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
BC’s Wolf Management: open season wolf killing
CFAX 1070 discusses the wolf kill in the name of predator control on livestock
Doug Brown: A Raincoast Guiding Star
Seaside Times August 2011
Doug Brown is Raincoast Conservation Foundation’s renaissance man. While his primary role is to manage Raincoast’s field station on BC’s central coast, Doug contributes a wide array of skills to our organization and his community…
BC declares open season on wolves
by Larry Pynn, Vancouver Sun
The BC government has declared open season on wolves in the Cariboo region, a move that critics like Raincoast’s Dr. Paul Paquet contend is unjustifiable and based on politics, not science…
Energy giant applies for massive potential liability
While British Columbians are focused on the threat of oil tankers to B.C.’s north coast, Kinder Morgan wants to quadruple the amount of crude oil going from Burrard Inlet through Georgia Strait, the Gulf Islands, Haro Strait and the Juan de Fuca…
Conservation groups offer conditional support for MSC certification of pink salmon fisheries
Raincoast and three other BC conservation groups want assurance that 44 conditions will be met before offering full support for the MSC’s certification of BC pink salmon fisheries…
Spirit Bear Hunting Territory: August Update
Thank you for your generous support. We want to inform you that we have raised the purchase price and the closing costs for the acquisition. We are in the process of securing the territory transfer with the Ministry of Environment and will be providing more details when this has been completed. Stay tuned.