Research, policy, and governance for Fraser River salmon

The Fraser River Estuary supports Canada’s largest runs of Pacific salmon, along with hundreds of other species, many of which are threatened and endangered. This includes endangered killer whales and many populations of Chinook salmon. 

Despite this, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is proposing to double the size of its shipping terminal and shipping traffic at Roberts Bank, further degrading this stressed estuary. Raincoast has been working inside and outside of the federal review process to stop Terminal 2. Through our research, scientific evidence to the review panel, work with partners, and public engagement, Raincoast is bringing the message to decision makers that endangered Chinook and Southern Resident killer whales can not endure further losses of critical habitat.

This fall, we published research ​​that provides a funding landscape, or quantitative baseline, of the scale and scope of resources invested in salmon habitat restoration in the Lower Fraser region over the last decade. We did this because we knew that tens of millions of dollars were being invested in salmon habitat in the Lower Fraser, yet there was no resource or database that showed how these resources were being spent. Gaps identified in the report, which include inequitable distribution of resources, lack of coordination, and inaccessible fiscal information, will inform our efforts to advance governance and policy for salmon habitat in the Lower Fraser.

Building on our relationship with local First Nations partners and the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance, we are working towards a multi-year research and monitoring project in a tributary of the Fraser River. This project will gather data on salmon population abundance, spawning habitat quality, and the role predators play in nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration. Our work will inform ecosystem requirements for a sustainable, terminal salmon fishery that is Indigenous-led and ecosystem-based. 

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.