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
In an era of scarcity, the Pacific Salmon Treaty must strengthen conservation
Canada and the U.S. can continue to simply negotiate for our piece of a smaller and smaller pie, or we can come together to defend the legacy of wild salmon in our two countries.
The high price of motherhood in Northern Resident killer whales
New study finds that the demands of maternal care can have lifelong impacts in this threatened population.
Letter: Urgent recommendation for the renewal and expansion of the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF)
Letter to Honourable Joanne Thompson, Minister of Fisheries.
Hug a tree for science!
Have you ever seen a big tree and wondered what you could do to ensure it can be protected for future generations? Well, let us introduce you to the BC BigTree Registry! The BC BigTree Registry is a citizen science-powered initiative that works to document, monitor, and protect British Columbia’s ancient trees and associated old-growth…
The Islands Trust Policy Statement, and how it’s veering off-course
A lot can happen in seven years.
Ensure the long-term stability of projects dedicated to the recovery of wild salmon
We call on the federal government to make good on its promise to protect the BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF).