Fraser Estuary research and restoration
Improving our understanding of juvenile salmon in the Fraser Estuary while restoring ecosystem processes and habitats.
Raincoast is undertaking a multi-year initiative that began in 2016 to conduct research and restore habitat in the Fraser River Estuary. In 2025, there are several exciting projects on the go.
In the Lower Fraser, we are examining the effectiveness of previous “habitat compensation” sites. These are projects built in exchange for habitat loss caused by development. We are assessing their value to juvenile salmon.
We have also identified sites where restored marshes no longer function as intended, and places where restoration could have long lasting benefits to salmon. As in the past, our partners in this work include Ducks Unlimited, the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance, and Asarum Ecological Consulting.
We are also working with local municipalities to identify sites in the Lower Fraser River where marsh restoration along the foreshore could improve habitat conditions for juvenile salmon as they migrate toward the ocean. We plan to work with the City of Vancouver and the City of Burnaby to implement marsh restoration projects along the North Arm in 2025.
All this work builds on our successful habitat restoration on the delta of the Fraser River. Here, the implementation of five breaches into the Steveston and North Arm Jetties have greatly improved the access for juvenile salmon between the Fraser River and its estuary marshes on Sturgeon Bank. Our monitoring of salmon movements through these passages has demonstrated their effectiveness, but we will continue to document their use and success in 2025.
This is an excerpt from our annual report, Tracking Raincoast into 2025.
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.
