Shifting salmon policy
Photo by Alex Harris.
Ecosystems are complex. They are communities of living organisms connected through interacting processes and features on the land, in water, and between the two. Yet BC’s antiquated environmental policy doesn’t reflect this. Colonial society governs ecosystems by siloing them into distinct ministries and resources instead of reflecting the interconnected nature of habitats that make them function in the living world. This “siloed decision making”is the root cause of many of the ecological challenges we face today.
Our policy goals
1. Manage fisheries for ecosystems
- Set salmon harvest at levels that optimize the benefits of spawning salmon to watersheds and wildlife.
- Shift away from historic management paradigms that minimize the number of spawning salmon reaching rivers and maximize harvest (called Maximum Sustainable Yield). Move towards fisheries management that meets salmon spawning targets that are ecologically based, not harvest-based.
- Shift harvest toward selective terminal fisheries (conducted in or near the rivers of origin) that respect the ‘place-based’ nature of salmon, and optimize the benefits to ecosystems, Indigenous cultures, and local communities.
2. Implement ecological-based governance
- Conservation planning and a commitment to sustainability that looks 7 generations ahead.
- A “whole-of-government” approach that implements shared solutions by Indigenous, federal, provincial, and municipal governments to achieve salmon recovery from inland watersheds and rivers, to the open ocean.
- Governance that honours Aboriginal rights and title, inherent Indigenous jurisdiction and law, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).
- Sustainable funding strategies for watershed-scale restoration and planning.
3. Advance land-use policies that prioritize the health of wild salmon and biodiversity
- Zoning that bolsters functioning watersheds and riparian habitat (i.e.protect natural features, limit impervious surfaces, reduce urban sprawl, adopt nature-based solutions).
- Forestry policy that prioritizes salmon health by restricting clear-cutting in salmon watersheds, and incentivizes a sustainable, second or third-growth forest economy.
- Climate adaptation policy that incentivizes nature-based solutions including natural shorelines, intact riparian areas, unrestricted floodplains, managed retreat, and use of rain-gardens in urban areas.
Our recent reports
Recent articles
Needed: A freshwater protection strategy for Bowen Island
In early June, Dr. Peter Ross of the Raincoast Conservation Foundation presented Bowen Island Municipal Council with the results of a comprehensive analysis of pollutants in the Grafton Lake water supply. The findings revealed traces of human waste, highlighting the need for improved watershed management and better public education on responsible residential and recreational best…
Decoding killer whale communication from above and below
A Q&A with Raincoast Conservation Foundation’s Cetacean Senior Scientists
Fighting fire with fire, or dancing with flames?
How supporting the future of healthy watersheds relies on learning to live with fire.
Traces of human sewage in Grafton Lake
Water samples reveal cocaine and other pollutants in drinking water source for half of Bowen island residents.
Introducing the Land Healing Stewards Initiative
As Raincoast’s on-the-ground work, community engagement, and collaborations are key to our research and conservation successes, the Forest Conservation Program and the Salish Sea Emerging Stewards youth education program have partnered to deliver a new and innovative multi-year project. Titled the Land Healing Stewards Initiative, it will support our programs’ shared goals; engaging local communities…
Letter to The Honourable Joanne Thompson
Subject: Urgent need to reinstate charter patrolmen contracts for 2025.