary: Prioritizing conservation actions for ecological resilience. Raincoast Conservation Foundation. 2020.
You can help
Raincoast’s in-house scientists, collaborating graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professors make us unique among conservation groups. We work with First Nations, academic institutions, government, and other NGOs to build support and inform decisions that protect aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and the wildlife that depend on them. We conduct ethically applied, process-oriented, and hypothesis-driven research that has immediate and relevant utility for conservation deliberations and the collective body of scientific knowledge.
We investigate to understand coastal species and processes. We inform by bringing science to decision-makers and communities. We inspire action to protect wildlife and wildlife habitats.
